V10 R-League exploded into life last week with a thrilling opening round at Monza!
Some changes were made to the events thanks to the short lap time at Brands. The relay race was extended to ten laps, with the teams race run over a total of 14 laps.
Could Williams and Porsche stretch their advantage? Or could Forzilla, Red Bull, Yas and Jean Alesi make up ground? We’ve got everything you need to know about Round 2 below!
Williams v Yas Heat
The first match of today’s action was between Williams and Yas Heat. It’s a real contrast, as Williams are one of the oldest names in motorsport, while Heat were formed specifically for this championship.
Williams: Martin Stefanko, Kuba Brzezinski, Nikodem Wisniewski
Heat: Andrea Capoccia, Simone Fedele, Jaroslav Honzik
The first head-to-head was between Kuba Brzezinski of Williams and Andrea Capoccia of Heat. Capoccia led away from pole position but Brzezinski was hot on the Italian’s heels throughout the three laps.
It was the Heat man who held his nerve though, as Yas led 1-0.
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Martin Stefanko v Simone Fedele was the second head-to-head. Both drivers got a poor start, but it was Stefanko who led and quickly built his lead to tie the contest 1-1.
Nikodem Wisniewski started from pole and despite Jaroslav Honzik’s best efforts, it was the Williams driver who saw the chequered flag first to give Williams a 1-0 lead going into the relay race.
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Heat had to take this round to stay in the contest, but it was Stefanko who led into the first braking zone at Druids. Williams opted to leave Stefanko out for his joker lap, but Heat changed their drivers at the end of Lap 3.
Brzezinski emerged from the pits with a three second lead over Stefanko, the contest was falling away from Heat. Honzik had it all to do for Heat in the final stint, but the gap was closing.
Despite the mounting pressure though, Wisniewski held his nerve and won the race for Williams. Williams led 2-0, could they make it six points from six available to start the season?
If Williams were going to make it 3-0, they had their work cut out for them after Lap 1. Thanks to mistakes by Wisniewski and Brzezinski, Heat led 1-2-3. Fedele would soon make a similar error though, but Heat were still 1-2.
Stefanko was chasing the leading pair but he too would spin and drop down the order, before Fedele would do likewise. Heat looked like scoring again, but Brzezinski was attempting to spoil the party.
It wasn’t quite enough though; Heat would win the team’s race 15-11 to take the first point off Williams this season. Williams won the match 2-1 though.
Suzuki v BMW
BMW failed to score in Round 1 but we looking to put that right this week. Suzuki meanwhile had a decent start to the season by besting Heat 2-1 at Monza.
BMW: Cem Bolukbasi, Kevin Siggy, Coque Lopez
Suzuki: Alex Turato, Cesare Penco, Giovanni De Salvo
Alex Turato was put under pressure immediately by Cem Bolukbasi, but the Italian held his line and his nerve into Turn 1. Bolukbasi though made another mistake and handed the head-to-head to Turato.
Suzuki led 1-0 but the BMW of Coque Lopez took the advantage of pole into Druids. Cesare Penco was pushing Lopez all the way round Lap 1 but would spin towards the end of the tour. That made it 1-1 going into the final head-to-head.
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Kevin Siggy started on pole but Giovanni De Salvo flew around the outside of Turn 1 to take the lead. Siggy couldn’t get his lead back but less than a second separated the pair.
De Salvo got a penalty for his overtake though, a real shock to the commentators. Because of that BMW won 2-1 and led the series 1-0.
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BMW were finally on the board but Suzuki led during the first stint of the relay race. Less than a second was between Siggy and Turato though, with both running long and using their joker.
Bolukbasi’s BMW would emerge in the lead though, could they win the tie after the relay race? It was side-by-side action as Bolukbasi and Penco flew into Hawthorn.
Penco though, would spin and leave De Salvo with a mountain to climb. The five second gap was too much though, as Lopez crossed the line to give BMW a 2-0 lead.
Suzuki had to win the team’s race to avoid being whitewashed in this tie. De Salvo led the race but BMW were 2-3-5, one more place improvement would swing the points in their favour.
Siggy and De Salvo were in a league of their own but De Salvo was under investigation for abusing track limits. De Salvo won on the track but he was handed a penalty and BMW won the race 15-11 to win the tie 3-0.
Fordzilla v Porsche 24 RedLine
With Williams dropping a point, Porsche RedLine were the only team left with a perfect record. Porsche would have their work cut out for them though, as Fordzilla would push the experienced team all the way.
Porsche: Ben Cornett, Atze Kerkhof, Michal Smidl
Fordzilla: Pablo Lopez, Shaun Arnold, Ruben Rodriguez
Every pole-sitter in the head-to-head had won their tie and that didn’t change when Pablo Lopez started ahead of Ben Cornett. Cornett would run wide and into the gravel, handing Lopez the win as Porsche took the led 1-0.
Atze Kerkhof got off to a good start but Shaun Arnold kept him honest throughout the three lap race. Arnold set some blistering laps but Kerkof did just enough to tie the contest 1-1.
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Michal Smidl began on pole and Ruben Rodriguez made it a very close contest to decide the head-to-heads. Rodriguez was rapid and almost overtook Smidl into the final corner but couldn’t get past. Porsche led 1-0.
Both cars went into Turn 1 side-by-side on Lap 1 of the relay race but it was the Fordzilla of Lopez that led into Druids. Lopez ran four laps and used Fordzilla’s joker at the first opportunity.
Fordzilla still led going into the final driver changes, but there was less than a second between the two cars. They were literally pushing each other into the pit-lane!
Rodriguez continued his fantastic series debut though, crossing the line first after ten laps. However, there was drama, as Fordzilla were headed a time penalty for abusing track limits. Porsche led 2-0 but could they make it a clear sweep?
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Rodriguez and Arnold led the team’s race 1-2 for Fordzilla in the early stages but Smidl was keeping them honest. Lopez was looking rapid though, and he was climbing the order from the back.
Overtaking had been at a premium so far and it showed as the first five were separated by less than two seconds.
Fordzilla would win the race on-track but penalties for all three drivers for track limits handed Porsche the victory 17-9 and 3-0 in the series. Porsche now led the championship with six from six possible points!
Red Bull v Racing Point
Red Bull would’ve been satisfied with their first matchup, picking up two points against Forzilla at Monza. Racing Point are yet to get off the mark though, so they were desperate to avoid another blank.
Racing Point: Lucas Blakeley, Daniele Haddad, Shanaka Clay
Red Bull: Joni Tormala, Aurelien Mallet, Graham Carroll
Lucas Blakeley led Graham Carroll going into Turn 1, but the Red Bull man kept Blakeley honest throughout. It was Blakeley who won though, to give Racing Point a 1-0 lead.
Shanaka Clay led the race but Aurelien Mallet was all over the Racing Point’s gearbox. Like the first contest though, it was the pink car which won, RP led 2-0 in the head-to-heads and earned their first point of the season!
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Daniele Haddad and Joni Tormala only had pride to race for but it was Haddad who led into Turn 1. Tormala nerfed Haddad around though and the Finn did not slow down. Red Bull would later have this taken off them though, Haddad made it 3-0 to Racing Point in the head-to-heads.
The Relay Race was going to be hotly contested, Blakeley led but it was by less than a second ahead of Carroll. Both teams opted to use their joker and run long in the first stint.
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Clay led out of the pits but was feeling the pressure, locking up into druids. The Racing Point driver held his advantage though and it was all to play for in the final stint.
Haddad had the advantage but Mallet was giving it everything. It turned out to be too much though, as the Frenchman nearly spun out of Druids. Racing Point led 2-0.
Red Bull had been disappointing so far but they were looking better in the team’s race. Tormala bossed the race and Carroll pulled off some incredible overtaking moves to get P2.
Clay also overtook Mallet into Hawthorne, probably the move of the round! Clay would later spin though, as Red Bull salvaged some pride to win 17-9 and reduce the deficit to 2-1.
Final results
Here are the updated standings after the Brands Hatch ties:
| Pos. | Team | Points |
| 1 | Porsche | 6 |
| 2 | Williams | 5 |
| 3 | Red Bull | 3 |
| BMW | 3 | |
| 5 | Jean Alesi Suzuki | 2 |
| Yas Heat | 2 | |
| Racing Point | 2 | |
| 8 | Fordzilla | 1 |
With BMW and Racing Point scoring, every team has at least 1 point on the board!
The Next Round
The next round of the season will be held at the might Nordschleife on 21 September at 7pm BST.
The entire Season 1 of V10 R-League will be shown on BT Sport 2 in the UK.
Those in the US can watch on ESPN3, while in the Middle East it will be available on STARZPLAY Arabia.
The post V10 R-League Round 2 – Brands Hatch Results and Standings: Porsche24 Redline take the championship lead appeared first on RealSport.
Ernestina Saenz Salcido is a reporter for News Lair. She mostly writes on her free time about gadgets and tech news. When she’s not working she takes care of her 2 daughters.