Round 9 - Germany (Hockenheim) | ||||||
| ACE SERIES |  |
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Round 9 - Germany (Hockenheim) | ||||||
| ACE SERIES | |
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| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Oliver Roberts | Digitech | 1:28.289 | 20 | |
| 2. | Michal Janak | Digitech | 1:29.190 | +0.901 | 16 |
| 3. | Alan Strang | Team Ecosse | 1:29.564 | +1.275 | 14 |
| 4. | Hans Gunnar Hansen | FORT-Jiuqi | 1:29.695 | +1.406 | 12 |
| 5. | Martin Devine | Enigma Racing | 1:29.714 | +1.425 | 10 |
| 6. | Reinhold Schatzer | RST Racing | 1:29.992 | +1.703 | 8 |
| 7. | Steffen Diener | Roadrunner | 1:30.017 | +1.728 | 6 |
| 8. | Markus Kruggel | Wild 13 | 1:30.476 | +2.187 | 5 |
| 9. | Axel Bruns | Wild 13 | 1:30.583 | +2.294 | 4 |
| 10. | Ignacio Garcia | IGC Racing Team | 1:31.027 | +2.738 | 3 |
| 11. | Nuno Maltez | Maverick | 1:31.235 | +2.946 | 2 |
| 12. | Juha Hyvonen | FORT-Jiuqi | 1:31.432 | +3.143 | 1 |
| 13. | Paul Branney | Team Ecosse | 1:31.618 | +3.329 | |
| 14. | Andrew Clark | Ant Hill Mob Racing | 1:31.655 | +3.366 | |
| 15. | Derek Waters | Maverick | 1:32.002 | +3.713 |
Oliver Roberts took the lead from the first lap on, followed by his new team mate Michal Janak. The race saw two early retirements on the same location, the chikane before the 'Ostkurve'. Steffen Diener was the first in the very first lap followed by Nuno Maltez in lap 4. Then, between lap 8 and 11 major decisons for the race outcome were made: 6 accidents happened during this period, the drivers who got off lightly were Reinhold Schatzer, Alan Strang and Juha Hyvonen as they only broke some wings and were able to continue their race. But for Ignacio Garcia Cuadrado, Andrew Clark and Martin Devine the race was over. A bit later, around lap 15, the pit crews had to cope with the first rush to the pits.
After the pitstops the field devided: while Michal, who took the lead soon after his stop, and Oliver were setting the pace at the front, all the other drivers equally lost the same amount of time, around 1:10m, until the next series of pitstops in lap 30. During this phase the positions stabilized: behind the two Digitech drivers was Hans Gunnar Hansen, who wasn't able to hold the gap to Michal and Oliver, but widened the distance to the drivers from Wild 13 on 4th and 5th, Axel Bruns and Markus Kruggel. They again were chased by Reinhold Schatzer and Juha Hyvonen on 6th and 7th while Alan Strang's gap was already bigger, he suffered from another accident in lap 22 that costed him his rear wing.
The race was perhaps partly decided by pit strategy: Michal, as most others, opted for a two stop race, using C tyres all the time. Oliver chose to make three stops and used D compounds at his second and third stop. Although Oliver had the faster tyres, most of the time Michal drove the faster laps, only on the last five laps Oliver was able to close the gap to Michal a bit.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Michal Janak | Digitech | 1h11m35.983 | 175 | |
| 2. | Oliver Roberts | Digitech | 1h11m55.657 | +0m19.674 | 170 |
| 3. | Hans Gunnar Hansen | FORT-Jiuqi | 1h13m00.735 | +1m24.752 | 165 |
| 4. | Markus Kruggel | Wild 13 | 1h14m01.901 | +2m25.918 | 160 |
| 5. | Axel Bruns | Wild 13 | 1h14m05.722 | +2m29.739 | 155 |
| 6. | Reinhold Schatzer | RST Racing | 1h14m55.291 | +3m19.308 | 151 |
| 7. | Juha Hyvonen | FORT-Jiuqi | 1h15m15.390 | +3m39.407 | 147 |
| 8. | Alan Strang | Team Ecosse | 1h16m05.828 | +4m29.845 | 143 |
| 9. | Andrew Clark | Ant Hill Mob Racing | 9 laps | 139 | |
| 9. | Martin Devine | Enigma Racing | 9 laps | 139 | |
| 11. | Ignacio Garcia | IGC Racing Team | 8 laps | 132 | |
| 12. | Nuno Maltez | Maverick | 3 laps | 129 | |
| 13. | Steffen Diener | Roadrunner | 0 laps | 126 | |
| 13. | Paul Branney | Team Ecosse | 0 laps | 126 |
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Michal Janak | Digitech | 1:29.951 LR |
| 2. | Oliver Roberts | Digitech | 1:30.643 |
| 3. | Hans Gunnar Hansen | FORT-Jiuqi | 1:31.132 |
| 4. | Markus Kruggel | Wild 13 | 1:32.766 |
| 5. | Axel Bruns | Wild 13 | 1:33.681 |
| 6. | Juha Hyvonen | FORT-Jiuqi | 1:34.783 |
| 7. | Alan Strang | Team Ecosse | 1:35.480 |
| 8. | Reinhold Schatzer | RST Racing | 1:35.556 |
| 9. | Ignacio Garcia | IGC Racing Team | 1:38.973 |
| 10. | Martin Devine | Enigma Racing | 1:38.982 |
| 11. | Nuno Maltez | Maverick | 1:40.746 |
"Considering that the primary objective was simply to finish the race, then, it went remarkably well (...)"
Steffen Diener (Roadrunner):
"It was a very short race, I didn't even complete one lap. After the first
chicane Damon Hill got into my sleepstreem, overtook my and then braked far
too early for the second chicane. I crashed into his car twice and the race
was over."
Hans Gunnar Hansen (FORT-Jiuqi):
"A much better end of the race than the beginning, but as this is NOT my
favourite track I would be surprised if I get a top place."
Michal Janak (Digitech):
"For this race I used diferent tire strategy then last year. I start on
C's. Car setup was good and driving wasn't dificult. I like this track
because there isn't too many curves, but there is one very dangerous place
- Bremskurve 2 (with wall facing to you)."
Oliver Roberts (Digitech):
"I revised my setup and stategy from last season, which seemed to help as I
easily beat my time from last year. So all in all, another good race."
Reinhold Schatzer (RST Racing):
"I wasn't looking forward to this race, because I do not like this circuit
at all. I did finish the race, achieving my goal for this round. The fact
that I ended up in 3rd position was probably due to my unhappy strategy and
my accident in lap 9 in the notorious second chicane."
Alan Strang (Team Ecosse):
"Despite finishing the race this season, my opinion of Hockenheim has not
changed one bit. The long straights and brutal chicanes make it quite unlike
any other circuit, and I would be glad if I never had to race there again."