22.07.2017

CLASH OF THE TITANS AT LLORET DE MAR

PRO LEVEL
American ‘Juggernaut’ Joshua Berman looked to defend his 1.8 Nitro Sportscar Spec Series title in the first event of the second series in 2017. Ireland’s Austin Elliot, Series 1 third place finisher, set the pace early with a 30 lap 07:13.772 run. Shortly thereafter the Juggernaut, posted a 30 lap 7:11.882 run. American Kevin Bacon, Series 1 second place finisher, posted a 30 lap 7:09.358, besting Berman by over 2 seconds. But Berman wasn’t done. He quickly posted another run of 30 laps 7:06.882; 5 seconds faster than his first run and looked untouchable.

Enter 7x’s VRC World Champion Jeffrey Rietveld of the Netherlands. Rietveld topped Berman’s run with an impressive 30-lap 7:02.992. Rietveld’s run was nearly four seconds faster than Berman and contained something that no other run contained… 13.7 second laps. To this point only a handful of racers had even touched 13.9 second laps. Berman had posted 13.8s, but Rietveld’s run and lap times looked superhuman. However, never doubt the power of the Juggernaut. Berman dug deep and posted an even faster 30-lap 7:02.188 qualifier with a blistering 13.696 fastest lap; the faster lap recorded in qualifying. Berman’s run woke the sleeping giant and Rietveld responded with a flawless run with a fastest lap of 13.730, slowest lap of 13.954 and average lap of 13.823. Rietveld’s time of 30 lap 7:00.210 was the top
qualifying run.

Berman (Blue) and Rietveld (Red) raced side by side
Behind Rietveld and Berman, the A-Main qualifying field was tightly grouped. Nine of the top 10 posted 30-lap runs. In fact, there was less than 5-seconds between 3rd place, Bacon, and 9th place, Portugal’s Nuno Lourenco. The 10th qualifier, 2016 VRC 1.10 Nitro World Champion, Andrea Giordano of Italy posted a fast 29 7:01.566. Giordano had the pace for a 30-lap run but a few mistakes cost him about 4 seconds.

Entering the main there was little doubt that Rietveld and Berman would finish 1st and 2nd, it was just a matter of the who would win. Berman grabbed the hole shot and took an early lead. But Rietveld was on rails early and quickly regained the lead. Rietveld was pulling away from Berman for the first 13 laps, but stumbled on lap 14 and again on lap 18 letting Berman take the lead. Berman held the lead and gradually pulled away from Rietveld building a 1.6 second lead by lap 46, but on lap 48 Berman flinched and experienced his slowest lap of 14.660 seconds. This allowed Rietveld to close the gap to .73 seconds. Rietveld smelled blood in the water and began to slowly reel in Berman. At lap 71 the two pilots were a mere .056 seconds apart. But on lap 72, Rietveld clipped the apron entering the straightaway and spun. The mistake cost Rietveld about 2 seconds and he could not recover. In the end the two pro’s finished only 2.1 seconds apart after 20-minutes of fast intense racing. Berman finished 1st with 86 laps in 20:07.156; Rietveld finished with 86 laps in 20:09.342.

Based on qualifying it appeared that the third and final podium position was completely up for grabs between the pack of racers behind Rietveld and Berman. With less than 5-seconds between 7 racers in qualifying it appeared to be anyone’s race. The race started with a pack of racers in close quarters. However, as time elapsed Daan Haling of Belguim and Bacon began to separate themselves from the pack. Only one second separated the two at the first pitstop. But Bacon was out of rhythm in the laps between the first and second pitstops and on lap 39 Bacon parked his Serpent into the center divider and needed help from a turn marshal. The mistake cost him 7 seconds, or about half a lap, and he never recovered. Haling ran a fast-consistent race without any real mistakes and was able to cruise to a third-place finish with relative ease. Haling finished with 85 laps in 20:11.938. Haling was almost a full lap ahead fourth place finisher Elliot, who finished with 84 laps in 20:09.604. Oliver Meunier (Germany) finished 5th with 84 laps in 20:10.362; Bacon dropped to 6th with 84 laps in 20:11.554.

SPORT LEVEL


Sport Winner American John Payson's Red Ride

American John Payson and France’s Gaetan Anger battled for the top spot in Sport Level. Anger was off rhythm early giving Payson a 2 second lead. The two remained about 2.5 seconds apart through the first 30 laps. But on lap 31 and 33 Anger made two mistakes costing him about 6 seconds. However, on lap 35 it was Payson who made the mistake giving back about 4 seconds. Anger closed the gap to about 2.4 seconds again before needing to pit. Anger struggled in the pits and had a 23 second pit stop. Still Anger pushed and by lap 65 the two were only .8 seconds apart. Anger returned to the pits and struggled again, posting another 23 second lap (or about 3 seconds extra). Anger could not overcome the deficit and Payson took the win with 81 laps in 20:11.970; Anger finished with 80 laps in 20:01.322.

The race for the final podium position was tight between Belgium’s Oliver Gurdebeke and Japan’s Isla Pesca. Gyurdebeke was fast out of the gate and by lap 46 had nearly a 12-second lead over Pesca. However, on lap 51 Gurdebeke crashed and needed help from the turn marshal. This cost him 7-seconds and took him out of his rhythm. Gurdebeke had a 4.3 second lead over Pesca, even after the crash, but that lead dwindled over the next 28 laps. Pesca kept in rhythm, smooth and steady, and when time expired was only .38 seconds back from Gurdebeke who took the final podium position.

CLUB LEVEL


Johan Jury of Austria Won Club Level

At Club Level it was Austria’s Johan Jury that claimed the victory. Jury started at the back of the pack in 9th position, but stayed consistent and worked his way to the front. Attila Jager of Hungary finished second. Jury and Jager battled throughout the race swapping position 10-times. On lap 57 the two were in a dead heat, only .006 seconds apart. But on lap 66 Jager crashed an experienced his slowest lap (over 23 seconds). Jager made a few additional small mistakes late in the race and Jury pulled away for the win. Third place went to top qualifier Pongsakorn Chulathip of Thailand. Chulathip had the pace, but a flame out on lap 58 resulted in a 42 second lap (nearly two laps). This delay proved insurmountable and Chulathip finished nearly a lap behind the leader.

A-MAIN RESULTS

PRO

1 |Joshua Berman|86|20:07.156 2|Jeffrey Rietveld|86|20:09.342 3|Daan Haling|85|20:11.938 4|Austin Elliott|84|20:09.604 5|Olivier Meunier|84|20:10.362 6|Kevin Bacon|84|20:11.554 7|Alex Guillot|83|20:02.150 8|Giorgio Mingotti|83|20:03.756 9|Nuno Lourenco|83|20:07.846 10|Andrea Giordano|83|20:07.992

SPORT
1 |John Payson|81|20:11.970 2|Gaetan ANGER|80|20:01.322 3|Olivier Gurdebeke|79|20:06.664 4|isla pesca|79|20:07.044 5|Manuel Weber|78|20:10.102 6|Sven Dellebeke|78|20:13.534 7|Steve Young|77|20:02.412 8|Mike Strack|73|20:10.790 9|Mujib Rahman|DNS 10|Anssi Hartikainen|DNS

CLUB
1|Johann Jury|75|20:02.358 2|Attila Jáger|75|20:10.390 3|Pongsakorn Chulathip|74|020:01.514 4|Fabien Waldt|73|20:05.960 5|Bob Halliday|73|20:15.100 6|Marco Monteiro|72|20:04.260 7|Curtis Damm|71|20:07.102 8|Corey Tadd|52|20:14.620 9|Tyler Mackenzie|DNS 10|Arif Vad|DNS

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