Silverstone, Northamptonshire, England
The penultimate round of Sunday League S7 took the grid to the crown jewel of British motorsports at the Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit, with the anticipation for the AM Championship to be won at an all time high, Gabriel Rivera led into the round over Ruben Pinho.
Round 9 saw the return of Euro Titans' Ben Meredith to the grid. All possible assets appeared to be deployed from ETE to go on the offensive against 5Star as the lead of the Teams Championship loomed closer and closer.
Qualifying wrapped in wet conditions for an ETE 1-2 between Carlos Diesch and Fake Galaxy, who sought to dismantle the championship lead of defending champion Tylor Vermaak, in AM, it was division pole for Sean Phillips on his second appearance of the season following his debut to a troubled round in Suzuka the week before.
QUALIFYING SUMMARY (TOP 10):
- Fake GALAXY (AUT) - Ferrari - 2:05.205
- Carlos DIESCH (SUI) - Ferrari - 2:05.520
- Tylor VERMAAK (RSA) - Bentley - 2:05.757
- Zsolt BEEFGARTNER (HUN) - Lexus - 2:05.760
- Declan ANDERSON (GBR) - McLaren - 2:06.777
- Alan ALEXANDER (GBR) - Bentley - 2:05.955
- Ben MEREDITH (GBR) - Ferrari - 2:06.202
- Patrick LEGER (NED) - Ford - 2:06.247
- Cas VAN VELZEN (NED) - Mercedes-AMG - 2:06.402
- Ken THOMAS (GBR) - Ferrari - 2:06.546
SPRINT RACE:
The opening skirmish of Lap 1 started with a strong start for Galaxy, forming up an early lead over Carlos Diesch, behind, battling between the Bentleys of Vermaak and Alexander hit an early flashpoint with contact at Club corner, allowing Declan Anderson room to snatch away 4th, the impact saw Vermaak plummet from the top 10, meanwhile, S5 Champion Cas Van Velzen caught up and got knee-deep in the action on Lap 1. In AM, Sean Phillips opened his race in remarkable form by entering the top 10 overall and opening a large gap to Mikael Qvarnstrom in 2nd.
Lap 5 saw disaster for ETE, as in the fight for 2nd, Alan Alexander and Carlos Diesch collided with each other, allowing Beefgartner and Anderson to intercept the podium spots, taking 2nd and 3rd.
At the halfway mark, Vermaak had caught back up to the top 10, and Galaxy and Phillips continued to lead both classes, in the closing laps of the 20m Sprint, a sizable portion of the field entered the pits to serve a late pit stop strategy, this proved a costly error for Declan Anderson, as he missed his pit box entry, this cost him the chances of a Podium, allowing Ben Meredith to sneak into 3rd following a solid and consistent performance throughout.
Fake Galaxy secured their career eighth victory at the chequered flag, with Zsolt Beefgartner making 2nd, and Ben Meredith clinched a podium from Anderson. In AM: Sean Phillips saw their first AM victory, finishing class 1st and 8th overall ahead of Eric Flatt in 2nd, and Gabriel Rivera rounded the AM Podium, one step closer to securing the championship title in AM.
SPRINT RACE SUMMARY (TOP 10):
- Fake GALAXY (AUT) - Ferrari - Euro Titans Endurance - PRO
- Zsolt BEEFGARTNER (HUN) - Lexus - NotLastRacing - PRO
- Ben MEREDITH (GBR) - Ferrari - Euro Titans Endurance - PRO
- Declan ANDERSON (GBR) - McLaren - 5Star Esports - PRO
- Tylor VERMAAK (RSA) - Bentley - 5Star Esports - PRO
- Patrick LEGER (NED) - Ford - 5Star Esports - PRO
- Samuel LYNTON-BELL (GBR) - Mercedes-AMG - INVICTUS RT by Pipioqui - PRO
- Sean PHILLIPS (GBR) - Ferrari - Momentus Motorsports A - AM
- Eric FLATT (USA) - McLaren - Privateer - AM
- Nick LAMMING (GBR) - Ford - Trident GT Racing - PRO
FEATURE RACE:
Wet weather persisted into the Feature, and as the race got underway, it was another strong open for Fake Galaxy, behind, Vermaak tangled with Beefgartner in the early laps to hold the podium position.
By the halfway mark of the race, multiple drivers had taken their mandatory pit stop, the latest among them was Zsolt Beefgartner in the wave leading toward the midway. Galaxy stayed out, leading over Diesch and Vermaak. Sean Phillips remained out to build upon his lead in AM. Declan Anderson played an early strategy to avoid the pressures of the opening laps in the top 10, a move that proved critical for success as the race progressed.
Into the 2nd half, Van Velzen ran into trouble as he ran wide into the walls on the far end of Stowe corner, leaving him with critical damage that saw him plummet down the order.
As the final laps dawned, and the last remaining stragglers had taken their pit stop, the picture of Anderson's strategy became increasingly clear, as the #28 had successfully rose to 2nd over Diesch, relegating Beefgartner of a chance for a podium, this, however, did little to dull his senses, as he battled with Alan Alexander throughout the second half of the race.
Fake Galaxy secured career win number 9, back to back throughout Round 9, finishing ahead of Declan Anderson and Carlos Diesch, Sean Phillips secured their second consecutive class victory in AM, finishing ahead of Eric Flatt and Gabriel Rivera on the class podium.
With his latest podium finish, the Feature Race represented the last step towards the title for Gabriel Rivera, who can no longer numerically be caught for the championship title in AM. He becomes the first ever driver to obtain the AM Drivers championship title, with the category replacing the now defunct Rookies Championship from S4-S6
FEATURE RACE SUMMARY (TOP 10):
- Fake GALAXY (AUT) - Ferrari - Euro Titans Endurance - PRO
- Declan ANDERSON (GBR) - McLaren - 5Star Esports - PRO
- Carlos DIESCH (SUI) - Ferrari - Euro Titans Endurance - PRO
- Zsolt BEEFGARTNER (HUN) - Lexus - NotLastRacing - PRO
- Alan ALEXANDER (GBR) - Bentley - Euro Titans Endurance - PRO
- Tylor VERMAAK (RSA) - Bentley - 5Star Esports - PRO
- Ben MEREDITH (GBR) - Ferrari - Euro Titans Endurance - PRO
- Sean PHILLIPS (GBR) - Ferrari - Momentus Motorsports A - AM
- Samuel LYNTON-BELL (GBR) - Mercedes-AMG - INVICTUS RT by Pipioqui - PRO
- Ken THOMAS (GBR) - Ferrari - 5Star Esports - PRO
DRIVER'S VIEW:
Fake Galaxy reflecting on his performance: "I mean, I've been practicing this week a lot, normally dont do that much"
"It looks like the effort was worth it at the end" "I just did my thing - drive without any mistakes"
When asked on his view towards his impending championship battle with Tylor Vermaak: "Normally I like being the guy in front, but in this case I like to be the hunter because he has more Success Ballast and he will probably struggle also on Zandvoort"
Carlos Diesch on his incident in the Sprint Race: "I in general didnt have much pace in the wet and I had Alan (Alexander) behind me for a few laps - I wanted to let him pass, in the process we had a small touch so I slammed on my brakes and Anderson who was right behind (Alexander) rear-ended me, pushed me into Alexander and then we both just completely slammed into the wall"
When asked on his thoughts on Zandvoort: "It's a track that I really don't have much experience with - It's tight and narrow and it kills the tyres, but we'll see what the weather is like as well, it can be very interesting - It's very hard to overtake as well"
Ben Meredith on his first ever league race podium: "It was literally the most stressful lap of my life - My heart was going at, like, rapid rapid pace"
The remaining driver interviews, including Patrick Leger and Samuel Lynton-Bell, can be found on demand on the TRTN YouTube Channel.
Round 10 takes the grid to its final race of Season 10, at a triple-sprint round at the Circuit Zandvoort. All races of the NLRL Sunday League Season 7 can be found on demand on the TRTN YouTube channel and LIVE exclusively via TRTN through either Twitch or the Broadcast portal on XCLusive Racing. Results for the series can be found on SimGrid, under "NLRL Sunday League Season 7 - Brought to you by TRTN".