22.01.2020
The opening round of the first 2020 season kicked off at VRC Carpet 1, a track with unforgiving kerbs and a devilishly difficult chicane at the end of the back straight. A consistent run on this track may not appear troublesome at first, but to be quick at the same time, hugging those kerbs and chicanes tight, is a completely different ballgame. Though the track may look technical at first glance, the slower speed of the spec motors results in a very smooth, rolling transition between the corners of this circuit. Perhaps counter-intuitively - especially considering the five hairpins - this paid favour to reducing the maximum brake from 50% to 45%, enabling drivers to carry more speed. Of course, a high amount of drag brake was still necessary to help with rotation around those tight turns.
Qualifying:
Four drivers established themselves as contenders in qualifying. The two Brits, Hodges and Gason, found themselves in the top spots, with Černohous of the Czech Republic third, and Belgium's Daan Haling in fourth. The pair of Brits were the only drivers to dip into the 11 second laps in qualifying, but each used all 10 of their available runs with several DNFs, that extra bravery might yield quick laps but the lack of consistency could have cost them in the final.
The Final:
Normally the leap from 98% to 100% grip leads to a faster average lap, and this was the case for everyone except for Hodges. After qualifying on pole by 3.9 seconds, you might expect a comfortable victory, but Gason was much faster on a lap-by-lap basis compared to his original qualifying pace and made things much more difficult for the pole-man. That being said, Hodges held his nerve despite falling behind at the start and took home the win, 1.7 seconds clear of Gason.
The real highlight of the race was the battle to complete the podium between Černohous and Haling. The pair were constantly at each other from the start, until some small mistakes from Haling allowed Černohous to build a buffer in the last few laps which he held onto defiantly. Each of the pair elected to only use one of their three available runs for the final, and you do have to wonder if Haling could have secured the podium if he had persisted. I'm excited to watch more close battles between these two in the next rounds.
Černohous (left) and Haling (right), the pair were inseparable.
The youngster Jozsef Valent from Hungary took fifth place with a strong, consistent run, which might have been helped by having no one around him for the entirety of the five-minute race. It was quite a lonely drive and he'll be hoping to bridge the very small amount of time he needs to gain to fight for the podiums this season.
A fantastic four-way battle emerged right from the start between Andreuccetti of Italy, Yama of Japan, Steininger from Austria and Germany's Meunier. Watching the final felt more like watching a team of cyclists tackle an endurance race, with everyone taking turns leading the pack. After a strong battle of will, Andreuccetti found himself the victor of this race within a race.
The four drivers pushed each other for the whole race.
Milan Peka of the Czech Republic was painfully close to this battle, but he could not bridge the second or so he needed to find to join in the fun. He did however put in a consistent run - an achievement in itself around this difficult track - which rewarded him with ninth place, capitalising on mistakes made by Meunier.
1 Reece Hodges
2 Ben Gason
3 Radko Černohous
4 Daan Haling
5 Jozsef Valent
6 Tommaso Andreuccetti
7 Yama Yama
8 Matthias Steininger
9 Milan Peka
10 Olivier Meunier
If you want to feature in one of these reports, make sure you attend the next round which is at CRF Lausanne.
Comments
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(Total posts: 9)
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Jukka-Pekka H
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You nail it Reece...well done report. Ill be joining In some point, but my english aint so pure so give me some mercy😂. These are just nice things when these are puplished. Like some sais, these makes sim alive, and this sim and especially fantastic community deserves these.
In past years i made allmost 200 report, these takes time a lot but they dont have to so "longly writed". This one is just perfect and fabulous, just In the "line". THANKS REECE!
Edited by author: 25.1.2020 8:01:05 GMT
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Antoine R
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Great initiative and well reported, that makes this sim alive.
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Matthias Steininger
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Great Report Reece. Thank you very much .lg
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Reece HMultiple VRC World Champion
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Thanks everyone, I enjoyed writing it. I will just be sticking to this series, as it takes quite some time to make the images, video and write-up, but it would be great to see other drivers reporting on their own series too.
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Daan H
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Great report Reece!! And congrats with the win!
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Kevin B.MULTIPLE WORLD CHAMPION
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Great Report Reece. I know the time it takes to put something like this together. Well Done... and congrats on the victory too 
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Simon Williams
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Good information Reece, especially about using the drag brake in TC.
Your report encourages me to have a go at CRF Lausanne.
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Pieter BFounder
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Great report Reece, hope other racers will start publishing on their favorite series!
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Reece HMultiple VRC World Champion
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I apologise for the weirdly sized images, I can't see an option to edit the report now it's published. Maybe I will get that part right next time 
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