RDWSR2: Davidovic Breaks Through

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Miroslav Davidovic denied Jimi Hughes of a third consecutive RDWSR victory with an impressive win at Palm Beach on Saturday evening. The International Raceway in Florida hosted the penultimate round of the season, and variable weather conditions added another element into what had already promised to be a tense race for the title contenders. Davidovic set the fastest time in a dry qualifying session with a 1.25.454, almost five tenths of a second faster than his closest challenger, Davy Vandevenne, who would join him on the front row of the grid. Jimi Hughes and Jan Wikstrom qualified 3rd and 4th respectively, meaning that the three main title contenders were locked together from the start.



Miroslav Davidovic would lead 27 of the 29 laps, and also take the fastest lap of the race with a 1.26.202 on lap 7. While statistically it would appear that Davidovic cruised to an easy 4.1 second victory after leading 27 laps of the race, he was pressured relentlessly by Jan Wikstrom in wet conditions. A slight mistake in an otherwise flawless performance by Davidovic saw Wikstrom briefly take the lead with 5 laps remaining. However, Davidovic was not to be denied his first win of the season, and took the chequered flag with a 4 second buffer. Jan Wikstrom took a strong second placed finish, albeit with extremely worn tyres after pushing hard for the entire race. Rounding out the podium was championship leader Jimi Hughes, who managed to maintain strong pace even after sustaining damage, finishing 14 seconds off Davidovic. Hughes’ closest title challenger, Davy Vandevenne, finished a further 6 seconds behind to take 4th position and remain within striking distance of the title.

Steve Travers put in a strong performance to finish in 5th position after qualifying in 10th, and improved to 10th in the championship standings after sliding to 18th following the third round of the season. The biggest mover in the field was Scott Webber, who put in a fantastic performance to finish in 6th having occupied the last position on the grid after qualifying. Guiseppe De Vita led his first laps of the season, and was the only man apart from Davidovic to lead a lap of the race, managing to lead across the start/finish line twice before finishing in 9th position. You can relive all of the action from the 4th round at Palm Beach below.

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Miroslav Davidovic (Qualified 1st, Finished 1st)

“About 5 laps to go I just made one single tiny mistake and went wide on one corner, and Jan used the occasion immediately to overtake me. Luckily he overshot the next corner and I was first again. From then on I think Jan’s tires were gone and the gap slowly grew again until the finish line. But man I can tell you, I felt never that much pressure in a race. On wet, first time leading a race, a clearly faster Alien behind me, tire management (which has paid off) and the laps in the rain which lasted forever!”

Jan Wikstrom (Qualified 4th, Finished 2nd)

"I realized that I could brake much later than Miroslav and also had better corner speed, but lap after lap Miroslav put his car perfectly in the corner and never made any mistake or left the door open for me to overtake under braking. With 5 or so laps to go Miroslav suddenly run a bit wide and I challenged him for the lead, only to slide off at the next corner and lose the place again. I think the tyres were in bad condition and when going of racing line to pass there was just no grip there".

Xavier De Carvalho (Qualified 5th, Finished 7th)

Had a really rough start, but had fun nonetheless. Kept a consistent pace during the race and followed the leaders when they went by. I was surprised that I could keep up with them. I had to wait an extra 30 seconds in the pits to fix damage which was not ideal. Had some other moments but still took 7th. The weather mixed things up, a really nice feature. "Dry tires?! Wet Tires"?!

The final round of the RDWSR season will take place at Sebring on Saturday, the 13th of April. Jimi Hughes holds a slim lead of just 6 points over of Davy Vandevenne. Jan Wikstrom sits a single point behind Vandevenne, meaning that any of the top 3 contenders are a realistic chance of taking the title with 25 points available for a victory. Miroslav Davidovic also has a mathematical chance of taking the title if the top 3 contenders strike trouble in what will be a franetic finale. It must also be mentioned that each driver will have their worst score of the season dropped, further opening the battle for the title. For the full championship standings after Palm Beach, scroll to the bottom of this thread. An interview with the top 3 title contenders following Round 3 of the season can be found here. Stay tuned for the final round preview article to be published next Wednesday. It’s Hughes vs Vandvenne vs Wikstrom vs Davidovic. All four can win it, but only one can be crowned RDWSR2 champion. Anything can happen at Sebring.
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