September 01, 2011
Published on tags: Superleague
The Brazilian GP turned into a rout for pretty much everyone who wasn't driving a Nordsjoen, as Joe Consiglio and Pavel Loknovski scored the team's first 1-2 of the season in dominant fashion - being the only two drivers to finish on the lead lap.


Qualifying saw another top performance by Consiglio, who demonstrated to be the one-lap specialist this season and clocked at 1:07.950 time - a whopping 7 tenths of a second in front of David Jundt on Red Archer. Loknovksi suffered another disappointing qualifying session but still managed to put his car in the second row, alongside Dave Carr-Smith of Midnight. The English team's moment of form was highlighted also by Nick Rowland, who lined up in fifth place, right ahead of Championship leader Lee Morris, who was left to rue the lack of development of his Draig Racing car once again.


The start went remarkably well up front, with Consiglio getting a quick jump off the line, followed by Loknovski, Carr-Smith and a slow-starting Jundt. Way back, however, chaos ensured when Ojay Clark collided with Mark Wicks, sending the Cornish driver into the barriers for his first turn-1 retirement since Australia 2009. Clark managed to continue with severe damage to the front end of the car.


It took remarkably little time for Consiglio to sail away in the distance, and the fight unfolding behind him surely helped the Maltese ace. With Loknovski paying guard, Carr-Smith, Jundt and Morris started a furious fight for P3 - Morris struggling in straight line speed but able to stick to his opponents' rear wings during the twisty mid-section. A contact at the start of lap 8 costed Carr-Smith a front wing and put both Jundt and Morris in the sand, relegating DCS to the lower ranks, while at the same time promoting team-mate Rowland to a position in the thick of the action.


Rowland was destined not to finish his race, retiring on lap 37. Morris and Jundt caught up with Loknovski and the trio traded positions for several laps, but the Draig Racing driver ended up colliding with both his rivals before opting to limit the damage for this Brazilian expedition and see his car through in fourth - and having to suffer a lapping maneuvre by Consiglio himself.


Carr-Smith recovered from his early trouble to finish a creditable 5th, while Mark and David Stanton were 6th and 7th - their connection, unlike Jason Muscat's, lasting the distance. Yet another retirement put Muscat 69 points adrift of Morris - with 75 still available, mathematics is the only factor keeping the Maltese youngster in the race.


Phil Perkins, at his first race for Draig, brought some points to the Welsh team with 8th, while Ojay Clark and Mark Fuller were the last finishers in the points.


In the Drivers' standings, Joe Consiglio closed his gap to Morris down to 14 points with 5 races left; behind the leading duo, David Jundt still harbours faint hopes of the Crown having gained two points over Morris and being now 49 points shy of the English driver. In the Constructors' Championship, Nordsjoen's 1-2 put them within striking distance of Red Archer; while 23 points separate the two, Jason Muscat's ongoing connection problems mean the Greek team has an uphill struggle to manage their previously very healthy lead in the rankings.