March 13, 2013

 

Jamez Shepherd dominated proceedings to win the opening round of the 2013 GPVWC Supercup championship in Melbourne, Australia, ahead of Ville Leppala in second, and Ryan Walker in third.

An air of uncertainty filled the air as Melbourne once again played host to the GPVWC fraternity, and after an exciting couple of races provided by the Formula Challenge guys, it was now the turn of the GPVWC Supercup competitors. With previous Superleague drivers dropping down to Supercup for 2013, drivers moving up from Formula Challenge and some brand new drivers joining in the fun, this season is expected to be an even more exciting one than 2012. Rain had played a small part during the Formula Challenge races the previous day, but was expected to play a much larger role in proceedings during the longer Supercup race.

Pre-race favourite Jamez Shepherd for CSG Racing did not disappoint in Qualifying, taking pole position by an incredible 1.6 seconds ahead of an impressive Ryan Walker in second, making his full-time return to the series after some fleeting appearances for Halcyon Racing last season. The fact Shepherd set his pole time on the harder Prime tyres made the sizable gap between himself and the rest of the field all the more impressive. New driver Ville Leppala showed he's no pushover, qualifying third for debut team Target Racing, managed by last year's Supercup champion Petter Kaasa. Jordan Weekes took fourth on the grid for Malta Force, ahead of Scott Bennett who looked impressive in fifth place for Innervision. Team boss and teammate of Scott, Pavel Loknovski qualified sixth in his return to Supercup, with Sindre Grimseth lining up seventh for Target Racing. Martin O'Connor, Patrick Gatewood, and Mark Wicks rounded out the top ten. It was a disappointing qualifying session for Shepherd's teammate at CSG, Roy Schroten. Although he would also start the race on the Prime tyre like his teammate, the Dutchman couldn't get the lap he desired, and with rain starting up during the last few minutes of the session, lined up a disappointing fifteenth on the grid.

Shepherd did not disappoint the home crowd when it came to the race, despite being heavily involved in a start-line incident that involved most of the field. Fortunately for all concerned, the race was restarted, and the rest was history. Just the result CSG and Jamez will have wanted, in such dominant fashion further highlights him as the heavy favourite to be the champion, even at this early stage. It was new boy Ville Leppala who initially led the way, although running less fuel and Option tyres compared to Jamez, he still showed impressive pace throughout the race, despite a couple of incidents. Ryan Walker survived the changeable conditions well to take home third place in Sattelite Racing's debut race in an open wheeler series. Walker showed excellent speed during the 2011 Supercup season, and already looks to be able to run the same sort of pace in 2013. The fact that Leppala and Walker were the only drivers who were not lapped shows how comfortable Shepherd was in the lead. Scott Bennett had an impressive run to fourth place for Innervision, even at this early stage the Englishman is looking more competitive than last season. Jordan Weekes took fifth place on his debut for Malta Force, despite falling down the field after a Turn One incident involving Pavel Loknovski. Even better results should be in the tank this season for Weekes.

Seeing Mark Wicks competing in the Supercup after many years fighting it out in Superleague is still a sight many in GPVWC are not quite used to yet, but Wicksy had an impressive Supercup debut, running as high as fourth in the race before finishing in sixth place for Streetfighter Racing Systems. Despite his poor Qualifying, and an early spin, Roy Schroten had an excellent comeback drive for CSG Racing finishing in seventh, a position he'll most certainly look to better at the next round in Malaysia. Pavel Loknovski took eighth in his return to Supercup, ahead of Ben Warren in ninth, another driver returning to the series after a spell in the Superleague, and Sindre Grimseth rounded out the top ten for Target Racing. The final five finishers in the points were William Tringas, Dale Stones, Morten Wernersen, Nico De Koninck and Martin Bulgin.

With the top fifteen finishers of course making up the top fifteen in the Drivers championship, we'll take a quick look at the Constructors championship, and unsurprisingly it's CSG Racing who head the field thanks to their double points finish. CSG have thirty-four points, compared to their nearest rivals Target Racing who have twenty-six. Innervision's double points haul sees them in third, ahead of Satellite Racing and Streetfighter Racing Systems, followed closely by PB Racing and Malta Force. Vod:Bul were able to pick up three points in their return to the GPVWC, and they're followed by FA Racing and Scuderia Basilea.