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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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August 27, 2012
Published on tags: Supercup
Alex Cooper continued his dominant run through the summer with victory around Circuit Park Zandvoort. Cooper's fifth in a row narrows the gap between himself and Petter Kaasa to 14 points with five races remaining. Kaasa yet again followed the Englishman home in second with Marek Skrajnowski finishing third for Malta Force.

Qualified produced another tight affair with the championship rivals locking out the front row. Philip Cullen popped himself into third with a late effort that made him the only man apart from the front two to break the seventy-seven second barrier. The grid featured a number of Superleague regulars that included Tom Parker, Pavel Loknovski, Mark Wicks, Ojay Clark and Superleague championship leader Lukas Euler, making his first Supercup start for CSG Racing.

As has been the norm in recent events, Cooper used a clean start as a springboard to bolt from the field. A fuel laden Petter Kaasa was unable to keep pace with Cooper, almost losing the car through the fast right kinks which forced the Norwegian into a save that Ken Block would have been proud of. Ojay Clark, who suffered throughout the day with a smoking engine moved his way up to third before powering past Kaasa on lap 12 at Hunserug. All hope of a second consecutive podium for the No Fear driver disappeared with a disconnection on lap 22.

By that time, the field was beginning to settle. Despite a great qualifying effort, Cullen's run of poor luck continued when a double-downshift through Marlboro resulted in his engine expiring. It is only the second retirement of the year for the Irishman who's only consolation was that close rivals Adam Rouse and Terence Grech did not score points either on the day. Tom Parker challenged Cullen and Kaasa early on in the Innervision car but a half-spin into Tarzan put him behind Ryan Walker for much of the early stint.

Skrajnowski would be the next to challenge Kaasa for second, hassling the Torrent Motorsports driver right up until his pit stop on lap 25 but the Pole lost significant ground as Kaasa ran a further ten laps before making his own stop. On leaving the pits, the Norwegian held a sizable advantage over his nearest challenger.

Once clear of Walker and his stop completed, Tom Parker brought his car home to fourth. His only major concerns were the odd plume of smoke from his engine that proved not to be as serious as it could have been. Walker finished in fifth for Halcyon, a great drive from the Scot given that he received a late-call up by the team to fill the seat.

Pavel Loknovski finished sixth with Keith Camilleri in seventh, the pair enjoying battling each other at various points in the day. Morten Wernersen picked up another haul of points for Green Stripes Racing in eight Myles Dixon scored his first career Supercup points with a late move to ninth place after the returning Roy Schroten spectacularly flipped his car for a second time this season. Somehow, the Dutch driver surivived the last lap without front or rear wings to pick up the final point.

With five races to go, the championship is now officially a two-horse race between Cooper and Kaasa. The non-scoring trio of Cullen, Rouse and Grech now have to content themselves with the battle for third as they no longer can mathematically win the championship. Torrent Motorsports continue to lead the way in the constructors' tables, sixty-seven clear of CSG and looking in pole position to secure the team championship.