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Teema: Amateur - 90 |
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Quote ( Roland Jakobsson @ June 24th 2019,12:03:21 ) Thank you Dominik and Antonio for your kind words, it gives me motivation to continue :) Good luck this season to both of you!
They are more than words, Roland
It is a feeling of refreshment.
One more motivation, for the game.
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Hi all! I hope you're enjoying the new season! Here's the report from the first race:
S71 - Race 1 - A1-Ring GP (Austria)
Grid: Nikolic, Mariella, Duo, Jakobsson, Marankey, Rodriguez, Skarelis, Guzzo, Magyar, Subsar.
So it was finally time for racing again, I don't know about you but I always feel that the full week without racing between seasons feels soooo long. Feels great to be going again. First race was the A1-ring, a power heavy track that will surely take its toll on the fresh engines.
It was interesting to see who whould step up in qualifying in the absence of Tóth, Allen, Olivetto and Meyer, and the guy in 5th last season, Nikolic, immediately stepped forward and grabbed pole. He was taking it easy towards the end of last season, probably to avoid accidental promotion, but now he showed his capabilities again. Behind him were the two Italians from the Silver Bull team, Mariella and newcomer Duo making a strong start. Skarelis had a good qualifying session and lined up 7th while another new face, Magyar, lined up in 9th place.
Nikolic was quick off the line and lead comfortably after 1 lap, chased by Mariella, Marankey, Duo and Rodriguez while Jakobsson had a horror start from 2nd and slipped to 6th. Ventricelli and Azevedo also had great starts and were up in 8th and 9th. Overtaking looked easy and people were changing places a lot in these early stages.
Things settled down pretty quickly after that as Nikolic lapped a couple of tenths up to half second a lap faster than the rest and after 10 laps he was leading the two Silver Bull-cars with 8 seconds, with Marankey and Jakobsson running close behind them and Rodriguez starting to fall behind a little bit. Azevedo and Guzzo was running in the final points places followed by a long train of cars from Skarelis in 9th down to Fondelli in 16th. Most new drivers in the group struggled to make an impact, but that was to be expected. Apart from Duo and Magyar, the best newcomer at this stage was Mordvinov in 26th. Magyar was in fact running in 10th but a driver error on lap 13 dropped him down to 16 and he was now last in the long car train.
Marankey pushed hard and passed one of the Silver Bull cars to claim 3rd but then immediately dived into the pits as early as lap 15. This looked pretty early to me and in fact he was the only driver to stop 4 times and finished a lowly 25th which I'm sure he's not happy with. Beccan also had a very quiet race down in 12th and made a driver error which dropped him to 17th after 16 laps. In the end he finished 16th which struck me as odd because I'm used to seeing him fast and going for aggressive strategies.
Some people's tires were getting worn at this point and it was clear to me by then that some people would 3-stop. And sure enough, on lap 19-20 both Mariella and Duo stopped, and were down to 19th and 20th. Skarelis was also in, having dropped from 7th at the start down to 13th and now 36th after his stop. He didn't have a good race and dropped 22 places from his starting position to finish a lowly 29th. This meant that the top 3 now was Nikolic, Jakobsson and Rodriguez.
After 26 laps all 2-stoppers had been in for their first stop and there was a surprise in the lead of the race, Antonio Guzzo! He was 1-stopping and now leading the race, but the gap down to Nikolic was only 9,6 seconds. Jakobsson was 3rd ahead of the early stoppers Mariella, Marankey and Duo. Salvatore Siracusa was a surprise running in 7th, but he was also on a 1-stop strategy. Rodgriguez, Rossi and Kajati was rounding out the top 10.
The fun was over for Guzzo on lap 35 when he pitted and left the lead to Nikolic. Jakobsson was being passed by Duo but that didn't worry him too much because he was already on worn tires and would soon have to pit again, and in fact Jakobsson retook the position a few laps later when Duo's tires were really bad.
So after 38 laps the 2-stoppers were leading the field and Nikolic had now a big 23-second gap down to Jakobsson in 2nd, with Rossi now in 3rd and Kajati in 4th. Rossi had quietly put together a really good race starting from 13th and he was now on the podium. Another positive surprise was Anassese, who was running in 6th at this point of the race. He couldn't keep that pace up for the rest of the race but he still finished 17th, which is his best race since he finished 16th in race 6 at Mugello last season, so he should be happy.
Of course there was nothing to do about Nikolic, and after his second stop he had a half-minute lead down to Jakobsson as the field pretty much settled down. Jakobsson himself watched in horror as Rossi was suddenly too close for comfort behind him. Rossi's 20,9 and 21,2 pitstops had put pressure on Jakobsson after his miserable 25-second pitstops and was suddenly only 2 seconds behind and right on his tail. Fortunately for Jakobsson he just managed to avoid getting caught but it was a thrilling end to the race.
Kajati had a great race and finished 4th, continuing his fine form from the end of last season, and Guzzo finished 5th for his best finish since finishing 5th at Monza way back in Season 63. Stefano Duo managed to claw himself back into 6th after his 3rd stop and claim points on his debut in A90. Rodgriguez finished 7th, Subsar 8th, Fondelli 9th and Azevedo 10. I suspect Mariella is a bit disappointed to finish down in 11th but he didn't quite have the same pace as his teammate although they were on the same strategy. Magyar was 12th in his first race in A90.
So a dominant win for Nikolic in the end, with 40 seconds down to 2nd place. It was also interesting to see the many strategies, and both 1- 2- and 3-stoppers were among the points finishers and that is fun I think. Next race will also be a power track, at Magny Cours on Tuesday. Good luck to you all!
Championship standings: Nikolic 10, Jakobsson 8, Rossi 6, Kajati 5, Guzzo 4, Duo 3, Rodriguez 2, Subsar 1.
Impressive performance: Andreja Nikolic. A dominant win from pole and really throwing down the gauntlet immediately.
Race to forget: Carlisle Marankey - Not sure if he was experimenting or simply miscalculated, but 4-stopping and going from 5th to 25th was strange, considering he had a pretty good race pace at times.
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Quote ( Roland Jakobsson @ June 30th 2019,12:42:42 ) Hi all! I hope you're enjoying the new season! Here's the report from the first race:
S71 - Race 1 - A1-Ring GP (Austria)
As we are already accustomed, the great analysis of Roland Jakobsson, excites us.
Now, it is to continue trying better perfomance in the next races.
Tuesday has more.
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Race Report - S71 R2 - Magny Cours GP
Grid: Jakobsson, Nikolic, Guzzo, Rodriguez, Marankey, Duo, Beccan, Subsar, Ventricelli, Malul
Race 2 of the season saw Jakobsson surprisingly claim his first ever pole position in the amateur division, ahead of the winner from race 1, Nikolic. The rest of the top 10 was not too surprising, but it was nice to see Malul in the top 10, his first top 10-qualifying since season 69. Surprisingly there was only 36 cars on the grid, Van Mingeroet absent again but disappointingly also Mordvinov and Campos, who threw in the towel after just one race. Personally I know the gap between rookie and amateur feels steep in the beginning but it is still a shame when people decide not to race. If motivation is low I would suggest finding a good team with nice helpful people, that helps a lot.
Well, back to the race. Jakobsson stormed off and managed to hold off the early pressure, and after 5 laps he had a 4,6-second gap to Nikolic in 2nd. Guzzo, Rodriguez and Duo battled for 3rd while Marankey, Ventricelli, Subsar, Malul and Beccan was also in the top 10, with Fondelli following close in 11th. Nut much passing was going on due to the hard overtaking nature of the track but Anassese and Kearney were making some early progress. Further down the field a slow-running Mariella in 16th was leading a train of cars stretching all the way down to Miranda in 30th. Conti had a dreadful race so far and was dead last in 36th, trailing Van Essche with almost six seconds after only 5 laps. Mariella was a sitting duck and was soon passed by Rossi and Kearney. Guzzo was comparatively slow in 3rd and was leading a big train of cars after 13 laps, but he fought well to keep Duo and Rodgriguez at bay behind him despite being under constant pressure.
Marankey eventually found a way past Guzzo but then dove into the pits as early as lap 14, continuing his trend of 4-stopping. Doing that on this kind of circuit has disadvantages though, and he again went on to finish outside the top 20, in 21st place. Beccan made a mistake on lap 18 and went off the track and lost 8th place, rejoining in 13th, which made his day a lot more difficult.
On lap 20 Jakobsson entered the pits for the first of his 3 stops. His margin down to Nikolic was only 7 seconds and he already knew that if Nikolic was on a 2-stop strategy then his chances of winning were basically gone. He rejoined in 14th but didn't lose too much time because the 2-stoppers were coming towards the end of their stint and were fast. Nikolic was now in the lead, 18 seconds ahead of Guzzo, followed closesly by Duo, Ventricelli, Rodriguez, Subsar, Malul, Fondelli and Kajati.
Most 2-stoppers came in around laps 24-26 but Guzzo was leaving it late, enjoying leading the race for a few laps before coming in on lap 30 and handing back the lead to Jakobsson. A lot of people had driving mistakes these laps, with Beccan again falling victim among others, including Betka, Ferreira, Waloszczyk, Marius, Miranda, Fondelli, Tessari, Mariella, Anassese, Van Essche and Duo. Literally a third of the field went off-track during these bizarre couple of laps.
Mariella was now up in 4th, and it was now obvious his slow pace in the beginning was because he was only going to stop once. Jürgenson, Skarelis and Tos among others were also going for this strategy but in the end none of the 1-stoppers ended up in the points.
Jakobsson again entered the pits on lap 40 for his second stop, but since he was only a couple of tenths faster than Nikolic per lap, the gap was just 8 seconds and he knew winning was no longer possible, so he had to focus on trying to beat Guzzo, 41 seconds beind. However, Jakobsson was once again let down by the inefficiency and incompetence of his pit crew, as a 25-second stop meant he came out right behind Guzzo and Duo, and now all of them had one more stop to do and the race was really on for second. Nikolic was now 35 seconds clear in the lead and it looked like he could stroll home with another win. Beccan was on fire further down and over took Rossi and Rodriguez to take 7th.
Nikolic came in on lap 51 for his last stop and when he came out 1st ahead of Guzzo and Jakobsson he knew he had just bagged another win. Kajati was fast and was momentarily in 3rd before diving into the pits while Jakobsson, after being held up a number of laps behind Guzzo, managed to pass him on lap 53 and he was now again fastest on the track. Jakobsson quicky caught Nikolic but had problems finding a way past, knowing he would have to stop again. Jakobsson dived into the pits for his last stop on lap 61, and although it took a horrendous 27 seconds to put in the fuel for the last 12 laps, he still came out in 2nd ahead of Guzzo.
Now everyone was done in the pits and it was all racing until the finish. The main battle was for 5th, where Duo managed to get the better of his compatriot Rossi when he went off in turn 1. However, a few laps later Duo returned the favor and went off in turn 13, handing 5th right back to Rossi. Rodgriguez was fighting hard with Beccan for the last point, and Kajati, having a very solid race in 4th, went off on lap 67 at Adelaide and let both Italians through to rejoin in 6th. Rodriguez surrendered the battle for 8th on the last lap as he frustratingly entered the pits, this most likely unscheduled stop dropping him down to 14th.
So in the end Nikolic won comfortably again, with Jakobsson yet again a distant second. Guzzo finished third more than a minute behind. Duo finished 4th and Rossi 5th. Rossi had yet another very strong race from a poor grid position as he managed to turn 18th on the grid into 5th in the race. Kajati was 6th but he must have been frustrated knowing he had 4th in his pocket with just a few laps left. Subsar finished 7th, Beccan 8th. Fondelli was yet again so close to the points finishing 9th for the second race running while Malul started and finished 10th, ahead of Mariella, whose 1-stop strategy was not enough for the top 10.
Standings: NIkolic 20, Jakobsson 16, Rossi 10, Guzzo 10, Kajati 8, Duo 8, Subsar 3, Rodriguez 2, Beccan 1.
Impressive performance: Antonio Guzzo -Although his car was not always on pace with the cars around him, a tooth-and-nail performance paired with a clever first 30-lap stint meant he scored his first podium finish since season 61. Well done mate.
Race to forget: Gabriel Rodriguez - After running in the front pack almost all of the race, his pursuit of Beccan and that final point ended in an anticlimactic last lap-pitstop. Frustrating.
Next race is my home race, the Swedish GP at Anderstorp, I'm looking forward to that. Good luck to you on Friday!
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Thanks Roland! Great read as always! :)
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As always, great work Roland.
I promise to give you a job the next race.
But you will have a good surprise in the end.
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Keep it up Rollo. Great read again.
How is your holiday going ??
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Hi Rob! It's going great, my blood pressure is back to normal (at least it feels like it) and I'm enjoying reading crime novels and taking it pretty easy in general. How are you doing mate?
Race Report: S71 R3: Anderstorp GP (Sweden)
Grid: Guzzo, Mariella, Rodriguez, Jakobsson, Nikolic, Fondelli, Subsar, Ventricelli, Malul, Beccan.
Finally time for my home race! Unfortunately the Swedish track is not known for its fast flowing racing, but rather for being a tight track with few overtaking opportunities.
Guzzo was the surprise of qualifying, bagging his first pole in the Ammys since season 61, with Mariella joining him on row 1. Again the grid was only 36 cars strong, with the same people absent as in the last race. Rodriguez had a great start and overtook Guzzo into Startkurvan after only 1 lap, while Mariella, Nikolic and Jakobsson fought hard for 3rd.
Rodriguez quickly opened up a gap to Guzzo and Jakobsson, fighting for 2nd. Nikolic and Mariella were another couple of seconds behind ahead of Subsar, Fondelli and Beccan. After them Malul was 9th followed by the trio of Ventricelli, Kajati and Magyar, who had gained a few places. Tessari, Marius and Kearney had early offs and found themselves way down around 30th place.
On lap 11 Jakobsson finally found a way past Guzzo and started to chase Rodriguez, but he had already built an 8-second gap. Nikolic struggled with the pace in 4th and Mariella took advantage and passed him. Fondelli and Beccan went off and Malul said thank you and was up to 7th.
Guzzo was the first of the frontrunners to enter pit road on lap 19, and rejoined back in 21st place, stuck behind a long train of cars led by Waloszczyk in 14th. The leader Rodriguez came in on lap 23 and rejoined in 7th. After 26 laps most 2-stoppers had been in but lots of people were still out, meaning many had chosen to go for only 1 stop. Nikolic and Subsar were only about 15 seconds behind when the 2-stoppers came in, and they suddenly found themselves in a very good spot indeed. Rodriguez was now back in 3rd but his hopes of a good finished literally went up in smoke on lap 27 and even though he was able to fix the problem in the pits he was to finish a distant 12th in the end. Jürgenson, Duo and Rossi were now in 5th, 6th and 7th but unlike the front two they had been in traffic for most of the race and were half a minute behind. Guzzo was back to 8th and although his car was quick he had a terrible time trying to pass the 1-stoppers.
Nikolic and Subsar came in after exactly half the race for their only stops and the end of their long stints were fast! They had a 30-second gap and came out in 5th and 6th, only 12 seconds behind and done in the pits, an excellent position to be in. Jakobsson was back in the lead trying to go as fast as possible to extend the gap to get away with stopping again, and together with Mariella in second they were more than a second a lap quicker when the 1-stoppers came back out with heavy cars. Duo was the last car to enter the pits on lap 41, pitting from 3rd. This meant that Jakobsson was leading Mariella with 6 seconds, with Nikolic and Subsar 15 seconds behind, ahead of Fondelli, Malul and the impressive Ventricelli in 7th.
Mariella was very fast and cut the gap to Jakobsson to 2 seconds before making a very fast pitstop. Jakobsson however unwisely stayed out on his worn tires a few laps more and then had another atrocious pitstop and found himself behind Mariella after his second stop, knowing it would be near to impossible to catch and pass him.
Nikolic was now leading with only 21 laps to go, with Subsar only four tenths behind. They had been running close to each other all race, but suddenly the race was decided in dramatic fashion as Nikolic suffered techincal problems and started to go slower. Subsar must have been jumping with joy in his seat as this golden opportunity suddenly presented itself! With 17 laps to go he had a 9-second gap to Mariella and 11 seconds to Jakobsson, would he be able to cling on to his lead?
The one-stopping Duo was back in 6th but also suffered from problems on lap 57 and dropped back, eventually finishing down in 15th.
In the end, Subsar managed to take full advantage of his good situation and kept the pace up. Mariella only shaved two second off his lead and finished 2nd 5,6 seconds behind while Jakobsson stayed about 12 seconds behind to claim 3rd and his third straight podium of the season. Fondelli had a very good race without any problems and claimed 4th, his best result since finishing 4th in the opening round of season 68, so he should be happy.
The smoking Nikolic still finished 5th, while Jürgenson suddenly appeared like a jack-in-the-box behind hm. Having run around P15 for most of the race, he was 11th with only 13 laps to go but a stunning late charge promoted him to 6th! Malul had a trouble-free race and finished 7th, and the smoking Rossi had enough left to finish 8th, ahead of the chasing Marankey. Kajati finished off the top 10 ahead of Ventricelli and the very unfortunate Rodriguez in 12th, who had his race turned upside down after his mechanical issue and having to stop 4 times.
So Nikolic had his winning streak broken, and Subsar gained full advantage, grabbing his first win in the Amateur division since his Pro-promoting season 65 i A71. This also means that Nikolic did not extend his lead in the standings and things do indeed look tighter now.
Championship standings: Nikolic 24, Jakobsson 22, Subsar 13, Rossi 11, Guzzo 10, Mariella 8, Kajati 8, Duo 8, Fondelli 5, Jürgenson 3, Malul 2, Rodriguez 2, Beccan 1.
Impressive performance: Gracjan Subsar - a perfectly executed 1-stop strategy. Kept the pace up towards the end of his very long stints to avoid getting under any pressure towards the end, and claimed a well-deserved win.
Race to forget: Antonio Guzzo - from pole position his race started out very well, but soon turned from bad to worse as he got stuck in traffic and had technical problems, going from 1st all the way down to 18th in the end. I bet he will be stronger next time.
So, we're off to Portugal on Tuesday for the Portimao GP. Best of luck to all of you
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Very good Roland.
I intend to return with better performance in Portman.
I see a much more balanced season than the last one. which gives us more inventiveness.
Good race everyone.
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Fondelli had a very good race without any problems and claimed 4th, his best result since finishing 4th in the opening round of season 68, so he should be happy.
I'm happy thanks
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Hello Roland Jakobsson
We miss the reviews.
We hope you are not overwhelmed and disturbing your private life, but we would like to be treated with your reviews.
But be at peace, my friend.
Do not feel pressured.
It is only a bad habit to see your analyzes.
Your fault.
Hug.
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Hi Rollo,
i am off to Thailand for 17 days, finished on Friday for 6 weeks. Perks of the job, I love the job too, but I prefer the holidays :)
hope you are enjoying your holiday too.
Missed your reviews buddy, but understand why you haven’t posted anything recently. Enjoy the chill time, Rob
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Hi guys! I have indeed been a bit "busy" doing holiday stuff! :D I'm glad that you're missing my race reports, and since this week has been a bit more relaxed, I had time to report from the last race :)
Enjoy your holiday in Thailand Rob, you've earned it mate!
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A90 S71 Race 7 - Istanbul GP
Grid: Nikolic, Mariella, Guzzo, Jakobsson, Rodriguez, Subsar, Jürgenson, Fondelli, Ventricelli, Marankey
Round 7 of the championship was the Istanbul GP in Turkey, and championship leader Nikolic had a very strong qualifying session to end up on pole, with Mariella beside him. Guzzo claimed 3rd while Jakobsson was 4th, desperate to regain some form after his disastrous race at Slovakiaring where he finished outside the points. The winner from Slovakiaring, Beccan qualified outside the top 10 in 11th, and Duo, usually very fast, lined up down in 12th.
Nikolic had a good start and immediately started to pull out a gap to a train of 5 cars, where Guzzo led Mariella, Rodriguez, Subsar and Jakobsson. Malul led the second pack of cars before bizarrely entering the pits after just two laps, handing the role of the leading chaser in the second group to Jürgenson. There was not a whole lot of overtaking but Anassese made som progress up the field as did Van Essche, passing Tochev and Chambon for 32nd. Chambon was the unlucky man this time, seeing his race cut short after just 11 laps with a "random", a tyre puncture in this case.
Rossi was the biggest early climber, continuing his trend of bad qualifying and fast racing. He was down in 20th on the grid but quickly advanced to 14th, and even managed to run in 3rd before making his first pitstop. After 8 laps, the main fighting was for Jürgenson's 7th place, with Fondelli, Duo, Beccan and Marankey growing restless behind him. But it was to no avail, because he held on to 7th all the way to his first pitstop on lap 19.
At the front Nikolic had a slight advantage but he was not able to open up a big gap, running just a few seconds ahead of the chasing pack. The 3-stoppers started to enter the pits around lap 17, with Tessari first in, followed by Marankey, Kearney, Guzzo, Fondelli and others. The 3-stop strategy did not bring great success on this occasion, the best 3-stopper in the end turned out to be Fondelli down in 15th. At this point many drivers' tires were getting worn and that indicated that many had opted for a risky 2-stop strategy on extra softs.
With Guzzo in the pits Mariella started to chase down Nikolic, lapping clearly faster than him. Nikolic countered by diving into the pits on lap 18, a bit earlier than I had expected. Most of the front runners pitted in the next few laps, and the race order was pretty much back to how it looked at the start, with Nikolic leading Guzzo, Mariella, Rodriguez, Subsar and Jakobsson. Jakobsson was the main loser in the pits, he had passed Rodriguez and Subsar on the track but a poor stop meant he was back behind them again. Rossi was in 7th after stopping, just ahead of his compatriot Duo, as they slowly turned poor qualifyings into good races. Fondelli was 9th and Skarelis was in 10th. he was opting for a 1-stop strategy but an unplanned stop on lap 57 meant he finished a miserable 33rd in the end. The only car to execute a 1-stop strategy was Tochev and he was nowhere near the top 10 and finished in 27th.
Smoking had not been a regular feature this season so far, but in this race it made a return with style as Anassese and Luanderson Henrique smoked within 30 laps.
After half the race Nikolic had pulled away and was now 10 seconds in front. Mariella was all over Guzzo now trying to pass him, clearly faster but struggling to find a way past the Brazilian. Jakobsson was fast behind them, frustrated by his bad stop he passed Subsar and Rodriguez on track to take 4th. But Guzzo was 3-stopping so he went into the pits on lap 33, providing Mariella with a clear track ahead to try to chase down Nikolic. But instead it was Jakobsson who benefitted from having clear track ahead and he was now the fastest man on track, only 4 seconds behind Mariella!
Well, time for the second round of pitstops around lap 40. Mariella yet again had a lightning 20-second pitstop to make sure he was still on the tail of Nikolic, but the rest behind him had average stops with Jakobsson again losing places to both Rodriguez and Subsar in the pits. Guzzo, Marankey, Skarelis, Malul and Campos had joined the list of smokers now, and Anassese had retired.
Jakobsson quickly passed Subsar yet again for 4th and started to chase down Rodriguez in 3rd. With just 2 laps to go he eventually passed Rodriguez on the outside of Turn 7 after chasing him hard for a couple of laps. At the front Nikolic eventually secured the win without too much trouble, but Mariella was close, only 7,5 seconds behind in the end.
Jakobsson finished 3rd to secure another podium, followed closely by Rodriguez and Subsar. Rossi finished 6th, Duo 7th and Beccan took the final point in 8th, ahead of Kajati and Jürgenson rounding off the top 10.
Championship standings: Nikolic 53, Jakobsson 46, Mariella 40, Subsar 24, Duo 24, Rossi 18, Beccan 17, Rodriguez 16, Guzzo 11, Kajati 9, Jürgenson 6, Fondelli 5, Suciu 2, Malul 2.
Impressive performance: Ferdinando Conti - After a sluggish start of the season at the back of the field he has shown remarkable improvements and finished 16th for the second time running. A very strong sign of rising form for the Italian.
Race to forget: Jerome Chambon - After three successive races with improving results each time it must have been awful to see his race cut short after just 11 laps. Better luck next time mate.
Good luck on Tuesday my friends!
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And Master Roland Jakobsson is back.
His analysis is as exciting as the race.
Thank you, Master,for presenting us with your work.
Good race in Grobnik
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S71 - Race 9 - Hockenheim GP
Grid: Rodriguez, Jakobsson, Nikolic, Guzzo, Beccan, Duo, Mariella, Jürgenson, Subsar, Ventricelli
Round 9 of the championship took place on the Hockenheim circuit in Germany. Rodriguez carried with him his fine form from Grobnik to claim pole in a season where he has proven himself very stong over the last couple of races. Jakobsson also came from a strong 2nd place in Grobnik and lined up alongside him on row 1 with Nikolic and Guzzo on row 2.
The first lap was frantic with lots of passing going on behind Rodriguez, who pulled away. Nikolic advanced to second, Guzzo to 3rd and Jakobsson dropped to 4th ahead of Jürgenson. Malul charged up to 3rd before pitting after 2 laps in a pattern we've seen in several races lately.
Behind Beccan in 6th there was a battle of Italians on lap 7, as Duo passed teammate Mariella for 7th, and Fondelli fought Ventricelli for 10th, with Subsar squeezed between the four Italians in 9th.
Not much happened in the front during the laps before the first pitstop. Suciu had a good race and climbed up to 8th, but a driver mistake in the hairpin on lap 18 meant he was passed by the whole train of cars behind him and he fell all the way down to 15th. Frustrating.
On lap 21 Guzzo's tires had become very worn and he did laptimes several seconds slower than the other top cars, and he was passed by Jakobsson, taking 3rd from him. He went into the pits the same laps, taking Beccan with him.
After 26 laps all 2-stoppers had been in and Jürgenson found himself in the lead, being chased by Rodriguez. Nikolic was in 3rd and Skarelis in 4th, not having stopped yet. Guzzo had undercut Jakobsson and was ahead of him again in 5th, while Duo was 7th ahead of 1-stopping Conti and Azevedo.
Jürgenson was approaching the end of his stint and did fast times, and Rodriguez had trouble reigning him in. He eventually managed to pass him though, before Jürgenson pitted for his only stop. After the 1-stoppers had been in, Rodriguez was leading Nikolic with 5 seconds, then there was a huge 30-second gap down to Guzzo and Jakobsson, followed by Silver Bull teammates Duo and Mariella, then Subsar, Beccan, Kajati and Suciu, who had yet another driver mistake and had to fight his way back up the field once more.
After 50 laps the 2-stoppers were done in the pits and now it was all racing to the end. Rodriguez had 6 seconds on Nikolic, Jürgenson had climbed back up to 3rd, ahead of Jakobsson, Duo, and Guzzo. Subsar, Rossi, Mariella and Suciu rounded out the top 10.
There was drama on lap 53 as Rodriguez started to smoke! He wsa now lapping a lot slower than the rest and was quickly overtaken by Nikolic, gifting him the lead. Fortunately for him he had a huge time cushion with only 12 laps left so he would still be on the podium in 3rd place in the end. On lap 59 Jakobsson shared Rodriguez's fate and also started to smoke. He was 12 seconds in front of Duo but that was not enough and he was passed for 4th on the final lap! Jakobsson was also worried that Guzzo might catch him but Guzzo went into the pits one more time and fell out of the top 10.
In the end, Nikolic scored another win to further strengthen his title challenge. Jürgenson's 1-stop strategy turned out to be a masterstroke and he claimed 2nd ahead of the smoking Rodriguez in 3rd. Duo finished 4th right ahead of Jakobsson, with Subsar in 6th. Mariella was 7th, Rossi 8th, Kajati 9th and Suciu 10th in a race that was fairly uneventful apart from the smoking cars.
Championship standings: Nikolic 65, Jakobsson 58, Mariella 48, Rodriguez 32, Subsar 31, Duo 29, Rossi 19, Beccan 17, Jürgenson 14, Guzzo 14, Kajati 9, Fondelli 5, Ferreira 5, Suciu 2, Malul 2, Marankey 1.
Impressive performance: Rem Jürgenson. Strong racing and a clever strategy call put him on the podium for the first time since season 66 in the Masters division. Well done mate.
Race to forget: Osvaldo Beccan - Ran in or near the top 10 all race but a random tyre puncture turned out to be his undoing and he was classified 30th.
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Got little worried already that we might not see another great commentaries/report about the last race. But better late then never :)
Great job Roland! Very interesting read :)
Keep up the good work! :)
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Haha, I understand! It would be a shame if you managed to get on the podium and then no report to read about it afterwards? :D I was sick for a couple of days but I hope I'm back in action now :)
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S71 - Race 10 - Zolder GP (Belgium)
Grid: Rodriguez, Jakobsson, Jürgenson, Mariella, Nikolic, Fondelli, Duo, Suciu, Skarelis, Siracusa.
We're well past the halfway mark this season and round 10 of the championship took place at Zolder. Championship leader Nikolic came fresh of a win at Hockenheim but lined up in 5th, because it was Rodriguez who wanted to put the disappointment of losing the win from the lead last time behind him, and he claimed pole.
Tactically this race was interesting, as qualifying had been wet and it was raining at the start of the race, but most of the race was predicted to be dry. There was a number of strategies to choose from and things could get very interesting.
So the lights went green and the field went off in the rain. Malul had an accident at the start and his race was ruined as he was forced to retire on lap 1. The guys on rain tires immediately took off fast. Rodriguez leading, with a gap down to Jürgenson, Duo, Mariella, Fondelli, Siracusa, Suciu, Azevedo, Kajati, Henrique, Tessari, Tos, Betka, Marankey and Chambon. This was a time of great suffering for those who had taken a chance and started on dry tires in the hope that the dry period would come soon, and they were losing around 11-14 seconds per lap at this point. The first 6 laps was a horror show for those drivers. Jakobsson dropped from 2nd to 19th, Skarelis from 9th to 20th, Nikolic from 5th to 21st, Subsar from 13th to 24th and Guzzo from 11th to 30th to name a few.
But then the rain stopped.
The cars on dry tires were about a minute or more behind Rodriguez in the lead, could they take some of that back? On the first dry lap Jakobsson clawed back more than 4,5 seconds on Rodriguez as the tables slowly turned. Many drivers went to pit immediately while others chose to stay out a lap or two before coming in. After a few laps of mayhem in the pits things started to become clearer.
After 10 laps, it was clear that Rodriguez was still dominating. Even after coming in he had a 17.5-second gap to Jürgenson, with Duo close behind him. Jakobsson was however back in 4th place, 20 seconds behind the leader, proving that starting on dry tires was not a tactical disaster. Skarelis was 5th using the same strategy, while Mariella, Nikolic, Kajati, Fondelli and Suciu were also in the top 10.
Lap 12 must be one of the worst of the season for Mariella, as he was first passed by Nikolic and lost 6th place, and moments later he was hit by a tire puncture and taken out completely! So 0 points for the man 3rd in the championship this time.
Behind Rodriguez, Jürgenson, Duo and Jakobsson were running as a trio taking turns to put pressure on each other. Duo made a failed attempt at overtaking Jürgenson on lap 13 but instead found himself passed by Jakobsson. Two laps later Jakobsson got a good run on the outside of Turn 4 and overtook Jürgenson as well to take 2nd place.
Beccan had a strong race at this point, having stayed out and dropped to 26th he was in 16th after the initial stops and then pushed hard to eventually be in the top 10. He stopped twice during the race and in the end he just missed the top 10 finishing 11th.
Another strong driver at this point of the race was Robert Kearney, who had also stayed out, dropped to 31st and then raced as high as 12th during his first stint. He was running as high as 11th before his second stop, almost breaking in to the top 10, but had to settle for another 15th place finish.
A driver who had a very bad day was Waloszczyk. After starting from 14th he dropped all the way down to 34th after his early stop, and then had to start by passing the smoking car of Anassese to try to save his day. He made steady progress but still finished outside the top 20 in 21st.
Pit stops were always likely to be scattered with a rainy start, and Nikolic was the first one in for a regular stop on lap 19, dropping him from 6th to 22nd.
After 30 laps none of the top drivers had come in for their scheduled stops and things looked good for Rodriguez, leading Jakobsson by 26 seconds. 40 seconds behind there was Kajati, who had driven strongly and gained many places, with Jürgenson, Duo and Skarelis close behind. Fondelli and Suciu were in 7th and 8th, and then there were a few surprises! Tessari was having a really good race and found himself in 9th, followed by Siracusa in 10th. These two Italians had not run a great deal in the top 10 this season so it was nice to see them do well. Luanderson Henrique was 11th and Nikolic was 10th, ahead of the two Brazilians Guzzo and Azevedo in 13th and 14th.
On lap 35 things were getting interesting again as race leader Rodriguez went into the pits. His 23-second stop meant he came out right in the mix, after Jürgenson in 2nd and Skarelis in 3rd but before Duo in 5th and Fondelli in 6th. Duo found some pace however and passed both Rodriguez and Skarelis to advance to 3rd, as Skarelis dove into the pits on lap 36. The next lap Jakobsson came in from the lead, and as he only had a 10-second advantage he plummeted down the rankings and came out 6th. The lead now went to Jürgenson, whose worn tyres meant he was under immense pressure from Duo, and on lap 41 he had to surrender his lead when Duo passed him in the Observatory turn.
Both men came into the pits a few laps later and when they came out Duo held the advantage, but to their surprise they had now both been passed by Fondelli, whose 21,3 pitstop saw him leapfrog them both! Meanwhile Luanderson Henrique was now running in 3rd place which was a huge surprise, and even though he pitted soon afterwards he managed to finish 13th which was a massive improvement in a season where he has mostly been running around the top 30-mark.
So, with 25 laps to go Rodriguez was leadning Jakobsson by 28,7 seconds, and lapping a couple of tenths faster, looking comfortable in the lead. Fondelli was in 3rd still ahead of Jürgenson and Duo, with Skarelis in 6th ahead of Kajati, Beccan, Suciu and Tessari. Some of the regular top drivers had an off day at this point, including Subsar in 11th, Rossi in 15th, Nikolic in 17th and Guzzo in 18th.
In a "Battle of the Baltic" Skarelis chased down Jürgenson and hounded him for several laps seeing all his attempts thwarted, until he finally made his pass stick on lap 57 in the Bolderberg hairpin, taking 5th place.
On lap 60, with 10 laps to go, Rodriguez came in on wobbly tires for his final stop, with a 35-second gap down to Jakobsson in 2nd. Would it be enough? It was not, Jakobsson had managed to close a couple of seconds when Rodriguez's tires were very worn, and now found himself with a slender 6,7-second lead with only 9 laps left to go. However,there was no real danger since they were doing almost identical lap times and in the end Jakobsson managed to grab the win by 7,7 seconds.
The battle for third raged almost all the way to the end, when Duo pipped Fondelli's 3rd place in the Canal turn on lap 68, and surely Fondelli must have fumed at losing a podium position so late in the race. Skarelis finished 5th although his tires must have been worn down to the rims. He drove with wobbly tires for the last 5 laps and must have been very happy that the race was not 1 lap longer. Jürgenson was in the points yet again claiming 6th, Suciu ended up in 7th and Siracusa had a very strong race to finish in the points in 8th, his first point since Round 9 in Mexico back in Season 69.
Kajati finished 9th ahead of the very impressive Tessari, securing his first ever top 10 finish in the Amateur division, congratulations! As I said earlier, many of the prominent point scorers had issues in this race and finished outside the points, most notably Beccan in 11th, Subsar in 12th, Rossi in 14th, Guzzo in 16th, Nikolic in 24th and the unfortunate Mariella, who retired early. This meant that all of a sudden Jakobsson, from being 7 points behind, suddenly found himself in the Championship lead!
Championship standings: Jakobsson 68, Nikolic 65, Mariella 48, Rodriguez 40, Duo 35, Subsar 31, Rossi 19, Beccan 17, Jürgenson 17, Guzzo 14, Fondelli 10, Kajati 9, Ferreira 5, Skarelis 4, Suciu 4, Malul 2, Marankey 1, Siracusa 1.
Impressive performance: This was a tough one with many impressive drives, but the honour goes to Federico Tessari in 10th. He has been running around the top 20 for most of the season but showed terrific pace, raced well and passed cars when it counted. His overtaking moves on lap 55 was the best I've seen so far this season, overtaking Kajati in the hairpin just before overtaking both Skarelis and Jürgenson in the first corner complex. Brilliant stuff.
Race to forget: Has to be Nikolic, unfortunately. Slow on pace, stopping four times and eventually also smoking and finishing 24th, losing the championship lead in the process. Surely he will hope for improvement in Hungary.
So, race again tomorrow! Good luck to you all!
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S71 - Race 11 - Hungaroring GP (Hungary)
Grid: Jakobsson, Rodriguez, Guzzo, Nikolic, Jürgenson, Duo, Mariella, Marankey, Beccan, Subsar
Very hard overtaking track coming up next. These tracks are not where you can count on raw pace to get results, you need a cunning mind and a good strategy to avoid having your race ruined in a queue of cars somewhere on the track.
Nikolic made an excellent start and somehow passed 3 cars to gain an early lead, as a pack of 6 cars, Nikolic, Jakobsson, Rodriguez, Beccan, Guzzo and Duo pulled away, ahead of Mariella, Marankey and Jürgenson. Soon the battle for the lead was between Rodriguez and Nikolic, and Rodriguez took the lead on lap 11. Jakobsson clearly lacked race pace in 3rd and struggled to keep Beccan behind him, and sure enough soon had to let him pass too.
I watched some of my teammates races and I have to admit that racing in A90 was very open compared to other groups, with less car trains and less blocking. Sure there was the usual groups of 4-5 cars but not the 15-car trains I could see in many other groups.
3-stopping was not really an option in this race. Only Magyar stopped 3 times and Makrin stopped 4 times, but other than had we had to wait quite a while for action in the pits this race. After 22 laps Rodriguez and Beccan were leading, with Nikolic, Jakobsson and Guzzo behind them. Then came the two Silver Bull cars and 5 seconds behind them Marankey and Jürgenson. Then, 28 seconds, there was a big train of cars led by Skarelis, including Subsar, Rossi, Fondelli, Waloszczyk, Suciu, Magyar, Ventricelli and Conti. Further down the field the returning Van Mingeroet, who had returned from the GPRO grave to take part in a race for the first time this season was 22nd, and Anassese was yet again smoking in 25th and he parked his car for good on lap 22.
Beccan and Rodriguez came in on laps 26 and 27 and came out in the middle of the pack, leaving the lead to the 1-stoppers. Guzzo soon followed as well. Then followed 10 or so boring laps with no positional changes at all in the top 10 before Nikolic was the first of the 1-stoppers to come in on lap 37. Jakobsson went into the pits on lap 40 but still a number of cars stayed out. One car in particular stayed out for an amazing 45 laps and that was Stefano Duo. After racing in 6th and 7th in the beginning he had patiently climbed the leaderboard all the way to 1st befor coming in. This turned out to be a tactical masterstroke as he outfoxed both Jakobsson and teammate Mariella to rejoin in 4th place with only Rodriguez, Nikolic and Guzzo ahead of him. Rodriguez yet again showed blistering pace and had extended his lead to over half a minute at this stage. This meant that even though he had to stop again on lap 54 he came out in 6th ahead of Jürgenson.
Nikolic was now leading Duo wih just 2,7 seconds, Jakobsson with 2,8 seconds, Guzzo by 3 seconds and Mariella with 6 seconds and things were incredibly tight at the top. Jakobsson was hounding Duo for 2nd place but ruined his afternoon completely by going off-track on lap 55, letting both Guzzo and Mariella past him. To make matters worse he was then passed by a charging Rodriguez in a race that went from bad to worse.
At the back of the field, Malul and Conti had parked their cars, as Campos, Azevedo and Subsar smoked in a race that really took its toll on the car parts.
Guzzo then came in from 2nd for his second and final stop, coming out in 9th, which he managed to improve on to finish in the points in 8th.
The last 20 laps were also fairly uneventful and frankly a boring watch, and Nikolic cruised home to yet another win, his 5th of the season. He took back the lead in the championship as well. Duo came home in 2nd to claim his best finish of the season and the second podium in two races, followed by Mariella, coming back strong after his miserable race at Zolder to claim 3rd and his 7th podium of the season. Rodriguez finished 4th to continue an impressive streak of 5 consecutive top 4-positions and pole-sitter Jakobsson had to settle for 5th, finding some consolation in the fact he has scored points in 10 of the 11 races so far this season. Jürgenson found himself in the points for the 3rd consecutive race in 6th and his form is improving remarkably compared to last season. Marankey on the other hand, a race winner from last season, finished in the points for the second time this season in 7th and Guzzo claimed the final point as the second-fastest 2-stopper of the race. Beccan finished 9th and Skarelis 10th. Also noteworthy was the very impressive performance of Vicente Miranda. He is usually somewhere around the top 20 but managed to pull off 12th place and get some distance between him and the relegation zone. Well done!
Championship standings: Nikolic 75, Jakobsson 72, Mariella 54, Rodriguez 45, Duo 43, Subsar 31, Jürgenson 20, Rossi 19, Beccan 17, Guzzo 15, Fondelli 10, Kajati 9, Ferreira 5, Skarelis 4, Suciu 4, Marankey 3, Malul 2, Siracusa 1.
Impressive performance: Stefano Duo - With a car relatively weak compared to the other top drivers, his tactical masterstroke of waiting 45 laps before pitting benefitted him enormously and he has now put together an impressive string of results. He is now only two points behind Rodriguez in 4th in the standings and the competition for the promotion places is really hotting up.
Race to forget: Roland Jakobsson. Started from pole but immediately lacked the pace, got passed numerous times by other cars while not being able to pull off a single pass himself showing that "hard overtaking" sometimes only applies when you are the one overtaking. A very costly driver mistake while challenging for 3rd just added to the disappointment.
Well, next race tonight at Laguna Seca. Could be interesting, let's see if the weatherman's predictions are correct! Good luck to you all!
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So impressive again Rollo, the detail of your commentary is out of this world, you must have spent a lot of time analysing the race, nevermind actually writing it up :) great job again buddy.
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S71 - Race 12 - Laguna Seca GP
Grid: Jakobsson, Rodriguez, Nikolic, Jürgenson, Duo, Guzzo, Mariella, Subsar, Skarelis, Marankey
Weather predictions were tricky for this race at Laguna Seca, as the weatherman had predicted an almost 60% rain chance somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour. My team had extensive discussions about this before the race and we had settled for all kinds of different stragegies, and I was curious to see how this race would pan out.
Jakobsson and Rodriguez were quick off the line and opened up a gap to Duo, Malul, Nikolic and Beccan, but Malul has his habit of pitting after 3 laps and he did so yet again to drop down to last place. Overtaking was common and people were changing places a lot, and the race looked totaly different compared to the drab affair at Hungaroring.
The field was a paltry 34 cars this time. Van Mingeroet raced again, but Betka was not to be seen and Makrin missed his first race. Campos, Santos and Mordvinov were also not to be seen. It looks like this season's rookies were having a hard time but I am still a bit disappointed that they have thrown in the towel already, since grit, determination, planning and patience is such a major part of improving in this game.
Nikolic passed Duo to take third and start chasing the two guys in front, they had managed to pull away by 5 seconds at this early stage. Lots of the passing took place in a big train of cars led by Fondelli in 13th down to Miranda in 24th, with Siracussa eventually getting past the pretty slow car of Fondelli. Kearney also passed a few cars to haul himself into the top 20.
Van Mingeroet had a great battle with Tos down the field for 26th place, and Jürgenson also made progress up the field by first passing Marankey and then quickly catching and passing the aleady smoking Guzzo to advance to 7th.
After a couple of slow laps things started to happen as the leader Jakobsson came into the pits on lap 20 for his first stop of 3. He quickly found out however that all the other top drivers were 2-stopping and since he only had 3 seconds on Rodriguez and 5 seconds on Nikolic his hopes of a win ended there and then.
The 2-stoppers started to come in a few laps later and on lap 35 pretty much everyone had been in and things started to shape up. Rodriguez was still in the lead chased by Jakobsson only 0.069 seconds behind. Not getting back into the lead after stopping early was a disaster for Jakobsson however since we was making an extra stop and really could not afford to get stuck behind the 2-stoppers. Nikolic was still in 3rd 6 seconds behind, followed by Fondelli, whose reason for going so slow in the early laps was now explained as it became clear he was only going to stop once. Beccan and Jürgenson followed, then Skarelis, Duo, Mariella, and Subsar.
Strategywise I'm sure most people were biting the nails at this point wondering if there was to be any rain and what kind of implications that might have. But the race went on, and on, and on. And no rain. It turned out as we passed the 1-hour mark that there would indeed be no rain.
Around lap 55 there was another round of stops as the main challengers came in for their final stop. Rodriguez held on to the lead without much of a threat coming from behind, as Jakobsson was 7 seconds behind with one stop left to make. NIkolic was 8.3 seconds behind follwed by Jürgenson, who had advanced nicely up to 4th, followed by Beccan. The 1-stopping Fondelli was now in 7th followed by Subsar and Duo. Mariella had had a quiet race all night and was barely within the top 10 at this point.
Jakobsson eventually stopped again on lap 65, came out in 7th but immediately went off-track and let Fondelli through. However, Magyar was now in front of them in 5th but he also had to come in again. His strategy was a bit off-beat compared to the others and I wonder if he had counted on rain.
By now the top 3 was pretty much a done deal, with Rodriguez keeping Nikolic at bay with Jürgenson running half a minute behind in 3rd. Beccan was 4th 47 seconds behind, Fondelli 56 after, Jakobsson chasing hard 1,01 minutes behind in 6th followed by Subsar and Duo with Mariella just outside the points.
With just 3 laps to to there was some excitement though as Beccan started to smoke from 4th, with Fondelli and Jakobsson right behind him! Only 2 seconds separated the 3 cars and Beccan couldn't keep his place as Fondelli and Jakobsson roared past his broken car. However the 3-stopping Jakobsson had a much faster car than the 1-stopping Fondelli and on the final lap he made a move coming out of turn 5 to claim 4th. He was indeed happy at taking two places in the last 3 laps. Further down there was also hard fighting for points as Mariella passed Duo for 8th. He then lost the place again before making his move yet again on the final lap, passing Duo and getting that final point. A very exciting finish to the race.
Overall, Rodriguez scored yet another win to advance to 3rd in the standings, equal on points with Mariella. Nikolic extended his championship lead by finishing 2nd and Jürgenson continued his very impressive form streak with his fourth consecutive points finish, of which 2 have been podiums. His stock is clearly rising. Jakobsson managed to salvage a bad strategy call by finishing 4th, Fondelli's 1-stopper earned him 5th, Beccan smoked home in 6th, Subsar had a quiet race but finished 7th and Mariella got the final point in 8th ahead of the other Silver Bull car of Duo, with Siracusa again scoring another top 10 finish.
Championship standings: Nikolic 83, Jakobsson 77, Rodriguez 55, Mariella 55, Duo 43, Subsar 33, Jürgenson 26, Beccan 20, Rossi 19, Guzzo 15, Fondelli 14, Kajati 9, Ferreira 5, Skarelis 4, Suciu 4, Marankey 3, Malul 2, Siracusa 1.
Impressive performance: Robert Kearney - after a slow start to the season he has been steadily improving and 14th was a new season best, 3 of the last 4 races he has been in the top 15 and maybe he will challenge for a top 10-spot soon?
Race to forget: Mario Rossi - After a very strong start to the season his races has declined dramatically of late, with a 20th place finish in Hungary and 30th this race in a smoking car. Perhaps he has achieved what he wants this season and is already planning ahead?
Race tonight in Brasilia, let's have some fun! :)
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Congratulations Roland Jakobsson for the championship.
Good management and good luck in PRO
We will miss your analysis
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Congratulations Roland Jakobsson
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Congratulations also to the promoted
Nikolic Andreja
Roberto Mariella
Gabriel Rodriguez
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Thank you Antonio! I really appreciate the kind words you have been writing about my reporting! :)
Thank you too Stefano, it has been nice racing against you this season! I remember well how you outsmarted me at the Hungaroring! :)
I will miss you guys in the group. Even though I will probably be back in another amateur group the season after next it won't be the same ;)
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Roland Jakobsson,
Andreja Nikolici, Roberto Mariella Gabriel Rodriguez congrats.... Good luck on PRO...
Roland Jakobsson, thanks for your comentarry`s...
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Will miss you and your interactions Rollo.
congrats on the promotion to pro, well done to the other promoters too.
good luck to you all in pro.
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Thanks Egidijus and Rob! :)
I will give my best in the pros next season, but I just saw all 4 dudes who promoted last season went straight back down again, so I'm managing expectations :)
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