March 12, 2023
Published on tags: 2023

 

Ewan Gale takes a look back at the events of the first round of the 2023 season from Imola.

Tom Stevens took victory in the opening round of the 2023 GPVWC Superleague season at Imola.

The British driver came out on top after a fascinating strategic battle that saw a plethora of tyre choices made throughout the field.
THR put Stevens on a soft-hard-hard strategy that, whilst conceding initial grip and pace to his rivals, provided better wear across his stints, a point that proved crucial when making the race-winning move on Jake Denehan around the outside at Tamburello, though the Edge driver put up a resolute fight.

Former champion Adam Maguire made it three different teams on the podium in the Nocturne, ahead of Daniel Stepkowski for RSR and the one-stopping Moritz Kropp.

Edonis's Robin Pansar also one-stopped and finished sixth ahead of Super Venturi's Jukkapekka Lalu, Epic's Geoffrey Fournier, Pescara's Alessandro Quintaie, whilst reigning Superlights champion Jan Granqvist rounded out the top 10.

In Superlights, Owen McGaugie secured pole and the win to kick off the second tier in style.

The Road2Formula driver held on to the lead after one-stopping, despite the efforts of the hard-charging Fabrizio Gobbi for TX3 on fresher rubber.

Returning 2020 champion Liam de Waal's 10-race winning streak in the championship was broken, though the Dutchman guided his Fusion Racing machine home for third.

In Formula Sprint 1, TOP's Szymon Frelik made the perfect start to the campaign by completing the double.

The Polish driver finished ahead of team-mate Jack Mayor in the 31-lap first race, worth more points, before heading Malta Force driver Mike Kwint in the shorter second event.

Thomas Harvey guided his Spark to third in the first race, whilst Maciej Hyla completed the podium in the sprint.

Formula Sprint 2 saw Luke Mitchell secure wins in both races to underline his championship charge for Alfa Sierra.

The English driver beat Lucas Thylin and team-mate Massimiliano Ribolli in the first race of the GPVWC season, before getting the better of Roy Seifert (Red VEN) and Maxime Beaulieu [Optiminal] in the second.