A long season saw its last races in the deserts of Abu Dhabi and a week later the World Series championship was decided at Hungaroring in the favour of Mattias Stahre.
The weekend opening saw World Series drivers Jeffrey Rietveld and Cyril Werdmuller secure the second row of the grid, but a good start saw Rietveld advance a further place. Werdmuller and Gosling had less ideal starts to the race, but both were able to eventually improve positions and maximize their 1-stop strategy. After an uneventful race Jeffrey Rietveld eventually brought home his second victory of the season, confirmed after disqualification of Atze Kerkhof. A mistake from Steven Diem in the closing stages promoted Werdmuller to third and Gosling to fourth, while Mattias Stahre temporarily lost his championship lead after an accident in the closing stages.
Excusing the World Trophy race, which brought little interesting in terms of results, the night culminated into the World Championship season finale. Qualifying saw Bono Huis take second place after an impressive pole lap from Atze Kerkhof, with his team-mate Bruno Marques in third. The trio stood for the main excitement in the first stint, providing multiple swaps of positions and eventually the fight narrowed down to Marques and Huis after wing loss from Kerkhof. A well-executed strategy gave Huis much needed breathing room, but Marques had not given up, as the Portuguese caught and eventually past Huis during the second stint. Whilst the positions didn't change, Marques managed to defeat Precision for the first time since Turkey and end the season on a high. Rasmus Tali finished in fifth, John-Eric Saxén in eight and Jaakko Mikkonen in tenth after penalty checks.
The final championship tables were Precision-dominated. Huis secured his title with an astonishing 125-point margin, whereas Tali in third and Mikkonen in fourth accompanied the Dutch excellently. The team championship was meanwhile another (almost) perfect performance, as the Precision Motorsports team secured a clear championship, and team Mak-Corp just marginally lost out the second place to Twister-Racing.
One was still left, namely the World Series re-run of Hungaroring. The qualifying was a bitter for Mattias Stahre, whose grid penalty meant the Swede could do nothing but watch team-mates Werdmuller and Rietveld take second and third on the grid. The race however showed a re-born Stahre from the very beginning, as the Swede moved past his opponents one by one. While Kerkhof was meanwhile slowing the top pack down, Stahre was able to catch and fight championship rival Werdmuller head-to-head for the first time. Stahre made the first move and dived in the pits on lap 20. Werdmuller followed his rival a lap later, but it was too late, as Stahre had already secured a clear advantage. The battle continued for most of the second stint, but inch by inch Stahre was able to pull away. After Kerkhof failing to capitalize on his three-stop strategy, the race of Stahre ended in jackpot, as the Swede secured both the win and the championship by an untouchable performance. Werdmuller finished in third and vice champion position after a further pitstop in the last lap. The team's championship mirrored WC and brought a first and third place for Precision, which concludes the fantastic season 2010.
More race reports to be followed in 2011. Thanks to all the readers for showing interest and remember to keep visiting us every now and then in the winter.
Team manager Ondrej Kuncman commented:
"As it happens from time to time, in Abu Dhabi we went in a bit wrong setup direction which affected our results. Naturally the preparation wasn't as intense as previous races but no excuses, Bruno beat us fair and square and deserved the win. Bono drove an exceptional race and proved why he is the champion. It is a bit unfortunate that we lost out on P2 in the constructors championship with Mak Corp but we can't expect to win everything. Both WS races - Abu Dhabi and Hungary went our way, especially in Hungary both Cyril and Mattias showed why they won WS this year. Mattias won the race starting 14th, winning title in a dominant fashion. His action speaks for itself. Now we can finally unwind after a long and challenging season and slowly start improving team matters for 2011. I would like to thank every single Precision Motorsports member for this historical season and congratulate all 3 champions."
Bono Huis (2nd) commented:
"Quite a nice way to end the season, a win would have been better but Bruno was too fast. Qualifying was great, did a PB and Atze was unbeatable. P2 was the best we could hope for. I wasn't really planning to pass Atze in turn 1 but he braked extremely early so I got P1 already in the first corner. Obviously with this slipstream it's impossible to get away so I decided to let Atze pass and save boost behind him. I stayed behind him until I made a small mistake under braking for turn 11 and ran wide, allowing Bruno to pass me. Bruno then passed Atze so I had to react immediately, but Atze slowed down more than 100m before the braking zone and clearly I couldn't react to that and hit him, which meant he hit Bruno. Bruno and I were very lucky to get away without any serious damage. After that Bruno was untouchable, I really couldn't keep up with him. In the final few laps I saw I had some boost left so I decided to put up a final charge, unfortunately it was not good enough. Congratulations to Bruno, really well deserved win. See you next season."
Rasmus Tali (5th) commented:
"I lost my Internet and computer almost at the same time on Friday so I wasn't expecting to race but I got my computer fixed on Sunday afternoon and 15 min before race I borrowed Internet from a relative. So I was able to race but without any practise for over 2 days.
Car was really a handful and I was locking into corners and drifting out of them. Still I was expecting more pace from myself on the second stint, but in the actual race the grip wasn't there so I suffered until the end. Considering the circumstances I guess I am happy I got to race at all and didn't hit anyone with my lag.
Thanks to the team for amazing season and thanks to all the drivers and FSR for an exciting year. If I stay at FSR I am looking forward to fight for the title next year."
Mattias Stahre commented:
"Going into this race it was all or nothing really. The conditions were not looking good as I had to beat Cyril on the track and added to that had to start last on the grid.
As this is one of my absolute favorite tracks though I had something going for me.
The start went very well and in the first corner I overtook four cars on by taking it easy and staying close to the inside curb. After that I gave everything I had to try and catch up with Cyril. As it turned out it was probably my strongest race of the year with great pace and no mistakes which in the end gave me the title by the smallest of margins.
This year in FSR has been filled with many ups and down for me. In the first half of the season I could really put the hammer down and score points which in the closing races coming up to the final in Hungary I couldn't.
All in all though I think it was a great year for our team which by taking all the titles this year showed how great a team can be when the right people are involved and get to do what they are best at.
Thanks to Precision-Motorsports and especially Ondrej for his great enthusiasm to always keep pushing the whole team this year!"
Cyril Werdmuller commented:
"Leading the championship with a 3 point lead heading to Hungary was a good position. It was going to be a hard race because I knew my teammate Mattias Stahre would be very fast here.
The qualification went very well, driving under my personal best by 0,2. Starting from p2 behind Atze Kerkhof and knowing Mattias starting from the back of the grid I should have a chance for winning the championship.
The start went good and I managed to maintain my position and stayed behind Atze who I could follow quite easily. The whole first stint I could save my engine. after lap 10 or so I saw Mattias being on a 6 second gap behind me on p3 already.
From that point I knew this was going to be a very very hard race. I decided to stay behind Atze but after he pitted early for a 3 stop I had a clear track infront off me. In those free laps I tried to push but my tyres where gone and Mattias was getting even closer. We where both on a 2 stop strategy but he pitted 1 lap earlier and passed me during the pitstops. In the 2nd stint I had to keep up with him but he was so fast that I had to use alot of engine boost to keep up. I tried to take over the lead by pitting 1 lap earlier but it just wasn't enough.
After that I knew it was over and because I overboosted so much on the 2e stint I needed to save the engine in the final part of the race. Atze could pass me in the end but being on the podium on p3 wasn't that bad. Actually this was one of my best races so far but unfortunatly it wasn't enough to get the tittle.
I want to congratulate Mattias Stahre for winning the World Series Championship. He drove very well the whole season and he really deserved it. Also many thanks to my team and expecially to Ondrej Kunchman and Johannes Kunkel for believing in me and giving me the chance to drive for Precision Motorsports."
Precision Motorsports
Official Press Release
written by John-Eric Saxen
www.precision-motorsports.de
The weekend opening saw World Series drivers Jeffrey Rietveld and Cyril Werdmuller secure the second row of the grid, but a good start saw Rietveld advance a further place. Werdmuller and Gosling had less ideal starts to the race, but both were able to eventually improve positions and maximize their 1-stop strategy. After an uneventful race Jeffrey Rietveld eventually brought home his second victory of the season, confirmed after disqualification of Atze Kerkhof. A mistake from Steven Diem in the closing stages promoted Werdmuller to third and Gosling to fourth, while Mattias Stahre temporarily lost his championship lead after an accident in the closing stages.
Excusing the World Trophy race, which brought little interesting in terms of results, the night culminated into the World Championship season finale. Qualifying saw Bono Huis take second place after an impressive pole lap from Atze Kerkhof, with his team-mate Bruno Marques in third. The trio stood for the main excitement in the first stint, providing multiple swaps of positions and eventually the fight narrowed down to Marques and Huis after wing loss from Kerkhof. A well-executed strategy gave Huis much needed breathing room, but Marques had not given up, as the Portuguese caught and eventually past Huis during the second stint. Whilst the positions didn't change, Marques managed to defeat Precision for the first time since Turkey and end the season on a high. Rasmus Tali finished in fifth, John-Eric Saxén in eight and Jaakko Mikkonen in tenth after penalty checks.
The final championship tables were Precision-dominated. Huis secured his title with an astonishing 125-point margin, whereas Tali in third and Mikkonen in fourth accompanied the Dutch excellently. The team championship was meanwhile another (almost) perfect performance, as the Precision Motorsports team secured a clear championship, and team Mak-Corp just marginally lost out the second place to Twister-Racing.
One was still left, namely the World Series re-run of Hungaroring. The qualifying was a bitter for Mattias Stahre, whose grid penalty meant the Swede could do nothing but watch team-mates Werdmuller and Rietveld take second and third on the grid. The race however showed a re-born Stahre from the very beginning, as the Swede moved past his opponents one by one. While Kerkhof was meanwhile slowing the top pack down, Stahre was able to catch and fight championship rival Werdmuller head-to-head for the first time. Stahre made the first move and dived in the pits on lap 20. Werdmuller followed his rival a lap later, but it was too late, as Stahre had already secured a clear advantage. The battle continued for most of the second stint, but inch by inch Stahre was able to pull away. After Kerkhof failing to capitalize on his three-stop strategy, the race of Stahre ended in jackpot, as the Swede secured both the win and the championship by an untouchable performance. Werdmuller finished in third and vice champion position after a further pitstop in the last lap. The team's championship mirrored WC and brought a first and third place for Precision, which concludes the fantastic season 2010.
More race reports to be followed in 2011. Thanks to all the readers for showing interest and remember to keep visiting us every now and then in the winter.
Team manager Ondrej Kuncman commented:
"As it happens from time to time, in Abu Dhabi we went in a bit wrong setup direction which affected our results. Naturally the preparation wasn't as intense as previous races but no excuses, Bruno beat us fair and square and deserved the win. Bono drove an exceptional race and proved why he is the champion. It is a bit unfortunate that we lost out on P2 in the constructors championship with Mak Corp but we can't expect to win everything. Both WS races - Abu Dhabi and Hungary went our way, especially in Hungary both Cyril and Mattias showed why they won WS this year. Mattias won the race starting 14th, winning title in a dominant fashion. His action speaks for itself. Now we can finally unwind after a long and challenging season and slowly start improving team matters for 2011. I would like to thank every single Precision Motorsports member for this historical season and congratulate all 3 champions."
Bono Huis (2nd) commented:
"Quite a nice way to end the season, a win would have been better but Bruno was too fast. Qualifying was great, did a PB and Atze was unbeatable. P2 was the best we could hope for. I wasn't really planning to pass Atze in turn 1 but he braked extremely early so I got P1 already in the first corner. Obviously with this slipstream it's impossible to get away so I decided to let Atze pass and save boost behind him. I stayed behind him until I made a small mistake under braking for turn 11 and ran wide, allowing Bruno to pass me. Bruno then passed Atze so I had to react immediately, but Atze slowed down more than 100m before the braking zone and clearly I couldn't react to that and hit him, which meant he hit Bruno. Bruno and I were very lucky to get away without any serious damage. After that Bruno was untouchable, I really couldn't keep up with him. In the final few laps I saw I had some boost left so I decided to put up a final charge, unfortunately it was not good enough. Congratulations to Bruno, really well deserved win. See you next season."
Rasmus Tali (5th) commented:
"I lost my Internet and computer almost at the same time on Friday so I wasn't expecting to race but I got my computer fixed on Sunday afternoon and 15 min before race I borrowed Internet from a relative. So I was able to race but without any practise for over 2 days.
Car was really a handful and I was locking into corners and drifting out of them. Still I was expecting more pace from myself on the second stint, but in the actual race the grip wasn't there so I suffered until the end. Considering the circumstances I guess I am happy I got to race at all and didn't hit anyone with my lag.
Thanks to the team for amazing season and thanks to all the drivers and FSR for an exciting year. If I stay at FSR I am looking forward to fight for the title next year."
Mattias Stahre commented:
"Going into this race it was all or nothing really. The conditions were not looking good as I had to beat Cyril on the track and added to that had to start last on the grid.
As this is one of my absolute favorite tracks though I had something going for me.
The start went very well and in the first corner I overtook four cars on by taking it easy and staying close to the inside curb. After that I gave everything I had to try and catch up with Cyril. As it turned out it was probably my strongest race of the year with great pace and no mistakes which in the end gave me the title by the smallest of margins.
This year in FSR has been filled with many ups and down for me. In the first half of the season I could really put the hammer down and score points which in the closing races coming up to the final in Hungary I couldn't.
All in all though I think it was a great year for our team which by taking all the titles this year showed how great a team can be when the right people are involved and get to do what they are best at.
Thanks to Precision-Motorsports and especially Ondrej for his great enthusiasm to always keep pushing the whole team this year!"
Cyril Werdmuller commented:
"Leading the championship with a 3 point lead heading to Hungary was a good position. It was going to be a hard race because I knew my teammate Mattias Stahre would be very fast here.
The qualification went very well, driving under my personal best by 0,2. Starting from p2 behind Atze Kerkhof and knowing Mattias starting from the back of the grid I should have a chance for winning the championship.
The start went good and I managed to maintain my position and stayed behind Atze who I could follow quite easily. The whole first stint I could save my engine. after lap 10 or so I saw Mattias being on a 6 second gap behind me on p3 already.
From that point I knew this was going to be a very very hard race. I decided to stay behind Atze but after he pitted early for a 3 stop I had a clear track infront off me. In those free laps I tried to push but my tyres where gone and Mattias was getting even closer. We where both on a 2 stop strategy but he pitted 1 lap earlier and passed me during the pitstops. In the 2nd stint I had to keep up with him but he was so fast that I had to use alot of engine boost to keep up. I tried to take over the lead by pitting 1 lap earlier but it just wasn't enough.
After that I knew it was over and because I overboosted so much on the 2e stint I needed to save the engine in the final part of the race. Atze could pass me in the end but being on the podium on p3 wasn't that bad. Actually this was one of my best races so far but unfortunatly it wasn't enough to get the tittle.
I want to congratulate Mattias Stahre for winning the World Series Championship. He drove very well the whole season and he really deserved it. Also many thanks to my team and expecially to Ondrej Kunchman and Johannes Kunkel for believing in me and giving me the chance to drive for Precision Motorsports."
Precision Motorsports
Official Press Release
written by John-Eric Saxen
www.precision-motorsports.de
