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Formula Sprint 2
Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka International Racing Course
Tuesday 2nd of April 2024 19:00:00
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September 14, 2011
Published on tags: Superleague
An exciting Italian Grand Prix saw Pavel Loknovski take the chequered flag just a whisker in front of Championship leader Bart de Vos as the biggest ever racing field in the history of the GPVWC - 26 drivers on the grid - took to the tarmac in historic Monza.


Qualifying saw Loknovski edge Lewis Redshaw by a 0.134s margin - with de Vos just a further 0.020 behind. Ojay Clark, fresh from his win in Brazil last time out, lined up fourth in front of an excellent Ben Warren. Among the newcomers, Norwegian Erik Tveit was 8th on his debut for Water Blue Racing, Matt Clipp was 18th and Andrejs Pestovs was 23rd.


The start of the race saw a clean run through turn 1 - feared by many pundits in the pre-race talk - but the second chicane saw several high profile names drop, on top of all Lewis Redshaw, who collided with his team-mate de Vos and fell back to 10th position. The Lesmo turns saw several drivers collect damage but, surprisingly, the only victim of the first lap was Sam Millar on Synergetic.


Loknovski was able to open up a good gap, making the best of the furious battle between Clark and de Vos behind, the two drivers trading positions several times over a period of almost ten laps. In the meanwhile, Redshaw started a painstaking comeback, fighting his way through the field.


Erik Tveit had settled down well in fourth position before a spin at Parabolica saw him stranded in the way of Ric Scott - collision was inevitable and the debutant retired after an inconclusive pit-stop. The only round of pit-stops saw Loknovski's advantage over de Vos fall, with Clark finding himself off the Belgian driver in third.


While the Englishman had to do some rearguard action to make sure Redshaw had no way back in the fight for the podium, a battle erupted between the leading duo. Despite several hair-raising moment - such as when the two drivers had to pass a three-car battle for 9th on the approach to Variante Ascari - the race would be decided by the very last lap.


Loknovski suffered from slow acceleration out of corners, but his higher straight line speed meant he was able to fend off most of de Vos's attacks; when the Belgian driver tried a cheeky maneuvre at Parabolica, all the Estonian had to do was put his car firmly in front of the Malta Force's nose to cross the line first, his advantage a mere 0.069s.


Loknovski's victory puts him 19 points adrift of de Vos with four races to spare. Lewis Redshaw falls back to 40 points behind.









Italian Grand Prix: Results


2011 Supercup Standings