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Formula Sprint 2
Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka International Racing Course
Tuesday 2nd of April 2024 19:00:00
More
May 03, 2018

 

Edonis engineering driver Arne Schoonvliet takes a commanding win, closing up even further to championship leader Risto Kappet.
Qualifying was topped by the Epic Radical of Borja Millan, scoring his first ever World GT pole position, 0.072s ahead of Arne Schoonvliet. Chris Shepherd was third and championship leader Risto Kappet fourth.

Mateusz Bogusz of Simtech impressed in fifth, five places ahead of his teammate Kevin Ryan who seemed unstoppable in the beginning of the season. Kieran Vernon, another real racing driver for Downforce Racing did great to qualify ahead of Ryan in ninth.

Millan's joy did not last long as he was overtaken immediately by Schoonvliet, starting the rolling start from the inside lane. Kappet did the same move on Shepherd and before the lap was done, the Estonian also put a move on the Radical and came out on top after the last sector.

The order at the front stayed the same until the end of the race with Schoonvliet controlling the pace in front while Shepherd pressurized Kappet hard until the pitstops, where the thirstier Mclaren of Shepherd needed more time to refuel and lost touch with the Estonian.

Further behind, Yuri Kasdorp was also on the move, getting ahead of the chasing pack into fourth, to hold the position throughout the race, closely followed by Barclay and Bogusz. Millan had a troubled race and ended up in eighth position, just ahead of his teammate Caruso in nintth.

Lewis McGlade had a successful comeback in tenth with Delgado, Veit, Vernon and Helpap all scoring their first points of the season in the hectic race, with the short tight circuit proving difficult in the opening laps and also for lapped cars. An unrelated casualty of the race was Kevin Ryan, who suffered a disconnection while making strides up the field, the second DNF in a row for the Irish driver.

As the series moves to Monza for the next round, Schoonvliet is now only seven points away from Kappet, while STAX Racing, with possibly the best duo of drivers in the field, close to only three points of ACR Zakspeed.

Full results: HERE.

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