Andrew Hurn medal 5000 11 years 296 days ago
British Racing League – Elite Tier – Season 20 Review
This season was dominated by 2 teams scoring almost 2/3rds of the available points. There was a great battle for best of the rest & an intriguing tussle for those trying to avoid relegation; all of this demonstrating again the 3 levels within the tier. But as always, there was some great racing.
Australia
Nowak was on pole for Follow Me On Twitter (FMOT) & in close grid, which would be a feature of this season, the top 26 were covered by 1 second. Nowak led from start to finish & Lauda for Doxjq was 2nd from 6th on the grid. He got to within 1.5 seconds on lap 55, but this was not near enough to challenge for the lead. Palmer (FMOT) had been 3rd until his final stint when he was passed by Mansell (Doxjq). Just to signify their intent, these 4 were 19 seconds ahead of Juhno for Reidj Scuderia (RS) in 5th who came from 16th on the grid.
Malaysia
Monteiro for Project Lyons Mercedes (PLM) took the pole & 1 second covered the 1st 15. Nowak qualified 2nd & chased Monteiro through to the start of their 2nd stint when he went passed. He did not pull away though & Monteiro could stay within a couple of seconds. Webber (PLM) was 3rd on the grid & he could also run at this pace, just a couple of seconds behind his team mate. Lauda made it passed Juhno for 4th & he too could run at this pace, albeit a couple of seconds behind Webber. We looked set for a grandstand finish, but it did not occur. Monteiro did get closer to Nowak, but not close enough to make a difference. Webber did not have Monteiro's speed at the end, but was fast enough to keep Lauda behind & Mansell had been 6th, but passed Palmer in his final stint. PLM were the first to break into the top 4, could they do it regularly? Juric for Ferreira Racing, (FR) finished a fine 8th coming from 22nd on the grid.
China
Pole belonged to Palmer here & the first 21 were covered by 1 second. Palmer led from start to finish as FMOT took victory again. Mansell qualified 4th & was up to 2nd by lap 14 but he could not close the gap & had an unchallenged run to the flag some 10 seconds ahead of Lauda. Nowak was 4th, but was never close enough to Lauda to challenge. Once again it was the PLM pair who did best of the rest in 5th & 6th; Monteiro 4 seconds behind Nowak. The RS pair came from 23rd & 24th on the grid to finish 7th & 8th.
The points:
Drivers: Nowak 62, Palmer 45, Lauda 45, Mansell 43, Monteiro 32.
Teams: FMOT 107, Doxjq 88, PLM 56, RS 36, TST 7.
Bahrain
Pole went to Nowak again & 1 second covered the first 28 on the grid; in places 6 were covered by 0.1. Nowak was starting to look like the favourite for the title, as he led most of the race & had a comfortable 9 seconds over his team mate. Mansell led briefly, but the Doxjq pair were 3rd & 4th, a further 4 seconds behind. That Slow Team, (TST), (who are rapidly out performing this name), were best of the rest coming from 10th & 12th on the grid to be 5th & 6th, but they were a further 9 seconds back.
Spain
Monteiro took his 2nd pole & the first 21 were within a second. Monteiro did not have great pace at the beginning & was 3rd by lap 6, Palmer & Mansell passing him. This was another victory for FMOT, despite Mansell running at the front for a time, when it came to the final stint he was some 3 seconds adrift. Lauda had qualified 2nd & ran there until lap 29 when he started to fall back a little. He was 3rd at the end, 2.5 seconds ahead of Monteiro who broke into the top 4 again with Nowak an uneventful 5th.
Monaco
This was Nowak's 3rd pole position & a front row lockout for FMOT. On one the closest grids ever in this league 0.9 covered the top 30 & 9th to 22nd were covered by just 0.1. In a display of utter domination, Nowak led every lap & he & Palmer were 10 seconds ahead of the rest; FMOT taking all 6 races so far. Castro for Richard Johnstone Racing (RJR), was 3rd on the grid & looked good in 3rd throughout the race but sadly was light on fuel & pitted with 2 laps to go, still finishing a creditable 5th. Lauda was promoted to 3rd & Webber to 4th. Mansell could manage only 7th, behind Schmidt (TST).
The points:
Drivers: Nowak 122, Palmer 106, Lauda 87, Mansell 82, Webber 50.
Teams: FMOT 228, Doxjq 169, PLM 95, RS 47, TST 33.
Turkey
Pole in the rain went to Mansell & just the top 12 were covered by 1 second. It rained throughout here in Turkey & Mansell loved every moment of it, leading from flag to flag, beating FMOT for the 1st time. His team mate came from 4th on the grid to make it a Doxjq one two. Nowak & Palmer were in formation behind & then there were 8 seconds back to Schmidt in 5th. Behind him were some very happy drivers who had taken their opportunity in the wet.
Roux for ColoColo fresh from Pro was 2nd on the grid & went on to take a superb 6th. Stancu & Shulman for ANT, were a fine 7th & 9th & Koponen for Blue Pig was a brilliant 8th. These points would probably be enough to keep them in Elite.
GB
Schneider for EJ Technical Motorsport (EJTM) was astonishingly on pole with the top 29 covered by 1 second. Sadly for Schneider the race did not go well, he was passed for the lead on lap 3 & went on to finish a disappointing 14th. Schmidt had an easy run to 5th some 3 seconds behind the leading 4. After their final stops on lap 53, with 7 to go, the order was Nowak 0.3 Mansell 0.3 Lauda 1.0 Palmer.
Nowak doubled the gap to Mansell the next time by, but Lauda & Palmer were closer, all 4 now covered by a second. Lauda pushed past Mansell on the next lap to be just 0.2 behind Nowak & on the next lap he passed him too. The order was now Lauda 0.7 Nowak 0.2 Mansell 0.3 Palmer. It looked as though anyone could pass at any moment, but they did not & despite entering the final lap separated by just 1.4 seconds the order was sealed. That was 2 consecutive victories for Doxjq & they were only 33 points behind FMOT.
Germany
Lauda took his only pole of the season & in another hectic qualifying the first 29 were covered by 1 second.; just 0.08 separated 3rd from 11th. Palmer who was 2nd on the grid was in a class of one here. He didn't lead every lap, but he was almost 15 seconds clear of the field at the end taking his 3rd win of the season. Lauda & Nowak squabbled over 2nd, with Nowak coming out on top. Weber (TST) qualified 4th & finished 4th a further 12 seconds back & Jerayesh for King Power (KP) broke into the top 5 for the first time this season 4 more seconds behind. Having worked so hard to close the gap to FMOT, Doxjq took just the 15 points from Lauda's 3rd place as Mansell finished a surprising 11th, 28 seconds behind his team mate. Smetowski (RJR) came from 18th on the grid to an excellent 7th & with Castro 6th, this was their best result of the season.
The points:
Drivers: Nowak 173, Palmer 155, Lauda 145, Mansell 122, Webber 54.
Team: FMOT 328, Doxjq 267, PLM 101, TST 73, RS 47.
Hungary
Nowak splashed round for his 4th pole in the wet here & 1 second covered the first 19 on the grid. It rained throughout & tyre temperature was difficult to come by in the nearly freezing conditions. Nowak faired best though again converting his pole into a win; 4 pole positions & 4 clear victories; surely he had one hand on the trophy already. Mansell was just 1.8 seconds behind at the end, but he never looked like challenging for the win. Lauda had qualified just 11th, but was up to 3rd by lap 23 & had a steady run to the flag. EJTM had been having a dreadful season, but they found some form here finishing ahead of Palmer, in 4th & 5th, Schneider coming from 18th on the grid.
Europe
EJTM had definitely turned a corner as Schneider took pole again & Laurent was 3rd. In another close session the first 26 were covered by a second. Schneider led until his 1st stop on lap 9 but Mansell, from 2nd on the grid, took over at the front & took his 2nd victory of the season. He was 3 seconds ahead of Palmer & 5 seconds ahead of Nowak at the flag. EJTM were again best of the rest taking 4th & 5th. Doxjq were having one or two poor results & this was allowing FMOT to get away in the title races; Lauda finishing just 7th. Smetowski had a superb race coming from 26th on the grid to finish 9th.
Belgium
Pole went to Palmer, his 2nd of the season & 1 second covered the first 24. Schmidt went well here holding 5th until the final 3 laps when he was passed by Lauda. Hamilton (KP) was the next victim as Lauda relegated him to 4th. Lauda had sensational speed at the end, but it was not enough to catch Mansell, who finished 3rd. There was an intriguing battle at the front though. Had Palmer's team manager been present for this race he would have won again; but he was not & the challenge came from a somewhat unlikely place. EJTM were definitely going better in the last few races & Schneider was 2nd on the grid.
He was running a different strategy than Palmer & they swapped the lead several times. When they emerged from their final stops on lap 39, Schneider was just ahead, but Palmer was quickly passed. He did not get away though & Schneider was only 0.4 behind the next time round. Palmer extended it to 0.8 on lap 41, but his tyres were getting awfully hot & Schneider closed the gap to 0.6 on the next lap. He chose the penultimate lap to challenge & slid passed in the DRS zone. Palmer's tyres were shot now & Schneider took the first victory for EJTM in 4 seasons. Weber went well again for TST, coming from 21st on the grid to finish 7th.
Doxjq chose this moment to replace Lauda; 1 win & 7 other podiums this season were apparently not enough to secure his place in the team.
The points:
Drivers: Nowak 217, Palmer 199, Mansell 180, Lauda 178, Schmidt 73.
Teams: FMOT 416, Doxjq 358, PLM 105, TST 101, EJTM 84.
Italy
Mansell took his 2nd pole of the season & the top 29 were covered by 0.81. Nowak qualified 5th, but was in the lead by lap 12 & led most of the way from there to take his 6th victory of the season. Mansell was closing in their final stint but was still 1.5 seconds behind at the flag. Palmer was a comfortable 3rd from 12th on the grid & Taia, making his debut for Doxjq, was battling with Schmidt for the minor places. Schmidt held 4th until lap 40 when Taia passed, but Schmidt took the place back on the next lap. Taia was determined to impress on his debut & made the decisive move on the next lap, going on to finish 4th. Schmidt was close towards the end, but not close enough. Jerayesh had a good run coming from 24th on the grid to take the final point in 10th.
Singapore
Schmidt took pole & with many using wet settings for what seemed to be a dry track, only the first 4 were covered by a second. Once again some of the less experienced teams took advantage of the changing conditions; Koponen was 3rd for Blue Pig, Shulman 4th for ANT, the ColoColo pair were 5th & 7th & Magee was 6th for US F1; Taia was the only front runner to qualify well taking 2nd. Mansell managed 9th, but the FMOT pair were all the way down in 24th & 25th. Surely this was an open goal for Doxjq?
Taia did not like the settings he was on & could manage only 9th. Magee was the only one of the newer teams able to capitalise on his qualifying to finish a superb 6th. If there was any doubt about the FMOT pairs' ability to race it was laid to rest here as they managed a miraculous 4th & 5th. But what of the top 3?
Juhno had qualified 10th for RS & steadily made his way through the field to take 3rd, some 7 seconds ahead of Nowak. Many expected Mansell to win easily, but he did not like his settings either & could only manage 2nd, 3 seconds ahead of Juhno. Which left.....Chan for RS; he was 11th on the grid, but led briefly prior to his opening stop. He led most of the way after that & took a comfortable victory 9 seconds ahead of Mansell.
The points:
Drivers: Nowak 254, Palmer 224, Mansell 216, Lauda 178, Schmidt 89.
Teams: FMOT 478, Doxjq 408, TST 121, PLM 105, EJTM 97.
Japan
Taia was on pole & in another close qualifying session, 0.71 covered the top 30. In fact 0.1 covered 11 in the middle of the grid. It was another victory from pole, this time for Taia who led every lap. Palmer was 2nd on the grid & he held 2nd for every lap too, albeit 9 seconds behind Taia. Nowak qualified 9th, but was 3rd by lap 6 & held this place throughout 3 seconds behind his team mate. Jerayesh held off a late challenge from Schneider for the minor places & Monteiro came from 19th on the the grid to finish 7th.
Brazil
Once again the conditions were changing prior to the race. Qualifying was held in the wet, but many were on dry settings. Once again it was some of the less established teams which shone through the rain. Shulman took a brilliant pole for ANT & his team mate was 5th; ColoColo were 3rd & 6th; USF1 were 7th & 8th; & Blue Pig were 9th & 11th. The top 4 really impressed here though, FMOT came from 13th & 23rd for yet another one two & Doxjq were 3rd & 4th, coming from 15th & 16th. Shulman turned his pole into a brilliant 5th, Pedersen for Nudist Wispa Gold Racers (NWGR) was a superb 6th from 20th, Juhno was 8th from 22nd & Smetowski was 9th from 28th.
This result gave Follow Me On Twitter their 12th Team Championship & Nowak took his 1st drivers title, the 12th for the team.
Abu Dhabi
Just because the titles had been won, did not mean that people were easing off. Taia took his 2nd pole & the first 23 were covered by 1 second. Palmer qualified 2nd & chased Taia hard, but did not manage to pass until lap 47, when he emerged from his final stop ahead & went on to take his 4th victory of the season; the 11th for FMOT. Unfortunately for Taia, Nowak was right behind his team mate & passed on lap 50. Hamilton took 4th & Schmidt came from 10th to finish 5th.
The points:
Drivers: Nowak 312, Palmer 285, Mansell 247, Lauda 178, Schmidt 100.
Teams: FMOT 597, Doxjq 491, TST 138, EJTM 119, PLM 105, RS 97.
So another fascinating season comes to an end. Lewis Goodway's team were victorious again although they were hard pressed by Jason Lee's Doxjq. Adam Gosling was again best of the rest, taking 3rd in the teams championship & 5th in the drivers. He was challenged early on by David Lyons & later by Edwin Smith & he will no doubt head the race for best of the rest next season too. Reidj Free showed again that he can run at the front & we hoped to see him more often next season. Chris Louth's King Power, Richard Johnstone's RJR, & Neil Robinson's NWGR seemed to be working on next season & many expected them to be running at the front.
The chasm between Pro & Elite was highlighted again. Jukka Jarvinen who failed to score last season in Elite & was relegated, easily took both titles in Pro. Those promoted from Pro did a little better, both taking advantage of changing conditions to score, thus avoiding relegation & the 2 teams that did relegate were the only 2 not to score. In particular we shall miss Fernando D'Almeida, who has only ever raced in this league & had been in Elite for almost a year. Let's hope it will be a speedy return Fernando.
What of next season? Surely FMOT & Doxjq would run at the front again. The main question being could anyone else manage to challenge them. The only thing I can be sure of, is that as always, there will be some great racing.
Edwin Smith
Andrew Hurn medal 5000 11 years 277 days ago
British Racing League – Elite Tier – Season 21 Review
This season was dominated by one team who took both titles easily. The battle for 2nd however, went on all season & was only decided in the last few laps of the final race.
Australia
If you needed something to show the level of competition we now enjoy in this league, look no further, as the first 31 on the grid were covered by just 0.982.
Shulman was on pole for ANT by 0.004 from Smetowski, Richard Johnstone Racing (RJR). Jerayesh for King Power (KP) qualified 3rd & was leading by lap 10 with his team-mate Hamilton close by in 2nd. More worryingly though was their pace once in front & they took a dominant 1,2 some 11 seconds ahead of the rest. Pedersen for Nudist Wispa Gold Racers (NWGR), came from 8th on the grid to lead the rest & he had 5 seconds over Shulman, with Juhno for Reidj Scuderia (RS) taking 5th. His team-mate Chan was 6th but sadly this would be their best result of the season.
Malaysia
1 second covered the first 19 & Jerayesh took pole by 0.012 from Pedersen. Hamilton had qualified 7th, but this did not stop another 1,2 for KP. They led every lap & this time were 15 seconds ahead; Jerayesh getting the better of Hamilton. This was starting to look ominous. Shulman was going well again & took a superb 3rd, whilst Pedersen & Chan scrapped over 4th; the Dutchman coming out ahead. Castro (RJR) came from 24th on the grid to finish 9th.
China
The first 26 were covered by 1 second on the grid & Hamilton was on pole by 0.053 from Aksamirski for Follow Me On Twitter (FMOT). It was Hamilton's turn to lead every lap with his team-mate having an untroubled run to 2nd, 6 seconds ahead of Pedersen. Nowak for EJ Technical Motorsport (EJTM) was 4th a further 6 seconds back & Aksamirski was 5th. Palmer for EJTM came from 17th on the grid to finish 7th.
The points:
Drivers: Jerayesh 68, Hamilton 61, Pedersen 42, Shulman 27, Chan 18.
Teams: KP 129, NWGR 42, RS 32, ANT 27, EJTM 24.
So a perfect start for Chris Louth's King Power team. Was the championship already claimed? Would anyone else win a race? Such was their advantage it looked unlikely....didn't it?
Bahrain
1 second covered the top 24 & Smetowski took pole by 0.062 from Jerayesh. The KP team manager was absent from this race & there were many who looked to capitalise.
Smetowski led away, but he was light & pitted at the end of lap 7, relinquishing the lead to Jerayesh, who stopped at the end of lap 10. Wood for FMOT took over at the front for just a lap completing the opening round of stops on lap 11. Smetowski was at the front again. Nowak was now 2nd, but he pitted early, at the end of lap 17, promoting Pedersen to 2nd although he was 5 seconds behind Smetowski. Jerayesh was close in 3rd, Wood was 4th & Schmidt, for That Slow Much Luck Team (TSMLT) was now 5th 11 seconds behind the leader. Nowak rejoined 13th & looked to be too far behind to have any impact.
Smetowski stopped for a 2nd time at the end of lap 18, he was followed by Pedersen on lap 19, Jerayesh on lap 20 & Schmidt & Wood on lap 21. There was surprise leader on lap 22; Nowak suddenly looked threatening & he had a couple of seconds over Smetowski in 2nd. The next lap it was 3 seconds, then 3.7, 3.9 & Nowak pitted again. At this point the other contenders realised that Nowak was on a 6 stop strategy; they were all on 5. In conversation the other leading managers dismissed him; 6 would not work.
On lap 26 the order was Smetowski 1.9 Pedersen 1.8 Wood 0.6 Jerayesh 2.5 Schmidt & Nowak was 8th, 14.4 seconds behind the leader. Lap 28 saw Smetowski pit again, Pedersen & Schmidt a lap later & Wood & Jerayesh on lap 30. Lap 31 saw that annoying Pole at the front again & he now had almost 8 seconds over Smetowski. Some began to speculate that 6 stops might work. He stopped again at the end of lap 33. Smetowski led once more, Pedersen was right behind, then Wood, those 3 covered by less than a second. Schmidt was a little further back, but still in touch. This time they chose the same lap to stop on, 39 & as before Nowak flashed passed as they were stationary. But there was a problem, Wood had stopped before his pit box & was out of fuel. It cannot have been more than a few meters, but he was out & team manager Lewis Goodway would say after the race, that he would have won. We shall never know, but the battle continued.
Nowak stopped again on lap 41, meaning that they all had 1 more stop to make. The order on lap 42 with 15 to go was Smetowski 1.9 Pedersen 1.3 Schmidt 2.2 Nowak 0.9 Jerayesh. The first change came on lap 44 when Jerayesh passed Nowak. On lap 48 Schmidt passed Pedersen & then pitted. Jerayesh stopped then too & the rest 1 lap later. Nowak used his extra lap to good effect as he would jump to 2nd after the stops. The order then on lap 50 was Smetowski 1.2 Nowak 0.7 Schmidt 1.5 Pedersen 2.1 Jerayesh.
Without his manager Jerayesh had done well, but would finish 5th. On another day, that pace would probably have seen him on the podium & maybe even the top step. In front though the battle raged.
Lap 51: Smetowski 0.7 Nowak 1.4 Schmidt 0.7 Pedersen.
Lap 52: Smetowski 0.2 Nowak 1.4 Schmidt 1.0 Pedersen.
Lap 53: Nowak makes his move. He pushed passed, but in doing so had burnt his tyres & could not ease off, so they would have to do the last 4 laps in less than ideal condition.
Lap 54: Nowak 0.6 Smetowski 0.5 Schmidt 1.0 Pedersen.
Lap 55: Nowak 0.5 Smetowski 0.9 Schmidt 0.4 Pedersen.
The penultimate lap Nowak 0.3 Smetowski 0.7 Schmidt 0.3 Pedersen.
The final lap. Pedersen had done all he could to pass Schmidt but was denied a podium place. His drive deserved better than 4th. Schmidt too had given all & he fell back a little on the final lap taking a superb 3rd. In hindsight, some would say that Nowak had used his kers & tyres too soon, but the victory went to Smetowski who waited patiently for his moment & passed in the DRS zone at the start of the final lap, pulling away to 1.6 seconds at the flag; a brilliant victory & a sensational race.
Spain
The top 23 were covered by 1 second & Shulman took pole again by 0.055 from Smetowski. With their team manager back, this was another King Power benefit. Jerayesh was almost 7 seconds ahead of Hamilton at the flag, but you had to count another 12 seconds to find Aksamirski in 3rd. Schmidt came from 9th on the grid to be 4th & Nowak from 10th to 5th.
Monaco
As usual this produced another close grid, with 0.815 covering the top 30 & in the middle 0.079 covered 8 cars. Schmidt took pole by 0.033 from Richard for NSS. Schmidt held the lead for a long time & looked good in front, but eventually Hamilton chased him down & was 4.6 seconds ahead at the flag. Another 9 seconds further back was the pole sitter & he was followed by Wood & Palmer. Koponen for Blue Pig took the teams only point of the season in 10th here, which would probably guarantee their position in Elite for next season.
6 races in & King Power had a vice like grip on both titles. It would seemingly take a miracle for them to lose from here, such was their advantage. The battle for 2nd team & 3rd driver was hotting up though.
The points:
Drivers: Jerayesh 107, Hamilton 104, Schmidt 55, Pedersen 54, Nowak 44.
Teams: KP 211, TSMLT 71, EJTM 65, FMOT 56, NWGR 54.
Turkey
It was wet throughout here & Shulman splashed round for his 3rd pole by 0.014 from Smetowski, his 4th front row start. 1 second covered just the first 14 in the wet. Hamilton showed that he had speed whatever the conditions & took his 3rd victory of the season by 4.5 seconds to Clarke from DOXJQ 2. Jerayesh was another 5 seconds back & then it was 8 seconds to Smetowski who had Gagnon also from DOXJQ 2 in close attendance.
GB
1 second covered the top 26 & Clarke was on pole 0.18 ahead of Hamilton. He wasted no time getting passed Clarke & took the lead on lap 4. He led almost the whole race from there, but Clarke did not fall back as had happened earlier in the season & was 5 seconds behind at the flag. Shulman & Weber fought over 3rd place in the latter stages, with Shulman just losing out to the Austrian in the final stint. Gagnon had a straightforward run to 5th. Richard from NSS was 6th, but behind there was an intriguing fight for the lesser places. Ilic in 7th had a queue forming behind him, with a further 5 cars covered by less than a second. All had used their KERS & some were burning their tyres in an effort to get by. Nowak joined then end of this queue with 2 laps to go & somehow made it passed all of them to take 7th from 23rd on the grid.
Germany
Schmidt took his 2nd pole of the season from Aksamirski by 0.01 & the entire grid was covered by just 0.998. Schmidt led for much of the race but going into his final stint he was being caught. With 8 laps to go the order was Schmidt 0.5 Jerayesh 2.4 Juhno 2.3 Hamilton. Jerayesh was closer the next time by, 0.3 then 0.2, then 0.3 again, 0.2 & on lap 57 the order changed. Jerayesh passed Schmidt in the DRS zone & at the same time Hamilton coming from 12th on the grid, shot by Juhno. Jerayesh still had impressive pace & was quickly over a second in front. He went on to take his 4th victory making it 4 each for the KP drivers. Schmidt was trying to hang onto to 2nd, but having despatched Juhno, Hamilton was closing. Lap 58 the gap was 1.6, then 0.5 & as they started the final lap Hamilton cruised passed in the DRS zone. Schmidt would not go down without a fight though & in using up his KERS almost got back passed, but Hamilton held on to take the teams 5th 1,2 of the season.
That result put KP over 200 points ahead of the chasing pack & the only uncertainty was which of their drivers would take the title.
The points:
Drivers: Hamilton 172, Jerayesh 149, Schmidt 72, Nowak 64, Shulman 61.
Teams: KP 321, TSMLT 105, EJTM 85, DOXJQ2 66, NWGR 62, FMOT 62, ANT 61.
Hungary
Nowak took pole position by 0.07 from Wood & the first 26 were covered by 1 second. Nowak led most of the way unchallenged & had almost 10 seconds over Gagnon at the end. Roy for NSS was 3rd & the FMOT pair were 4th & 5th , Wood just behind his team-mate.
Europe
Richard took pole by 0.007 from Palmer & 1 second covered the top 25. Richard led until his 3rd stint when he was passed by Clarke, who led from there to the flag. Richard kept him honest though, just 1.8 seconds behind. The 2 EJTM lads were 3rd & 4th & then it was the TSMLT pair.
Belgium
1 second covered the first 18 & Nowak was on pole, 0.282 ahead of Weber, by far the widest margin yet. These 2 fought over the victory, with Nowak taking it by 2.9 seconds. Behind them Hamilton came from 14th on the grid to take 3rd, Palmer was 4th & Jerayesh 5th.
With 2 wins from the last 3 it looked as though EJTM were going to be best of the rest.
The points:
Drivers: Hamilton 193, Jerayesh 167, Nowak 129, Clarke 89, Schmidt 86.
Teams: KP 360, EJTM 175, DOXJQ2 139, TSMLT 135, NSS 88.
Italy
Clarke was on pole by 0.019 from Wood & the top 27 were covered by 1 second. Wood took the lead on lap 6 & held it until the end. Jerayesh qualified 3rd & he fought throughout the race with Clarke for 2nd. Starting the final stint on lap 47 Jerayesh was in front by a second. On the next lap Clarke halved the gap & he made it passed on lap 49. Jerayesh was far from done though & he was back in 2nd the next time by. The critical moment came on the penultimate lap when Clarke retook 2nd & was able to pull away slightly, having a 1.4 second gap at the flag. Behind them were Aksamirski & then Hamilton.
That result was enough for Chris Louth's King Power team to take the teams title; their 5th & their 1st in this league. Congratulations Chris.
Singapore
The top 24 on the grid were covered by 1 second & Nowak took his 3rd pole by 0.018 from Schmidt. As he did in his other 2 wins, Nowak led from lights to flag. He was chased throughout by Aksamirski, but he could not get close enough to mount a challenge. Schmidt was 3rd, Wood 4th & Weber 5th.
Only Nowak & the KP pair remained in the chase for the drivers, but there were still 4 teams aiming for the other 100 ranking points.
The points:
Drivers: Hamilton 211, Jerayesh 188, Nowak 154, Clarke 107, Schmidt 105.
Teams: KP 399, EJTM 204, TSMLT 172, Doxjq2 166, FMOT 151.
Japan
Nowak was on pole again by 0.031 to Hamilton & the first 25 were covered by 1 second. Nowak was on the right strategy here, but could only manage 7th. Wood from 3rd on the grid came through to lead on lap 6 & never looked back. Hamilton was 7 seconds behind & then came the NWGR pair, with their best finish of the season in 3rd & 4th. Todorov for Doxjq2 was 5th.
Jerayesh was back in 6th & this result for Chris Louth's King Power team gave them the drivers championship too. They just needed to decide which driver would win.
Brazil
TSMLT took the seasons only front row lockout, Weber taking pole by 0.096 & 1 second covered the top 22. Weber led away & on lap 6 it started to rain. This made no difference to the pole sitter & she led pretty much the entire race. Schmidt couldn't keep up with the pace at the front & was quickly passed by Jerayesh, who hounded Weber most of the way. Schmidt was 3rd 13 seconds behind Jerayesh, & then it was Aksamirski & then the NWGR pair. Wood was 7th, Todorov 8th & Gagnon 10th behind Hamilton. EJTM did not have the pace here & were both outside the points.
The points:
Drivers: Hamilton 231, Jerayesh 214, Nowak 160, Schmidt 120, Clarke 107.
Teams: KP 445, EJTM 214, TSMLT 212, FMOT 195, Doxjq2 181.
Going into the final race, Doxjq2 were still in the hunt for the other 100 ranking points, but it looked unlikely & really it was between the other 3.
Abu Dhabi
1 second covered the top 24 & Hamilton was on pole by 0.071 from Weber. Early on Aksamirski was 2nd, with Weber 3rd & Wood 4th. Not enough for FMOT to take that 2nd place, but Aksamirski was challenging for the lead. He was rarely more than a couple of seconds behind & with Weber not having the pace to keep up, this was the critical fight. More than once the two at the front engaged in a kers battle as they fought for the win, but Hamilton just had enough speed & Aksamirski would have to settle for 2nd. Hamilton led all the way, taking the teams 9th victory of the season; a great way to celebrate their success. EJTM had not qualified well in 10th & 11th & looked to be out of the race, but Palmer was getting nearer. He ran 7th making it into 6th with 4 laps to go. It was academic though because FMOT were 2nd & 5th, & Weber in 3rd was enough for TSMLT to take it. Palmer managed 5th in the end as Wood pitted on the final lap, dropping FMOT to 4th in the title chase. TSMLT were 3 points ahead of EJTM, who managed to score just 20 points from the final 3 races.
So, Adam Gosling's That Slow Much Luck team took 2nd place in the teams championship & with it, those 100 ranking points. Congratulations Adam.
Hamilton's victory gave him the drivers title; his 3rd & the teams 5th. Congratulations again to Chris.
The final drivers points:
Hamilton 256, Jerayesh 214, Nowak 160, Schmidt 120, Aksamirski 109, Clarke 107, Weber 107, Wood 105.
Nowak was the best driver behind the KP pair, but this was no reward for EJTM. Aksamirski had impressed on his debut as had Wood & we could probably expect more from the TSMLT pair as well.
The final teams standings:
KP 470, TSMLT 227, EJTM 224, FMOT 219, Doxjq2 187, NWGR 131.
Chris Louth's team were well in front this season & could be expected to feature next season too. Adam Gosling had shown great tenacity in working his way towards the front of this league. In season 16 he was 9th with 9 points; S17 7th with 27 points; S18 6th 73, S19 5th 98, S20 3rd 138 & here in season 21, 2nd with 227 points; impressive. Could he turn that into a title next season, many thought he could. For EJTM this was the best season for a while & they hoped to do better in the next. Lewis Goodway's Follow Me On Twitter team had impressed with 2 young drivers & they would surely improve from their experience.
Of the other teams, Elcio P took my vote for most improved. He had joined us from a 1 car 50% distance league & frankly struggled for the first few races. He learned quickly though & proved he will be no pushover next season. Jason Lee will be back from his trip & we can expect him to run near the front. There will be many looking to improve; Reidj Free, Richard Johnstone, Neil Robinson for example & there will be several trying to avoid relegation.
Fargo Farinas was sadly relegated to Pro, as was David Lyons' Project Lyons Mercedes team. It was unfortunate to watch a once great team in such disarray. If you recall they were one of the few who won on their debut in Elite in this league. We hoped to see them & Fargo again soon. In their place we welcomed Jeff Wolff, fresh from taking both titles & Allar Foht returns after just 1 season in Pro.
This league is now the top ranked open league, some 500 points ahead of the next & with 6 teams ranked in the top 12 this really is the place to be if you want to judge yourself against the best.
Edwin Smith
