Moderator's Report
Summary
A win for Dulima and a delighted Billy Nobrakes in second spot with Ricardo Valim da Silva picking up third place (after a penalty is applied for an incident).
Server replay time: 0h01m50s
Lap 1 Curva del Cancello – Ricardo Valim da Silva and Axel Cookie
Cookie is behind Ricardo as they enter Zagaria. Ricardo is on a tighter line so Cookie gets a better exit and pulls alongside as they approach Curva del Cancello. They are side by side and exactly level as they turn in, with Ricardo on the inside and Cookie on the outside. As they round the curve Cookie maintains a wide line and is almost touching the white line on the exit of the corner. Ricardo tries to hold the inside line but his cold tyres lack the necessary grip and he drifts towards the middle of the track. Ricardo controls the side without encroaching on Cookie’s line and he starts to accelerate out of the corner. Ricardo cannot see Cookie in his mirrors, but he moves over to take the racing line after the corner and contact is made.
Cookie did nothing wrong.
Ricardo had controlled his slide, made the corner and was half a car ahead when the contact occurred. As a general rule, when racing side by side, drivers should not move across until they can see the other car in their mirrors. The slide on cold tyres and subsequent loss of control was a mitigating factor but Ricardo had gained full control before he decided to move left without seeing Cookie in his mirrors. Consequently, the responsibility for the contact lies with Ricardo.
Server replay time: 0h31m25s
Lap 26 Kink after Proserpina – Francesco Molteni and John Woods
Francesco is in John’s slipstream and he pulls to the inside on the run out of Proserpina. Francesco is alongside by the time they get to the kink but John moves over and contact is made. Both cars crash heavily and John is out of the race but miraculously Francesco can continue (possibly with a damaged engine because it expires within a couple of laps).
Francesco did nothing wrong.
It looks like John wasn’t watching his mirrors. He should have noticed Francesco and realised he would be alongside and should not have moved across.
Server replay time: 0h46m37s
Lap 39 Proserpina – Ricardo Valim da Silva and Eric Bilodeau
Eric is leading Ricardo over the finish line as they start lap 39. Eric takes the wide line on the approach to Proserpina and so Ricardo switches to the inside. The cars are dead level as they turn in, neither driver can see the other. Eric tries to take the racing line but Ricardo is already there and contact is made. Both cars spin out. Ricardo can continue but Eric is out of the race.
Ricardo made a legitimate attempt to overtake. He had sufficient overlap at turn-in (i.e. 100%) and maintained a tight line. At no point could he see Eric’s car in either the cockpit view or in his mirrors.
Eric was entitled to contest the overtake but having seen Ricardo disappear from his mirrors on the approach to Proserpina, he should have expected Ricardo to be on his inside rather than relying on Ricardo to back out. As soon as Eric saw Ricardo’s car he tried to take avoiding action but it was too late.
Contested Overtake.
