Andrew Hurn medal 5000 12 years 19 days ago
British Racing League – Elite Tier - Season 16 Review
This was our most competitive season yet. 11 drivers stood on the top step of the podium & both championships came down to the penultimate round at Brazil. With so many drivers winning, both title winners scored just 2 victories & more than ever the importance of consistency would determine the results. The winner of the drivers title scored in every round & was the only driver to do so; the winner of the teams had just 1 non score. Also the teams title was won with the lowest score ever in our league & the drivers title with only 6 points more than the lowest.
This season further highlighted the gap between Pro & Elite. Neither of the newly promoted teams managed to score, perhaps suggesting that the gap was turning into a chasm. Noob GP came closest, missing out on a point by less than 2 seconds at Turkey. Makla Motorsport who won the title last season in Pro, had a best finish of just 15th at Malaysia. This also showed the increasing gap within the tier, the top 7 teams scoring 96.6% of the available points, the remaining 9 teams, scoring just 58 points between them. It will be interesting to see which of these teams can make that leap into the elite of elite.
Australia
Qualifying was wet & Chan took the pole for Reidj Scuderia (RS), with the top 16 covered by 1 second.
Chan led away & after the opening round of pit stops on lap 15, he led his team mate Juhno by 3.1 seconds. Behind them Zerdzinski, EJ Technical Motorsport, (EJTM) who always goes well in the wet, was 3rd, with Smetowski, Richard Johnstone Racing (RJR), a further 5.8 seconds back & Mookjai for Lemon GP right behind in 5th. The rain stopped on lap 19 & as usual everyone watched to see who would flinch first.
Zerdzinski was pitting that lap anyway & took inters, as did the RJR pair. Some however took softs immediatly but lapped 10 seconds slower than the inters. Zerdzinski took the lead on lap 23 & by lap 29 he was 13 seconds in front when he stopped again, this time for softs. Behind him the order was Chan 4.9 Juhno 12.7 Donk (EJTM), 2.5 Rossi for Atomic GP F1. Zerdzinski led to the flag finishing 18 seconds ahead of Smetowski 1.7 Chan 2.4 Juhno 2.1 Donk.
Malaysia
Rossi took pole with 1 second covering the 1st 11. King qualified 4th for QE Lyons Mercedes (QELM), but was already into the lead by lap 5. He stopped early on lap 8, but by lap 13 was back into the lead. The order after the opening stops on lap 15 was King 2.3 Smetowski 0.6 Juhno 0.9 Zerdzinski 0.8 Rossi. At half distance on lap 28 King still led, but Smetowski was just 0.9 behind then 3.4 Castro (RJR), 2.4 Zerdzinski 3.4 Juhno.
By lap 46 with 10 laps to go & what seemed to be the final stops completed, Smetowski was now leading, 1.9 Juhno 1.3 Chan 0.2 King 0.3 Kuznetsov (Atomic), however, some were stopping again.Smetowski stopped on lap 47 for more soft tyres, but he was 1 lap short of fuel & stopped again on the final lap, dropping him to 8th. Juhno & Chan stopped on lap 50 & they would finish 3rd & 4th. King was now back in the lead, but Kuznetsov also pitted again on lap 49, promoted Zerdzinski to 2nd & left him in 6th. Onishi for QELM made up the top 5.
China
Onishi took pole & 1 second covered the top 16. Onishi led from start to finish without being challenged. Zerdzinski was near the front for much of the race, until it showed that he was 5 stopping, instead of the 1st 5 who 4 stopped. Castro finished 3.7 seconds behind in 2nd & his team mate a further 5.5 back. Kuznetsov who qualified 11th did a good job to finish 4th & King was a little off the pace in 5th.
Drivers: Zerdzinski 51, Smetowski 37, King 35, Onishi 35, Chan 29.
Teams: QELM 70, EJTM 61, RJR 61, RS 56, Atomic 34.
Bahrain
Nguyen took pole for Lemon & the top 22 were covered by 1 second. Kuznetsov was 2nd on the grid & took the lead on lap 7. On adjusted time he led from here to the flag. Castro who qualified 5th, made it into 2nd on lap 8 & on adjusted time he was 2nd throughout finishing 5.6 seconds behind. Zerdzinski qualified all the way down in 21st & briefly led before his opening stop on lap 12, but went on to finish 3rd 4.1 behind Castro. Onishi finished 4th & was challenged towards the end by Smetowski, but he couldn't get close enough to mount an attack & finished 5th, just 0.6 behind.
Spain
The Atomic pair of Tarantini & Kuznetsov locked out the front row & 1 second covered the top 15. Tarantini led from start to finish, with Kuznetsov riding shot gun; they were 10 seconds in front at the end. Behind them there was more formation flying from the Lemon team who qualified 13th & 14th, but steadily made their way through the field, Mookjai finishing just ahead of Nguyen in 3rd & 4th. King had a uneventful run to 5th.
QELM surprised many by firing Onishi after this race. Whilst he may not have been in the same class as King, would his replacement be good enough to keep up their challenge in the teams title?
Monaco
Mookjai qualified on pole for Lemon, with 1 second covering the 1st 22. Chan was quite simply brilliant here. He qualified 4th & took the lead on lap 14. Mookjai took the lead back when Chan stopped 2 laps later, but it was brief & Chan was back in front on lap 28. He held it to the flag, finishing some 16 seconds ahead of the rest. King had qualified 6th, but took 2nd place on lap 33 & held this position to the end. He was almost 14 seconds ahead of Juhno in 3rd with the pole sitting Mookjai in 4th. Castro had been 3rd in the middle of the race, but slipped back a little finishing 5th.
Drivers: Zerdzinski 80, Kuznetsov 72, King 71, Smetowski 57, Castro 56.
Teams: QELM 124, Atomic 113, RJR 113, RS 99, EJTM 90.
Turkey
Castro was on pole with the 1st 12 within 1 second. Castro led from start to finish. Zerdzinski who qualified down in 19th, had a superb race & was just 2 seconds behind at the end. That was the closest he had been all race & behind them the battle was on for 3rd. Smetowski, Kuznetsov & Tarantini were locked together for the entire race. Zerdzinski had rather methodically picked them off, but they were rarely more than a few seconds apart. Smetowski had the advantage for much of the race & after the final stops the order was: Castro 3.3 Zerdzinski 1.9 Smetowski 0.4 Kuznetsov 3.4 Tarantini. On lap 55 with 3 to go, Kuznetsov used up his Kers & passed Smetowski. Tarantini was immediately onto his tail & slid by on the last lap.
Before the next round we were joined by Jason & his Doxjq team who would have an immediate impact.
GB
The weather forecast was for showers & this caught out many. It wasn't raining when qualifying started, but the track was still damp. Those who qualified with dry settings faired best. Once again the Atomic pair locked out the front row & 1 second covered just the top 5. By about lap 3 the track was dry enough for slicks & those who had started on them took the advantage. After the 1st stops on lap 18, the order was Ortega for Doxjq, 1.2 Chan 0.8 King 1.1 Mansell, Doxjq, 6.4 Juhno. By halfway some had only stopped once & some had already stopped 3 times. The order was Mookjai 1.6 Ortega 2.2 Chan 2.1 Nguyen 0.4 Mansell. After the final stops on lap 52 Mookjai still led but he had King right on his tail, just 0.6 behind, then it was 5.7 Nguyen 0.7 Ortega & 1.3 Mansell. Ortega was passed by his team mate with 2 laps to go & that sealed the order for 3rd to 5th, but upfront King was getting even nearer to Mookjai.
On lap 53 it was 0.4, then Mookjai set his fastest lap of the race, but King was even faster closing to just 0.3. On lap 55 King got by & had half a second when they crossed the stripe but Mookjai was not done. The gap was 0.2 next time round, then 0.2 again 0.2, 0.1. The final lap, could King hold on? No, he had burnt his tyres & Mookjai passed easily to take the victory. A superb finish.
King was 2nd in the drivers title at this point, but inexplicably he scored just 6 points from the next 6 races.
Germany
Kuznetsov was on pole with the 1st 20 covered by 1 second. He led away, but Mansell from 2nd on the grid passed on lap 10. After a top 5 finish in his opening race Mansell found the sweet spot here & took the victory by an impressive 21 seconds. His team mate Ortega was into 2nd before halfway & stayed there until the end. Castro was just 0.9 behind at the flag, but was never close enough to challenge. Behind them Smetowski finished 4.3 behind his team mate & Zerdzinski was another 6.5 seconds back.
Drivers: Zerdzinski 109, King 101, Kuznetsov 97, Castro 96, Smetowski 79.
Teams: RJR 175, Atomic 156, QELM 154, EJTM 125, RS 105.
Things did not go so well for Kuznetsov after this round, he scored just 20 points more.
Hungary
Chan took pole with the top 20 covered by 1 second. He looked good here & led much of the race, finally losing the lead with 11 laps to go. Mansell was never more than 4 seconds behind & passed relatively easily to take the win. That was 2 in-a-row & those at the front of the championships started to look over their shoulder wondering whether Mansell & Doxjq were going to catch up. Chan finished 2nd some 7 seconds behind. The battle for the minor places was hotting up. Zerdzinski had been 3rd for some time but towards the end, both Castro & Ortega were catching him. On lap 61, after the final stops, Zerdzinski was still 3rd, but now Castro was just 1 second back, with Ortega a further second behind him.
On lap 62 Castro got much closer to Zerdzinski & challenged in the drs zone, but could not make it by. On the next lap Ortega slid passed Castro to be just 1.3 behind Zerdzinski. Lap 64 & Ortega was 1.3 behind, with Castro just 0.3 behind him. Lap 65, Zerdzinski 1.3 Ortega 0.4 Castro. Lapp 66 the same gaps & lap 67. Just 3 to go, Zerdzinski 0.7 Ortega 0.8 Castro. Lap 68, Zerdzinski 0.7 Ortega 0.9 Castro. Both Zerdzinski & Ortega set their fastest laps on the penultimate lap meaning Castro would have to settle for 5th. The gap was just 0.5 between 3rd & 4th & despite Ortega bringing the gap down to just 0.3, it wasn't enough & Zerdzinski took the final podium spot.
Europe
Ortega took pole by just 2 thousandths of a second from King & the 1st 24 were covered by 1 second. Mansell had qualified 7th but was 1st after the opening round of stops. He & Ortega circulated in formation for the rest of the race with Ortega taking the win some 14 seconds in front of Zerdzinski in 3rd. Nguyen was 4th a further 12 seconds back & Castro rounded out the top 5.
Belgium
It was raining here, (as usual) & there were no prizes for guessing that the pole sitter was Zerdzinski. But he was just 1 thousandth of a second ahead of Pospisil for Invictus Competition, (IC) & the the top 13 were covered by 1 second. After the opening stops on lap 10 the order was Zerdzinski 4.0 Mansell 1.6 Pospisil 1.5 Juhno 0.1 Schmidt for That Slow Team, (TST). It stopped raining on lap 25, when the order was Juhno 4.7 Mansell 0.4 Chan 0.6 Zerdzinski 4.0 Ortega.
Juhno & Chan stopped on lap 27 & took inters. Mansell & Ortega stopped 2 laps later & they also took inters. Zerdzinski stopped on lap 30 & critically chose softs. For once he had made a mistake & instead of challenging for the lead he would finish 4th. Juhno & Chan were away with it, finishing some 20 seconds ahead of Mansell, with Ortega in 5th.
Drivers: Zerdzinski 151, Castro 124, King 103, Smetowski 101, Kuznetsov 98.
Teams: RJR 225, EJTM 173, RS 172, Doxjq 170, Atomic 161.
Doxjq chose this moment to fire Ortega which was surprising given his victory just 1 round earlier. He managed 75 points in his 5 races; his replacement would score 45 in the final 5 races. Would this change cost Doxjq the teams title?
Italy
It was wet throughout here. Mansell took the pole & there were 17 covered by 1 second. Chan was on fire here in Italy, beating Zerdzinski at his own game. He was within 1 second a couple of times in the final stint, but Chan was cruising & still had some kers left. The gap was 1.7 seconds at the flag. Juhno on the same strategy as Chan was 3rd & Mansell from pole was 4th. Pospisil, who showed well in the wet at the previous race finished 5th just 3 thousandths ahead of Smetowski.
The 1,3 finish for RS put them 2nd in the teams chase, but they would score only 14 more points finishing 4th.
Singapore
Zerdzinski was on pole, just 2 thousandths of a second ahead of Castro. The 1st 23 were covered by 1 second. It was Zerdzinski's turn to shine & he led the entire race finishing 9 seconds ahead of Castro who was 2nd throughout. Lauda scored his 1st points since replacing Ortega at Doxjq with 3rd place which he held throughout too. Smetowski was 6 seconds back in 4th & Donk kept EJTM in the teams chase with a fine 5th albeit some 18 seconds behind Smetowski. With this win Zerdzinski seemed to have 1 hand on the drivers trophy & with their 2nd & 4th RJR were looking good for the teams title, even though there were still 6 teams in the chase.
Drivers: Zerdzinski 194, Castro 142, Smetowski 121, Chan 117, Mansell 115.
Teams: RJR 263, EJTM 227, RS 212, Doxjq 205, Atomic 161.
In the drivers title even if Castro won the last 3 races, Zerdzinski needed just 24 more points to win.
Japan
Kuznetsov was on pole with the top 15 covered by 1 second. After the opening stops on lap 15 the order was Smetowski 0.9 King 2.1 Castro 1.2 Kuznetsov 0.6 Zerdzinski. By lap 22 Castro had pushed through to lead & was still there at the end, finishing 5.5 seconds ahead of the rest. Behind him though the race was on for the minor placings which saw a great battle between Smetowski, Zerdzinski, Tarantini, Nguyen, Kuznetsov & King.
King was 2nd for a while, then Kuznetsov, Nguyen & Tarantini. After the final stops on lap 47, the order was Castro 6.3 King 2.8 Zerdzinski 0.4 Nguyen 0.2 Kuznetsov. King would take 2nd despite a late challenge from Kuznetsov who was 6th after his final stop, but set a blistering pace first cutting past Zerdzinski, & then Nguyen on the same lap. He then took Tarantini on the penultimate lap & finished just 0.5 behind King. Nguyen battled with Tarantini on the final lap, finishing just ahead. The final order was Castro 5.5 King 0.5 Kuznetsov 1.3 Nguyen 0.7 Tarantini. Probably the best race of the season.
With just 2 rounds remaining the points were:
Drivers: Zerdzinski 202, Castro 167, Smetowski 127, King 121, Chan 117.
Teams: RJR 294, EJTM 239, RS 212, Doxjq 206, Atomic 186.
If Castro wins the last 2 races, Zerdzinski needs 16 points to win & just 3 teams remained in the teams title.
Brazil
Tarantini took pole & the top 19 were covered by 1 second. After the 1st pit stops on lap 18 Tarantini led by 4.3 to Castro 0.3 King 2.9 Smetowski 0.5 Mansell. By halfway the order was King 7.2 Mansell 2.9 Lauda 4.7 Castro 3.2 Smetowski. Mansell took the lead 3 laps later & held it to the flag. Lauda qualified 7th & slowly made his way through to 2nd place by lap 26 a position he held to the end. King was a comfortable 3rd, 10 seconds behind Lauda. Behind them Castro & Zerdzinski squabbled over 4th. Castro went passed on the penultimate lap, but Zerdzinski took it back at the start if the last lap. The gap was 0.2 over the line.
With Castro 5th & Smetowski 7th, RJR took their 7th teams title & with it 100 ranking points. As Castro had not won, Zerdzinski took his 6th drivers title. The race was still on though for the 2nd 100 ranking points & there were still 3 teams in the chase.
Drivers: Zerdzinski 214, Castro 177, Mansell 141, King 136, Smetowski 133.
Teams: RJR 310, EJTM 251, Doxjq 249, RS 212, Atomic 198.
Abu Dhabi
Castro celebrated his teams victory with pole position & 1 second covered the 1st 16. Mansell qualified 6th but was quickly into 2nd. Castro still led at halfway, but Mansell was getting nearer. Into their 3rd stint & Mansell was now right behind, the gap never more than 1.5 seconds. Castro stopped on lap 32 but critically Mansell went 1 lap longer & took the lead. For much of their 4th stint, Castro was less than a second behind, but he was starting to have some suspension problems & began to drop back. Mansell took his 4th win, 2 more than anyone else & he had missed the opening 7 races. Castro was a fine 2nd, with Zerdzinski a couple of seconds behind. Lauda & Juhno rounded out the top 5.
The final points standings:
Drivers: Zerdzinski 229, Castro 195, Mansell 166, King 142, Smetowski 141.
Teams: RJR 336, Doxjq 286, EJTM 267, RS 226, Atomic 198.
So what can we learn from season 16? Well, consistency was more important than ever; there was a growing gap between Pro & Elite; a sort of Elite within Elite was forming; some had underperformed & would probably be a lot stronger next season; Reidj showed again that if he had more time he could challenge at the front & if Jason had joined sooner, he would have been challenging for both titles.
This was our most competitive season yet, with 11 different winners, how many would be able to win next season?
Edwin Smith
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