Season 8, Round 2 - Portimao (POR)
After a week delay of when we were actually meant to be racing at the Portugese track, the racing finally got going on the 21st October, giving us some amazing racing! 17 Drivers taking part in what was an amazing night of racing!
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In qualifying, it was Alessandro Ceronetti who took pole position, with a lap time of 57.982. Team-mate Aaron Heathman wuld follow behind with a 58.137. A dominant pole position from the brit! Last round's winner, Justin Adakonis was P3 with a 58.214, and rounding up the second row of the Pre-Final grid would be rookie, Khali Atkins with a 58.412!
A mega start from Heathman, meant that he took the lead early on in the Pre-Final, with Atkins following close behind him. Ceronetti and Adakonis fell back behind them. It was only a case of a lap, until Atkins did make his bid on Heathman and took the lead in style! In the mean time, Adakonis, Ceronetti and Rowan Gill pushed very hard to attempt to close that 1.2 second gap that separated them from the two leaders. Further back, Carmine Caruso had a brilliant fisrt lap, getting up to P7, after starting P13, charging forwards!
After a couple of laps following close behind, Heathman started feeling the pressure of Ceronetti, Adakonis and Gill starting to close up behind them so decided to go for glory on Atkins at turn 5. Atkins went wide, which allowed Ceronetti to come through as well. On the same lap, Heathman ran wide, gifting Ceronetti the lead and moving Atkins back up to P2. A few laps later, Atkins fell under teh clutches of Heathman, allowing Ceronetti to edge out a gap big enough to break the slipstream and drive away. Following this, Heathman decided to make his bid up the inside of Atkins, in the hopes of catching Ceronetti back up. Adakonis followed him through to take P3, dropping Atkins back.
A crazy last laps brought us everything we were hoping for from this Pre-Final! After edging out a 1.3 second gap over second, Ceronetti clashed with a back marker, in terms, demoting him to P5. Just a lap later, Heathman and Adakonis clashed, sending them both into a spin. In the end, Atkins managed to take the honours and pole position for the Final race which counts for important points! Coming out the worst, was Adakonis, whom dropped back to P9. Heathman was P5 and Ceronetti P3. Gill was P2, after a lonely race, whereas Frank Mossman picked up the pieces and took an amazing P4 finish from P7. Man on the move was Carmine Caruso in P6, gaining 7 places in this 11 Lap Pre-Final!
Roles switched in the final, and the inside row had the better this time, promoting Atkins and Ceronetti to P1 and P2, leaving Gill behind in P3. Ceronetti made his bid early on Atkins, they eventually pulled away from the rest, leaving Gill in a lonely race in P3 once again! Great starts from Mossman, Leon Rullitt and Dylan Denhaese too, moving up to P4, P5 and P6. A brilliant first lap, however, from the Canadian Daniel Fellows, who moved his way up to P6, after starting in P17! Drivers who did not have the first lap they would have wanted was top mover in the pre final, Carmine Caruso, who clashed with Heathman who started off the Final on a nightmare. After a few laps, reigning champion Aaron Heathman and winner last time round, Justin Adakonis clearly had superior pace over the others and started carving through the field together. They moved themselves back up to P6 and P7 after lap 5. Rullit, in the meantime, had a wobble which set him back down to P8, on the clutches of Daniel Fellows. The battle for P4 was starting to ignite though, with Denhaese, Heathman, Adakonis and Mossman fighting it out. Current leader in the 'amatuer' class, Denhaese managed to put his nose into the lead early on the battle, whilist Adakonis and Heathman were making efforts to pass Mossman. Adakonis ended up having it messy with Mossman, which dropped him to P8. Adakonis kept the charge going. A few laps later, Heathman and Adakonis managed to get the better of Denhaese and gapped him.
In the end Atkins was not able to get the better of Ceronetti, as he explains in his interview: 'I wanted to surprise him, but it just did not work'. Still a great result for the rookie Atkins as he moves up to P5 in the championship, and with it, his first podium in OKC! Ceronetti achieves his 17th win in OKC, with Rowan Gill finishing in P3. Heathman and Adakonis round up the Top 5 from tonight's racing. Denhaese was our top amaetur for tonight, finishing P6 and our man on the move was Daniel Fellows, finsihing an incredible P9, after starting P17!
As it stands now, Ceronetti takes the lead in the standings, ahead of Adakonis. Heathman follows up close behind in P3, and Gill moves up in P4, following his consistent run of results. Atkins moves up to P5 after his great result at Portimao.
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Caruso still leads the Amateur standings, ahead of Matias Orjuela, who finished a solid P8 in this race!
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The battle continues in the French countryside of Le Mans on the 4th of November! Do you want to join the title fight? You are still on time! Register today!
