Dave Carr-Smith came from the back of the grid to take an impressive third win of the season for Green Stripes Racing, ahead of the Midnight Motorsport pairing of Lukas Euler and Nick Rowland.
The GPVWC fraternity descended on the classic Nurburgring circuit in Germany for Round 14 of the Superleague championship. The original plan was to race at the newly created Buddh International Circuit in India, but unfortunately the venue was not considered ready to host a world championship race yet, and will likely appear on the schedule for the 2013 season. Instead, the paddock stayed in Europe. Nick Rowland returned to the cockpit for Constructors champions Midnight Motorsport after a one race absence, and would surely hope to close the gap on his teammate and runaway leader in the Drivers Championship, Lukas Euler. Nordsjoen Racing's problems continued, only fielding one car for the race in the form of Bart De Vos, making his second appearance for the team. Problems also for Draig Racing, fielding just one car for Keith Storrie. Surprisingly, the struggling minnows Synergetic Motorsport did field two cars, for the returning Jonathan MacLean, and Wesley Morris. Finally, Chris Williamson would remain in the cockpit for Nijo Racing, with regular driver Ben Warren unavailable to race.
No doubt keen to impress his home crowd, Lukas Euler's incredible qualifying performances continued, extending his perfect run of pole positions, half a second ahead of the ever improving Ojay Clark, now consistently showing excellent one-lap pace. Rowland qualified third, not far ahead of Nijo Racing's Ruud Heesterbeek, one of a number of high profile drivers being linked with a move to another team for next season. Bart De Vos lined up fifth for Nordsjoen, ahead of former teammate and Hawkeye Racing driver Lewis Redshaw. Cattell, Jundt, Parker and Storrie rounded out the top ten. It was a peculiar session though, with front-runners Dave Carr-Smith, and Jamez Shepherd both starting from the back of the grid. Carr-Smith for exceeding track limits and asking to be moved to the back, while Shepherd went out very late in the session and span on his only flying lap attempt.
The silly season for 2013 is in full swing in the GPVWC, and tongues are sure to rattle even more after a quite astounding drive from the back of the grid to the front by Green Stripes Racing driver Dave-Carr Smith, taking his second win in a row, and third win of the season. The impressive charge was not without controversy, a charge which included an early tangle with Woods Racing driver Tom Parker, two drivers who are being discussed as potential teammates for next season. With tyre wear pinpointed as an issue for a number of teams and drivers, Carr-Smith impressively utilised his tyre saving abilities and made just two pitstops during the race, while many of his rivals were forced into making three, or more. Championship leader Lukas Euler was disappointed not to win in front of his home crowd, finishing just two tenths of a second behind Carr-Smith in the end. Euler spent much of the race battling with his teammate Nick Rowland, who led the opening stages of the race, and finished a solid third place in his return. Seeing Ojay Clark and Ruud Heesterbeek battling during a race is a very familiar sight nowadays, and once again the two rivals were banging wheels and entertaining the crowds. Clark once again missed out on a podium for Red Archer, but finished just seventeen seconds off the lead, and is moving closer towards his target of mixing it with the major contenders. Jamez Shepherd also had an impressive run from the back of the field, finishing fith for Hawkeye Racing, with Heesterbeek taking sixth. Bart De Vos was the first of the lapped cars, and finished seventh for Nordsjoen Racing, grabbing valuable points as they look to hold on to their top five Constructors spot. Kernow Sport took their first ever double points finish in Superleague, with Simon Cattell finishing eighth, and Mark Wicks in ninth. The latter is reportedly much happier with the car during the last few rounds, and battled for much of the race with former Woods Racing teammate Kieran Ryan. Lewis Redshaw rounded out the top ten for Hawkeye Racing.
Euler's second place extends his lead over teammate Rowland tothirty-fivepoints, and the young German can mathematically wrap up the Drivers championship at the next round in the United States. Rowland will look to do all he can to haul in his teammate, but will now need to look over his shoulder at the charging Carr-Smith, now just twenty points behind. The retired Lee Morris remains in fourth, with Jamez Shepherd closing in all the time. Heesterbeek remains sixth, with Ojay Clark in seventh and hoping to chase his rival down before the season is over. Cattell remains eighth, with the retired Consiglio in ninth, and another retired driver in the form of Janne Tanskanen rounding out the top ten. In the Constructors, despite having already wrapped in the Constructors championship, Midnight Motorsport team continue to extended their championship lead, and now have an amazing 192 point gap over second placed Green Stripes Racing. Red Archer VT move into third place on ninety-four points, pushing Draig Racing down to fourth. Nordsjoen Racing are fifth, and will also look to move ahead of Draig. Hawkeye Racing's double points finish sees them move above Nijo Racing, pushing the latter down to seventh, while Kernow Sport, Woods Racing and the defunct Red 5 Racing round out the top ten.
