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Formula Sprint 2
Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka International Racing Course
Tuesday 2nd of April 2024 19:00:00
More
May 10, 2015

 

Walk Racing hit the jackpot in the feature race, adding a steady haul in the sprint race on an impressive race meeting for the team.

The streets of Monaco hosted Round 6 of the 2015 GPVWC Supercup championship, with this event really being the jewel in the championships crown, and a pivotal point in the Drivers Championship. The question on everyone's lips was, can Ruud Hesterbeek hold onto the championship lead?

Estonia's Risto Kappet looked incredibly strong going into this race, with success just a week prior in the World Sports Series race, giving him a huge advantage with additional track and race knowledge.

Qualifying Result
2nd Ruud Heesterbeek
4th Risto Kappet


After qualifying, front row starting Heesterbeek said "Qualifying was crucial as of course in Monaco track position is everything. I had quite a good lap, only made a small mistake in the final sector and I qualified in second place. With Risto qualifying P4 things were looking very good for the race."

4th starting Kappet concluded by saying "Prior to the event, I had great speed, and managed to top the server times. In qualifying I didn't manage to quite hook that special lap up, and was +0.2s off PB and that meant 4th in the very tight field. Was hoping for front row but not a bad result."

Race 1 Result
1st Ruud Heesterbeek
2nd Risto Kappet


Race winner Ruud said "I had a good start and immediately got past Gaczella, who had a poor start. Risto had the best start of everyone and was almost alongside me at the first corner, but we didn't take any risks and continued in first and second place. It then was all about keeping concentrated and staying in a rhythm until the first pit stop. I pitted in lap 20 and came out behind some traffic. A couple of guys went longer on their tyres, so I was worried they might jump me, but in the end I easily kept my lead. I was pushing in the first part of the stint because Risto behind me was driving quickly, but at the end of the stint he started to take it easy or his tyres dropped off, so I could drive to the finish without any risks. Our first one-two finish of the season, a great team result!"


2nd place, and still chasing that first win, Risto said "From 2nd and 4th, Ruud and I had a great start and were 1-2 by the 1st corner! Then it was a matter of using our stable pace and keeping the positions. For the first few laps, I was hampered from behind, but then found the rhythm and slowly gained on Ruud. I was close enough to even pressure him at some point, but that was unnecessary even if I wanted to win, and I was very aggressive on the tyres so I dropped off at the end of first stint. For the second stint, again I was keeping the gaps all around me, but dropped off a bit in the end, but kept the great 2nd place and Ruud of course, the 1st place! Super!"


Race 2 Result
4th Ruud Heesterbeek
15th Risto Kappet


Fourth place was another solid finish for Heesterbeek, who said "In race 2 I knew overtaking was going to be virtually impossible, so my plan was not to take any risks and profit from other people's mistakes. I started from P7, got alongside Gaczella but I couldn't pass him around the outside of turn 1. Risto and De Vries came together at turn 1, dropping way down the field, so I was running in 5th. After Siggy spun and lost his front wing, I was running in fourth. Muscat in second place was holding me and Gaczella up big time. Gaczella never got passed Muscat and I never got passed Gaczella, so that's how we finished. It was a bit of a dull end of the event, but that is just how Monaco is, and I scored important points for the championship again."


After a tough start to his race, Risto described the second race, "It was looking like a promising race, with a short reverse grid and our great starts. Up to T1 it was all looking good, with passing cars again, but into T1, I was unfortunately bumped from behind by de Vries and had a half-spin, losing about 6 places."

"I had all intentions to still take it easy, and just see people fall off as it was hard to overtake in this track with such a competitive field. Because of this, I went from P14 to P10 by midpoint, and found myself behind a train leading all the way to P2. I couldn't really make progress since my car was damaged from T1, but then made a serious and sad mistake myself, out of last corner and binned it, losing my wing and having to pit. With option tyres however, I still tried to go for the points from well behind and got there! After some serious fighting and doing last few laps with totally collapsed suspension I managed to salvage P15 and a single point, but like WSS, the second race in general was a total disappointment again."


Championship Standings
1st Ruud Heesterbeek 202pts
7th Risto Kappet 97pts


With Walk Racing leading the championship with an impressive 299 points!

Continuing his stranglehold on the championship, Ruud Heesterbeek said "It was a great event for us, even though Risto was unlucky in race 2. We increased our lead in both championships and I think the momentum is with us now going into the next events."

Risto continued, "As a team, it was great as usual! Thanks to Ruud, we pulled away even further so that is great! Now that Monaco is done, hope to keep up my pace which is now totally worth of winning, but work on race consistency and real results. It will take real work if I want to get to my goal of finishing 1-2 with Ruud in the overall championship."

Team boss Mr C said "Wow, 1,2 and lot's of points in the bag, at a track where I was expecting bad results or more likely bad luck. So I am very happy, extremely happy in fact, and I hope all goes as good as until now, for the rest of the season. Big thaks to Ruud and Risto, I really can't ask for more!"