Difference between revisions of "2011 Austrian Grand Prix"

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25px   2002 Brazilian Grand Prix

Race details
Race {{{Race_No}}} of the 2002 Superleague season
200px
Date	March 27th - April 1st, 2002
Official name	XXXI Grande Prêmio do Brasil
Location	Autódromo José Carlos Pace São Paulo, Brazil
Course	Permanent Racing Facility 2.667 mi / 4.309 km
Distance	72 laps, 192.024 mi / 310.248 km
Weather	Clear, Air Temp: 30°C
Pole position
Driver	Daan Van Renswoude	Hernj-Roaldo-BMW
Time	1:15.467
Fastest Lap
Driver	Pedro Daniel Miguel	Hernj-Roaldo-BMW
Time	1:16.261
Podium
First	Pedro Daniel Miguel	Hernj-Roaldo-BMW
Second	Andrew Turner	MCR-Mercedes
Third	Kieran Ryan	Mapes-VO-Honda

The 2011 Austrian Grand Prix for the Superleague - the sixth race of the season - took place on the A1-Ring track in Spielberg, Austria on the 12th of May.

Summary

A memorable race at the Red Bull Ring in Austria saw the top three finishers separated by a mere 0.2s as Jason Muscat interrupted the streak of successive victories of Lee Morris, who finished third. Joe Consiglio was sandwiched between the two in one of the closest finishes in the history of GPVWC.

Sam Millar and Synergetic had notched up the second consecutive best performance in qualifying, the Scotsman lining up on the grid next to Muscat, with Championship leader Morris in third and Consiglio in fourth. 2011 debutant Luis Fernando Laaff, on Constant, was an excellent 5th, with Dave Carr-Smith in 6th splitting the two Constant Racings. The other debutant in the race, Teemu Toikka, lined up in 21st.

Both Sam Millar and Lee Morris had really poor starts, falling prey of the more agile Renault-powered Constant Racings and Red Archer. By the famed Remuskurve, Joe Consiglio was leading Muscat, with Sam Millar third ahead of Lee Morris, who had muscled past the two Constants and was now chasing the leading trio. Millar's race, however, was to take a turn for the worse as he collided with Muscat and spun off the track, rejoining a low 11th and seeing his strategy, which included a really light first stint, fatally compromised.

The leaders - now reduced to a trio of Consiglio, Morris and Muscat - set up a race-long battle, finding themselves within a second of each other after the last round of stops. An amazing 15-lap battle ensued, with the lead being swapped and traded several times. Muscat, on 26-laps old tyres, got the lead some 5 laps from the end and, despite intense pressure from his rivals, who kept fighting until the very end, never relinquished his position. The cars all crossed the finish line within 0.2s of each other, making it possibly the closest finish in GPVWC history and surely a memorable race for all.

Lee Morris sees his lead in the Championship still in a solid position, although the verdict from this race is that Nordsjoen, Red Archer and Synergetic all can play a massive part in this championship.