February 28, 2018

 

Thrills and spills were the key words as the Supercup season started in Australia, with four drivers opening an early gap in the championship.
Fireworks were expected and fireworks were delivered by the Supercup - and the rain that fell on Melbourne didn't dampen the spirits of the drivers involved, but rather created two exciting races.

Rain is a big equaliser, and with the track going from wet to dry in qualifying, the result was a bit of a mixed bag, Maciej Mlynek eventually claiming the first pole position of the season ahead of Lewis Redshaw. Niranjan Kumar and Daniel Brewer completed the top two rows.

Polish ace Mlynek's attempt to cruise to a win was doomed, though, as electronic issues forced him out on lap six - after emerging unscathed by a big crash at the start. With the leading position left vacant, an all-Dutch battle opened up between Stephane Rouault and Roy Schroten. The treacherous conditions were ready to claim important victims, but a vast majority of the field managed to make it to the end of the race. Rouault managed to keep Schroten at bay, finishing a comfortable four seconds ahead, as his rivals fended off Brewer for second. Jack Mayor made a strong recovery from a pit start to finish fifth, behind Osvaldo Angelone - the two of them, alongside Bastian Paisler, making the first stint on soft tyres work to their advantage.

Race Two was not without drama, with another few crashes in the opening moments claiming some of the front runners. Early leader Redshaw ran wide at turn one, subsequently making contact with Mayor and effectively ending both's hopes of victory. Yuri Kasdorp and Osvaldo Angelone were able to avoid all the potential pitfalls, keeping their noses clean and coming out with P1 and P2 respectively.

The results see Rouault leading the championship with 35 points, two ahead of Angelone. Kasdorp and Brewer are a further point adrift, but crucially nine ahead of fifth-placed Roy Schroten.

In the teams' rankings, Scuderia Basilea took an early lead and has a four-point gap over Cosmo Seiki Japan and Scuderia Clay Geeli. YTF1 rounds up the teams above the 30-point mark.

Check the full results of the race.

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