Mini has inserted himself in the championship chase with his second win at Mugello in two seasons. Ford put a stranglehold on third place and TopFuel's absence opened up all kinds of possibilities.
With no qualifying for this week the field's starting positions were the inverse of the points standings. The field launched and went headlong into turn 1 and came out surprisingly without incident. Like a bunch of professionals things settled down rather quickly until an incident on lap 8 brought the first caution.
Everyone but Proof, Ford and Super headed for the pits even though those pitting faced the possibility of racing 28 laps on a single set of tires. On the restart at lap 10, Proof quickly got passed and Mini settled in behind Ford and Super with Viking and Roadie in tow. Trigga Mike was never much of a factor with his ill handling Toyota 2000 GT.
Proof gave up the ghost and headed for the pitted around lap 15. Super followed a couple of laps later. On lap 21 Ford gave up the lead to Mini in hope that he would be fast enough to catch the field and make up for the same blunder TopFuel made at Tsukuba. Viking mysteriously pitted around lap 25.
On lap 27 a mysterious incident that will have the fans talking for weeks caused a caution as team SuperFord managed to bring out a caution they badly needed. Viking declared himself a genius for having fresh tires to complete the race.
The final restart occurred on lap 28. Roadie, in second, lagged back, stacking up the field, and Mini got a jump at the green. While the rest of the field fought amongst themselves and tried to get around a suddenly competitive Roadie, Mini built a 5+ second lead on the field. Viking finally dispatched Roadie on lap 32 of 36 and set sail for Mini catching up to him on lap 34.
The two fought hard but clean with only a small nudge from Viking, who is showing some maturity in his racing. Mini's Saab 99 had Viking's Toyota beat on speed coming off the final turn and up the hill past turn one. That was enough to hold Viking off despite Viking pulling along Mini's door twice coming off the lap turn in the final laps and being draped all over his bumper in the esses at the top of the hill. Coming down the hill for the final time, Mini braced for the bump that never came and drove away down Mugello's wide main straightaway to take the checkered flag.
AndrettiFuel Racing has a sizable lead in the point standings, owing to consistency and being the only team with two victories. We'll see how that holds up in the came race but Top's absence earned him some much needed PI that will translate to hp with Maple Valley's long hill climb to come. Will Viking and Trigga make a car change. Will SuperFord find Victory Lane? Stay tuned.
Mini has inserted himself in the championship chase with his second win at Mugello in two seasons. Ford put a stranglehold on third place and TopFuel's absence opened up all kinds of possibilities.
ReplyDeleteWith no qualifying for this week the field's starting positions were the inverse of the points standings. The field launched and went headlong into turn 1 and came out surprisingly without incident. Like a bunch of professionals things settled down rather quickly until an incident on lap 8 brought the first caution.
Everyone but Proof, Ford and Super headed for the pits even though those pitting faced the possibility of racing 28 laps on a single set of tires. On the restart at lap 10, Proof quickly got passed and Mini settled in behind Ford and Super with Viking and Roadie in tow. Trigga Mike was never much of a factor with his ill handling Toyota 2000 GT.
Proof gave up the ghost and headed for the pitted around lap 15. Super followed a couple of laps later. On lap 21 Ford gave up the lead to Mini in hope that he would be fast enough to catch the field and make up for the same blunder TopFuel made at Tsukuba. Viking mysteriously pitted around lap 25.
On lap 27 a mysterious incident that will have the fans talking for weeks caused a caution as team SuperFord managed to bring out a caution they badly needed. Viking declared himself a genius for having fresh tires to complete the race.
The final restart occurred on lap 28. Roadie, in second, lagged back, stacking up the field, and Mini got a jump at the green. While the rest of the field fought amongst themselves and tried to get around a suddenly competitive Roadie, Mini built a 5+ second lead on the field. Viking finally dispatched Roadie on lap 32 of 36 and set sail for Mini catching up to him on lap 34.
The two fought hard but clean with only a small nudge from Viking, who is showing some maturity in his racing. Mini's Saab 99 had Viking's Toyota beat on speed coming off the final turn and up the hill past turn one. That was enough to hold Viking off despite Viking pulling along Mini's door twice coming off the lap turn in the final laps and being draped all over his bumper in the esses at the top of the hill. Coming down the hill for the final time, Mini braced for the bump that never came and drove away down Mugello's wide main straightaway to take the checkered flag.
AndrettiFuel Racing has a sizable lead in the point standings, owing to consistency and being the only team with two victories. We'll see how that holds up in the came race but Top's absence earned him some much needed PI that will translate to hp with Maple Valley's long hill climb to come. Will Viking and Trigga make a car change. Will SuperFord find Victory Lane? Stay tuned.
FORD IS A CHEATER! CHEATS THE CAUTION. THEN GETS PISSED AT ME FOR HOLDING HIM UP! LIKE I'M GONNA LET FORD PASS FOR CHEATING!
ReplyDeleteyou neeed to update the p.i and race schedule
ReplyDelete