2016 PCC Europe: Race 6: Italy
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2016 PCC Europe: Race 6: Italy
- Press Releases:
- Kindahl Takes Win At Dallara
Klara Kindahl took her first win of the 2016 PCC Europe Series season in dramatic fashion at the Dallara Circuit, passing Grigoriy Novakovsky with just two laps remaining. Kindahl started in second, behind polesitter Kristoffer Laaksonen, and stayed in that position until Laaksonen made a strategy call by pitting early on lap thirteen. On lap fifteen, Kindahl caught lapped traffic in the form of the damaged cars of Anders Magnussen and Leonid Chernov, who had both made unscheduled pitstops earlier in the race. Enter Grigoriy Novakovsky, who had been catching Kindahl steadily for the previous five laps. Using a block by Chernov, Novakovsky was able to take the lead from Kindahl. The #2 DataDyne Saturn fell two seconds behind before making her only pitstop on lap eighteen, and lost a further two seconds in the pits. With only three laps to go, Kindahl was five and a half seconds back from Novakovsky. Around this time, Novakovsky caught the slower car of John Bracchi and attempted to lap him. Bracchi held his ground, refusing to go a lap down, and in the process cost Novakovsky almost four seconds that lap. The next lap, Kindahl caught Novakovsky and made the pass on the back portion of the track. Novakovsky made a last-ditch effort to catch Kindahl on the last lap, but drove wide in the second turn, ending his chances of winning.
With this win, Klara Kindahl also moves into the points lead on 223 points, three markers ahead of main championship rival Kristoffer Laaksonen.
Ambleton Takes Maiden Podium
Ingrid Jane Ambleton finished third in the PCC Europe Round of Italy, marking Master Sport Motorsports' second podium of the season. Ambleton qualified in twelfth, but an amazing start off the line meant that by the time she reached the start-finish line she was already up to tenth. By the end of lap one she was up to eighth. After that, it was a matter of picking up positions through attrition. One by one, drivers in front of her had problems, elevating her position slowly and steadily. Ambleton only passed Giampaolo Fini on pace after the first lap, but was fast enough to keep everyone else behind her. After Antonen's untimely exit from the race on lap eighteen, Ambleton found herself in third position, where she would remain the rest of the event.
With this finish, Ingrid Jane Ambleton maintains her sixth place spot in points, sitting on 169 points, just two points adrift of fifth place Izaak Kowalczyk. This makes her the highest-performing driver in points for MSM.
Engine Issues End Day for Schmidt
Championship hopeful Jan Schmidt's title hopes hit a major bump today as he finished thirty-eighth, dropping out of the race after only eight laps when his engine expired. Schmidt was hoping to have a strong run today, as he had qualified his car fourth. On the standing start, Schmidt made a move to get around his teammate Laaksonen, who sluggishly got off the line. In doing so, Schmidt ran out of racetrack and ended up in the grass, slowing his car and allowing several cars to get by. Schmidt was able to climb his way back to fifth by the end of the first lap, but was unable to improve his position until his motor let go suddenly on the eighth lap of the race. It was a weekend to forget for Altoros Gessler GP, as both Schmidt and Laaksonen experienced engine issues of some sort throughout the race.
With this finish, Jan Schmidt falls to third in the championship, maintaining his pre-race total of 213 points. He sits ten points behind points leader Klara Kindahl.
Tough Day for Laaksonen Results in Minimal Points
Despite qualifying on the pole and leading the most laps today, defending champion Kristoffer Laaksonen's day did not go as he had planned and ended with a poor result. Laaksonen qualified on the pole and led the first eleven laps, but on lap twelve picked up a vibration in the front end that got more severe as the lap went on. He brought the car into the pits earlier than expected, and surrendered the lead to Klara Kindahl. After his pit stop, Laaksonen reported that he had lost some power from the motor, and his lap time showed. After his pit stop, he was running two seconds a lap on average slower than before the pit stop. However, even with this loss of power, a top ten finish was still on the cards. That is, until Phillip Benoit-Hogan happened to Laaksonen on lap twenty-one. Laaksonen had been defending the position for the past lap, and made a pass on Benoit-Hogan in the last sector of the track. Then, entering the front stretch, the #01 caught the #1 of Laaksonen and caught his rear quarter panel, turning him in a straight line. Benoit-Hogan swept across the front bumper of ninth-place Keegan Mallory, who himself turned the #01. This sent all three cars into the left-hand wall on the frontstretch. Laaksonen had to make another pit stop to repair damage, and Benoit-Hogan was called to the hauler for avoidable contact. To add insult to injury, Laaksonen lost a cylinder late in the race and was running times eight seconds off of the leaders by the end of the race. He limped home twenty-fifth, but still grabbed ten points for winning the pole and leading the most laps.
With this finish, Kristoffer Laaksonen sits second in the championship with 220 points. He managed to pass his teammate Jan Schmidt, who had his own issues today, in points, but fell behind race-winner Klara Kindahl.
Mechanical Failure Ends Podium Run for Zarapin
A potential podium run for Lev Zarapin and Russian Bears Motorsports was spoiled just past halfway when the #99 Mechel Katzev sputtered to a halt in the first sector of the track. Russian Bears' miracle season continued in qualifying, with Zarapin putting his car fourth on the grid. At the end of lap one, he sat third, and would only lose a position to Grigoriy Novakovsky on lap eight. With the leader Kristoffer Laaksonen making an early stop on lap twelve, Zarapin moved up into third position and was set to secure the final spot on the podium. Unfortunately, several turns later, the electronics failed in the car and Zarapin coasted to a halt, ending his day early.
With this finish, Lev Zarapin sits eleventh in the championship with 83 points. His season has shown flashes of brilliance, with a podium in Latvia, but overall mechanical failures have severely hampered his season.
Crash Damage Takes Antonen out of Podium
Tussi Antonen misjudged his braking point coming up to lap Eun Yong Kim with just a few laps to go in the PCC Europe Round of Italy, and ended his day with a punctured radiator and smashed hood. The Round 1 Qualifying hero rolled off the grid in seventh place and stayed there for the opening few laps. Just like his teammate Fini, attrition moved their cars up through the running order until both were knocking on the door of the podium. After Lev Zarapin's car broke down, Antonen found himself in third place, staring down a podium. He was keeping pace just in front of Ingrid Jane Ambleton when on lap eighteen he caught debutante Eun Yong Kim in the #52 Air Koryo Pontiac at the end of the back straight. Antonen expected Kim to brake much later than he did, and ended up slamming into the back of the North Korean's car. This punctured the radiator and destroyed the front end of Antonen's car, and he limped the car back to the garage, ending his day.
With this finish, Tussi Antonen sits twenty-first in the championship with 44 points. If he had finished third as projected, he would have moved up to tenth in the standings.
Misko Goes Flipping
- Race Results:
- 1 2 2 K Kindahl 98.550 24 6 180 Running
2 5 66 G Novakovsky -0.80 24 7 175 Running
3 12 47 I Ambleton -21.59 24 0 165 Running
4 10 18 G Fini -30.63 24 0 160 Running
5 8 59 R Lipsbergs -39.06 24 0 155 Running
6 13 11 J Beaufort -43.05 24 0 150 Running
7 15 77 A Kostopoulos -47.91 24 0 146 Running
8 16 76 K Mallory -54.67 24 0 142 Running
9 20 713 S Winslol -56.33 24 0 138 Running
10 9 01 P Benoit-Hogan -1:01.70 24 0 134 Running
11 17 37 M Haas -1:03.02 24 0 130 Running
12 19 109 A Motov -1:03.86 24 0 127 Running
13 18 23 K Scurrel -1:04.97 24 0 124 Running
14 21 81 V Winslol -1:06.16 24 0 121 Running
15 31 44 S Buchanan -1:10.72 24 0 118 Running
16 29 90 N Marchankov -1:13.24 24 0 115 Running
17 6 16 I Kowalczyk -1:15.60 24 0 112 Running
18 25 09 AJ Canton -1:38.23 24 0 109 Running
19 36 03 E Mira -1:39.59 24 0 106 Running
20 32 161 F Steiner -1:43.68 24 0 103 Running
21 26 98 D O'Hara -1:43.92 24 0 100 Running
22 34 43 S Torregrossa -1:44.74 24 0 97 Running
23 38 10 J Sexton -2:05.28 24 0 94 Running
24 30 34 H Ventola -2:09.53 24 0 91 Running
25 1 1 K Laaksonen -2:16.72 24 11* 98 Running
26 14 61 L Chernov -2:23.11 24 0 85 Running
27 35 63 J Bracchi -2:27.44 24 0 82 Running
28 24 33 A Magnussen -1L 23 0 79 Running
29 39 54 C Winslol -1L 23 0 76 Running
30 22 79 R Kousaka -3L 21 0 73 Piston
31 11 78 D Hetzel -3L 21 0 70 Running
32 7 51 T Antonen -6L 18 0 67 Retired
33 33 42 G Balducci -6L 18 0 64 Camshaft
34 40 52 E Kim -6L 18 0 61 Tire
35 4 99 L Zarapin -10L 14 0 58 Retired
36 28 26 A Lake -10L 14 0 55 Running
37 37 31 A Misko -15L 9 0 52 Accident
38 3 27 J Schmidt -17L 7 0 49 Camshaft
39 23 644 M Winslol -23L 1 0 46 Header
40 27 427 A Smith Jr. -24L 0 0 43 Piston
_________________
NR2003 Online Wins: 10 (Most Recent: ARSS @ New York Autoring 8/1/2023)
NR2003 Online Poles: 6 (Most Recent: SOC @ Minnesota State Fairgrounds 12/6/2018)
iRacing Wins: 3
iRacing Poles: 3
iRacing Championships: 1
I eat the weeb pizza.
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