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March 01, 2013

 

Dave Carr-Smith drove an immaculate race on his debut for Nordsjoen Racing to take the win in Round 1 of the GPVWC Superleague Championship at Melbourne.

Dave Carr-Smith drove an immaculate race on his debut for Nordsjoen Racing to take the win in Round 1 of the GPVWC Superleague Championship at Melbourne, ahead of Lukas Euler for Midnight Motorsport and Ruud Heesterbeek for Nijo Racing.

The start of a brand new season is often the most exciting part for many fans of Motorsport in general. Everyone is full of uncertainty, and have their own predictions for how exactly the first round at Melbourne, and the how the whole season is going to play out. With plenty of driver movement taking place in the off-season, and three new teams joining the field, the excitement and uncertainty was taken to another level compared to previous seasons. One consensus the majority of the paddock agreed with was that this may well be the strongest and most competitive pool of Superleague drivers we've ever seen. One other variable for this season is changeable weather conditions, and with both the Formula Challenge and Supercup rounds experiencing on and off wet conditions, the teams would have to allow for the possibility of wet weather.

One man who who rarely fails to disappoint is our reigning Superleague champion Lukas Euler, and even with the uncertainty before the first Qualifying session of the season was the odds on favourite for pole. The German did not disappoint, crossing the line three tenths ahead of his Midnight Motorsport teammate Alex Cooper. An impressive lap from new driver Tom van der Voort sees him line up third for the ever improving Nijo Racing, with Dave Carr-Smith in fourth for his new team Nordsjoen Racing, a sight many have waited to see for many seasons now. DCS very narrowly beat his teammate Lee Morris who lined up fifth, with both drivers lining up on the Prime tyres, with their nearest rivals starting on the softer Option tyre. Ruud Heesterbeek took sixth in the second Nijo Racing car, ahead of an impressive Lewis Redshaw in seventh for Hawkeye Racing. The two Torrent Motorsports drivers of Petter Kaasa and Jim Parisis lined up eighth and ninth respectively, not a bad first ever Qualifying session at this level for the team. Bart De Vos rounded out the top ten in the second Hawkeye car.

While the rain heavily influenced the outcome in the Supercup race, it somewhat held off during the Superleague race, and it was Dave Carr-Smith who drove a blinding race to surprise the rest of the paddock by taking a debut win for Nordsjoen Racing. Starting fourth on the grid, the Englishman made the Prime tyre last well, and made only two pitstops compared to the two Midnight Motorsport drivers making three. Kind tyre work from DCS saw him finish twenty-one seconds ahead of Euler who would have to settle for second best in Melbourne. Ruud Heesterbeek also opted for a two stop strategy, and it worked out well for himself and Nijo Racing, taking the final podium place. Alex Cooper's first race as a full race driver for Midnight ended with a solid fourth place, though may be slightly disappointed to not have got himself onto the podium. Despite having a slightly underdeveloped car for the time being, both Torrent Motorsports drivers came home fifth and sixth, with Kassa just ahead of Parisis. Bart De Vos had a good race for Hawkeye, finishing seventh place ahead of both Red Archer drivers Jason Muscat and David Jundt. Neither of them had a particularly good Qualifying session, but made the best of it, and two top ten finishes can't be sniffed at. Lewis Redshaw rounded out the top ten for Hawkeye, making it a good start to their second season in the big-time. Adam Rouse kept it on the grey stuff to take a solid eleventh place and debut Superleague points for Halcyon Racing, while his teammate Phil Cullen had a forgetful race, retiring on Lap 3 with technical issues. Steve Verloy had an aggressive run to twelfth place on his Superleague debut for Kernow Sport, ahead of Christoph Lichtenstein for Green Stripes Racing and Mark Stanton for Constant Racing. Tom van der Voort took the final point for Nijo Racing in fifteenth place after running as high as third earlier on in the race, the Dutchman blowing his engine with just two laps to go, but was still classified in the final points position. it was also disaster for the second Nordsjoen Racing driver of Lee Morris. Starting fifth on the grid, he had to slow in his gridslot to avoid a slow starting van der Voort, and was in-turn collected by Petter Kaasa. The Nordsjoen car speared into the wall, and instantly stalled the engine. Definitely a tale of two halves for Nordsjoen Racing.

Despite not winning the race, reigning Constructors champions Midnight Motorsport take the early lead in said championship, with thirty-three points thanks to their double points finish. Nordsjoen Racing move into second thanks to Carr-Smith's win, ahead of new boys Torrent Motorsports in third. Nijo Racing are fourth, but perhaps could have been higher with van der Voort's engine going up in smoke. Hawkeye Racing's double points finish sees them round out the top five with 15 points, alongside Red Archer VT with the same amount of points. Halcyon Racing are seventh, ahead of Kernow Sport, Green Stripes Racing and Constant Racing. Phoenix-F1, ST Racing and Woods Racing were unable to score points at Melbourne.