|
Silverstone
race report
by Peter Winsome
| Starting
grid |
| Team |
Name |
Nationality |
| Jetta |
1.
Sue de Lou |
|
| Shadowfax |
2.
Mombasa Mohnam |
|
|
WYCC |
3.
Sun Starfire |
|
| Jetta |
4.
Jeff Akbar |
|
|
WYCC |
5.
Mark Hero |
|
| MacLuren |
6.
Ignar Fjuk |
|
| Teaflax |
7.
Hagbard Celine |
|
| Shadowfax |
8.
Zita Caneloni |
|
| Teaflax |
9.
Martin Wizinc |
|
The
first race of the season was, as is customary, quite a tumultous
affair. The Teaflax Citroën Race Team waited
until the very last to unveil their new second driver, young
Estonian wunderkind Martin Wizinc, who failed to
impress in qualifying, but more than made up for it under
race conditions.
Conspiracy
theorists had a field day with first both MacLuren
drivers being taken ill on the same day (and quickly replaced
by Ignar Fjuk, "The Estonian Stallion"),
and then both Shadowfax cars blowing their engines
within mere seconds of each other, halfway through the race.
The
race win was never much in question, though. Turkey's pride
Sue de Lou held a convincing lead for Jetta
almost from start to finish with minor challenges from Shadowfax's
Mombasa Mohnam and young upstart Wizinc.
Second
place was more hotly contested, with the positions switching
many times. In the end, Japanese veteran Sun Starfire
grabbed the position, placing WYCC racing on the
podium, if not in the first place hinted at during pre-season
testing.
All
in all, apart from de Lou's bravura performance, this was
the race of the unknowns and second drivers. WYCC had Starfire
in 2nd over first-driver Mark Hero's 4th - surely
a disappointment in his home grand prix, and Teaflax saw
a stunning 3rd from Wizinc over first driver Hagbard
Celine's abysmal 7th. In similar fashion, otherwise
solid Jeff Akbar just squeezed into the points in
a 6th spot, right behind Ignar Fjuk in the only MacLuren
brought to start.
The
next race is Interlagos, Brazil. We'll see if the pressure
of racing in his home country works better for Celine than
it did for Hero this time around.
| Final
qualifications |
| Team |
Name |
Nationality |
Race
Points |
| Jetta |
1.
Sue de Lou |
|
10
|
|
WYCC |
2.
Sun Starfire |
|
6
|
| Teaflax |
3.
Martin Wizinc |
|
4
|
|
WYCC |
4.
Mark Hero |
|
3
|
| MacLuren |
5.
Ignar Fjuk |
|
2
|
| Jetta |
6.
Jeff Akbar |
|
1
|
| Teaflax |
7.
Hagbard Celine |
|
0
|
| Shadowfax |
DNF.
Mombasa Mohnam |
|
0
|
| Shadowfax |
DNF.
Zita Caneloni |
|
0
|
|
