Daiman Patel
rFactor 2 Technical Assistant
This week in the Virtual World Series by Renault we head to the Hockenheimring, for Round 3 of the Clio Cup. The event will be on Friday 8th May 2015, and as always there will be a live web stream for viewers across the world.
So far in the Clio Cup we've been witness to some fascinating and awe-inspiring racing. Croft was exciting, but Poznan took that to the next level. This time, we hope the drivers will deliver again, this time in Germany, in what we expect to be another action packed evening and two races!
Dominant Michel Looks In Astonishment at the Sky
Round 2 of the VWSR Clio Cup had a lot to live up to following the first event, but it certainly delivered. There were battles galore all the way from the front to the back of the pack. MC Racing was once again triumphant with Christian Michel leading the way, who's two race wins at Poznan put him ever closer to retaining his title. However, two events into the season, it's still early days; team mate Simon Christmann, who finished 4th in both races, is still hot on the heels of Christian. And there's no winning without a fight; TriRed Racing's Sky Willis demonstrated this in the second race, by making it very difficult for Christian. Sky lead for the majority of the race, but was pipped to the post right at the last, resulting in the reigning champion taking the race win by a mere two tenths of a second. It was a thrilling encounter, and one that will be very tough to beat! Sky's team mate, April Dillon, finished 12th and 7th; the points total moves TriRed Racing up to second in the team championship, 65 points behind MC Racing who are currently looking formidable and unstoppable.
Meanwhile, championship hopeful Jimi Hughes could only manage 5th, and 9th after an incident early on in the second race. Fellow competitor Frederic Schornstein, of RD Racing, fared better by finishing 2nd and 3rd, with Free Racing's Teddy Buch also trying to stake a claim for the championship - he is currently in 6th place overall after finishing 3rd and 6th at Poznan. As of Germany, Frederic will be joined by team mate Gijs van Elderen in an attempt to make a dent in MC Racing's lead.
Manuel Caratozzolo (9th and 8th) and Phil Shillitoe (7th and 10th) were the best of the independent drivers, after they both finished with an equal 21 points. This puts Manuel 7th overall in the driver's championship, and the highest placed independent driver. Tapio Rinneaho, who is 10th overall but 2nd in the independent driver's championship, was unable to partake in this race but shall return in Germany. Meanwhile, Steven Andrew finished 8th and 12th whilst Joao Fernandes had a horrid evening finishing 14th in the first race and forced out of the second with damage to his car's suspension.
In spite of the great racing, there were several incidents that left a lot to be desired. Most notably Stefan Woudenberg, of Doreamon Racing, walked away from both races the unhappiest of the bunch after contact caused him to go off into the Arnco on multiple occasions and sustain damage. After finishing the first race 2 laps down Stefan started the second race as a man on a mission - he managed to make his way up to 6th, but soon found himself in the wars. It was a real shame, but let's hope he's back to show his mettle at the Hockenheimring.
For more information you can see the full results and standings for Round 2.
Watch the VWSR live stream on Friday!
We will be bringing you full, live coverage of both races, with commentary courtesy of Xavier de Carvalho and James Sadler, from 6:30pm GMT onwards.
You will be able to watch the event live, and also join in with the conversation, on our live stream page featuring the popular chat-box. Also, as a viewer, you will be in contention for a prize by correctly answering the competition question that shall be asked during the race show; the winner will be awarded a one month Premium Membership*!
Don't forget to check out the the full entry list of teams and drivers, as well as further details about the upcoming race.
*The prize is transferable to another member, or can be claimed at a later date.
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