Moderator's Report
Summary
A convincing win by Greg Taber in his Mercedes W196SL. Pole position, fastest lap and led every lap; it does not get more convincing than that. He was helped by a monumental crash on lap 2 that took out several strong contenders, nevertheless it was a dominant display. Dulima secured second place in another Streamliner with Cookie grabbing the final podium spot in his Lancia.
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Lap 2 - Gladbacher Kurve – Raoni Frizzo, Ricardo Valim da Silva, Enrique Farina, Francesco, Clive Loynes, Phil Thornton, Doni Yourth, JonnyO and PaulV
At the grandstand, Raoni got a decent draft on Ricardo and Evil Clive and cruised past both of them. Ricardo then had the benefit of a slipstream through Erkelenzer Gerade and he repaid the compliment to Raoni, drafting past on the approach to Gladbacher Kurve. At this point both drivers fought for position, Ricardo was going slightly too fast and ran wide putting his offside rear wheel on the edge of the grass, but he was managing to keep control. Raoni was trying to retake the position and drifted wide. Side by side contact was made and both cars crashed out. The barriers prevented the wreckage from clearing the tarmac and consequently several drivers were caught up in the melee.
Ricardo Valim da Silva was entitled to try to retake the position. He was ahead as the drivers approached Gladbacher Kurve, but he was going too fast and consequently ran very wide leaving the door open for Raoni.
Raoni was reluctant to concede and consequently pushed too hard into Gladbacher Kurve. If he had eased off slightly, he wouldn’t have run wide and in all probability would have retaken the position because Ricardo was struggling to maintain control on the edge of the track and was losing momentum.
This is a very long gentle curve and there isn’t a definite turn-in point, so it is fair to say the drivers were side-by-side and fighting for position when the contact occurred. Neither driver could claim to have won the corner on the basis of being ahead at the turn-in point. Consequently Raoni must shoulder responsibility for this incident. He should have stayed on his side of the track. Simple Side by Side contact, Scenario 4 applies “In a corner, after a legitimate overtaking attempt the cars end up side by side. One driver moves over instead of staying on their own side of the track. Contact is made. Penalty for driver that moves over.”
