Create account | Log in as member
http://www.gpvwc.com/media/layout/login_arrow.png
Formula Sprint 2
Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka International Racing Course
Tuesday 2nd of April 2024 19:00:00
More
June 27, 2016

 

The Cornish outfit take us through their Austrian Grand Prix experience.

A tale of two halves unfolded in the Styrian mountains for the Kernow Sport drivers. One had a fairy tale, the other a nightmare. We did, however, manage to claim our first podium in 3 years (after having Monaco removed post-race) and only our second ever.

TM Wicks: "More upgrades from the development staff had supplied us with a quick car, one of the best out there, seen as the third quickest on paper, but still quite far behind Edonis and VodBul, but slightly ahead of Woods, Nordsjoen and Storm. It's testament to how hard our team has worked over the last 6 months to turn around our fortunes, we had the 13th (out of 14) most upgraded car last season. It was very poor but this year we've really managed to build a good car that our drivers are happy with and can do the great laps they're capable of in. Another upgrade package should be applied prior to the next race too.

Qualifying went well. I'm not sure but I think Dan's 4th is the highest a Kernow has ever started. Bart lined up 9th after others penalties were applied.

Bart's race started off on the wrong foot. We had a power steering issue raise its head on the formation lap. There was no way to reset the system so he had to start the race with no feeling in the wheel. This took some time to get used to. He was still quick and caught and passed his way back up into the top-10; but after tussling with Pushke the unusual wheel-feel coupled with an open DRS and quick movement on the wheel made him lose control and he spun around, knocking Pushke too. He then stalled the car on the hill and unfortunately suffered his first retirement of the season.

Dan's race had me nervously biting my nails, praying that nothing would come along and destroy his race. He ran in the top-4 for the majority. A flawless race and running very quick times, he took the Primes at is final stop, whilst Francesconi and the Nordsjoens stayed with the Options, meaning they all had to stop again late-on, and when they did Dan came out a net 3rd, just a handful of seconds behind. The result was a podium; just 10 seconds shy of the winner. The team are ecstatic and fully believe we can now achieve some more of these tasty podiums.

The podium today also lifts us above Woods into 5th, the highest our team has been in the championship. We now have 105pts, only about 20 short of our 2013 record total, so this season is already looking like easily being our best ever. At the start of the season I set a private total of 100pts that I wanted to see achieved, to show that we had learnt from last year and improved. My lads have already surpassed this by mid-season!"

#12 De Vos (DNF): "After having to miss Silverstone, I couldn't wait to race again in Austria. I knew from the start we had a good package, with a well-developed car and a good setup, results would need to follow. Unfortunately I wasn't able to string a perfect lap in Qualifying. When starting the formation lap I noticed I had no FFB. I also did not map a button to reset FFB. I should have started from the pit lane, but instead I started the race hoping it would come back. A bad decision because on lap 1 I wasn't able to feel a slide soon enough and had to rejoin the track in last position. After some adjusting time I could do some laps and attack some cars in front, however, my new ultra-aggressive wheel movement was eating the tyres and costing me a good bit of time per lap. More disaster struck when I tried an overtake on one of the Vod:Buls. With DRS open I had to counter and avoid his defensive actions, sending my car in a high speed spin that also collected the VBM machine. I came to halt on a kerb and stalled the engine. Race over, DNF, and a very bad feeling. Fortunately my disappointment was overshadowed by Dan's great podium, more proof of how good this season is going for us so far!"

#83 Brewer (3rd): "Finally a result which has been long coming! I really nailed qualifying, setting my pb by some 3 tenths which helped the cause massively. Going off p4 I got Mascuilli on the way up the hill to turn 2 but eventually decided not to fight that position as the Edonis still has around half a second on us per lap. Fortunately for me, Mascuilli hit issues and from that point on my job was just to protect the tyres, conserve fuel and bring the car home in p3 for Kernow's first podium in almost 3 years! Really happy with the result and we can be proud of what we've achieved so far this season! Condolences to Bart who had one of his most difficult races, he was surely set for good points also. Anyway onwards and upwards and bring on Germany!"

Points: 105
Position: 5th