Belgium GP: Race Ticker
motorsport-live.com August 20th, 2017
Surprise, surprise. It is Sunday here in Spa-Francorchamp, and there is a surprise pole setter in town in
Iker Vidal, and two hungry chasers in
Dieter Wexler and
Harry Chapman behind him. "Not sure if the
Lotus can bring that pace in the race," via
Niki Lauda, expert for German TV. "Also, he missed the lights the last time he was in the first row so..."
To be fair, the
Lotus looked quick last race in Italy in qualifying and not so fast in the race... so he may have a point there. If that is not the case... the battle between
Wexler and
Chapman is the one to watch...
Lap 1:
The cars are lining up with the black and golden
Lotus on pole, and the top five on the supersoft tyre.
Lipponen(P6),
Holtz(P8) and
Surikov(P9) on soft, and
Woodford the first of the medium runner...
Here we go...
The red lights are on... one.. two... three... four... five...
AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO!
WEXLER WITH A GREAT START, HE GOES INTO THE FIRST CORNER SIDE BY SIDE WITH THE
LOTUS... BUT IS ON THE OUTSIDE AND HAS TO YIELD!
But he does not go far as
Wexler gets him at the exit of Eau Rouge, the corne where things went wrong for
Rafael Rodrigues! The second
Rossini driver missed the exit and ran wide... and has fallen way back, but luckily missed the other cars!
1.
Wexler 2.
Vidal +1.7 3.
Chapman +2.0
Woodford P8 +7.1
Lap 2:
And as expected,
Vidal yields to
Chapman after Kemmel Straight.
1.
Wexler 2.
Chapman +2.7 3.
Vidal +4.6
Woodford P9 +12.0
Lap 3:
1.
Wexler 2.
Chapman +2.7 3.
Vidal +4.8
Woodford P9 +14.9
Lap 4:
1.
Wexler 2.
Chapman +2.5 3.
Vidal +5.2
Woodford P9 +17.0
Lap 5:
"Ok, you are matching the pace of the leaders and pulling a small gap to
Margate behind us. Keep it up," via
Vidal's team radio.
1.
Wexler 2.
Chapman +2.3 3.
Vidal +5.0
Woodford P9 +19.6
Lap 5:
1.
Wexler 2.
Chapman +2.3 3.
Vidal +5.0
Woodford P9 +19.6
Lap 6:
1.
Wexler 2.
Chapman +2.7 3.
Vidal +5.6
Woodford P9 +21.8
Lap 7:
1.
Wexler 2.
Chapman +2.8 3.
Vidal +5.4
Woodford P9 +23.6
Lap 8:
1.
Wexler 2.
Chapman +2.8 3.
Vidal +5.3
Woodford P9 +25.0
Lap 9:
"Box, Box, Box, fresh boots for you mate,"
Vidal in for fresh super softs...
1.
Wexler 2.
Chapman +2.0 3.
Margate +9.2
Vidal P8 +25.7
Woodford P9 +26.2
Lap 10:
And the leaders come in and out... ahead of
Vidal.
1.
Margate 2.
Holtz +3.0 3.
Gonzalez +7.3
Vidal P7 +15.4
Woodford P9 +19.1
Lap 10:
1.
Holtz 2.
Wexler +10.0 3.
Chapman +10.8
Vidal P4 +11.6
Woodford P9 +18.8
Lap 11:
Lotus blew the strategy as
Vidal(supersoft) is stuck behind
Chapman(medium)
1.
Holtz 2.
Wexler +9.8 3.
Chapman +10.5
Vidal P4 +11.5
Woodford P6 +17.4
Lap 12:
1.
Holtz 2.
Wexler +7.6 3.
Chapman +9.4
Vidal P4 +10.8
Woodford P6 +18.6
Lap 13:
1.
Holtz 2.
Wexler +5.3 3.
Chapman +7.2
Vidal P4 +8.9
Woodford P6 +19.1
Lap 14:
1.
Holtz 2.
Wexler +3.3 3.
Chapman +5.5
Vidal P4 +6.2
Woodford P6 +17.7
Lap 15:
Holtz pits and falls back due to rear wing repairs...
1.
Wexler 2.
Chapman +4.5 3.
Vidal +4.7
Woodford P5 +18.9
Lap 16:
1.
Wexler 2.
Chapman +4.2 3.
Vidal +5.0
Woodford P15 +41.1 PIT
Lap 17:
And things got worse!
Holtz collides with
Lucía Flores and not only damages her front wing, but gets a drive through.
1.
Wexler 2.
Chapman +7.3 3.
Vidal +7.8
Woodford P12 +44.8
Lap 18:
Vidal in and out in P5 .
1.
Wexler 2.
Chapman +7.5 3.
Margate +21.3
Vidal P5 +31.2
Woodford P11 +46.7
Lap 19:
1.
Wexler 2.
Chapman +8.2 3.
Margate +21.1
Vidal P5 +29.6
Woodford P11 +47.8
Lap 20:
1.38.583, fastest lap for
Vidal.
1.
Wexler 2.
Chapman +7.9 3.
Margate +20.7
Vidal P5 +27.7
Woodford P9 +49.9
Lap 21:
1.
Wexler 2.
Chapman +7.0 3.
Margate +21.5
Vidal P5 +28.3
Woodford P9 +50.4
Lap 22:
And he is past
Saarinen for fourth.
1.
Wexler 2.
Chapman +6.8 3.
Margate +20.4
Vidal P4 +27.9
Woodford P9 +50.8
Lap 23:
1.
Wexler 2.
Chapman +5.5 3.
Margate +21.1
Vidal P4 +26.3
Woodford P9 +51.2
Lap 24:
Wexler's tyres are gone and he pits again... enters in third.
1.
Chapman 2.
Margate +15.4 3.
Wexler +18.5
Vidal P4 +21.1
Woodford P9 +51.9
Lap 25:
1.
Chapman 2.
Margate +15.1 3.
Wexler +15.2
Vidal P4 +20.5
Woodford P9 +47.5
Lap 26:
Wexler past
Margate for P2, but he lost today as
Chapman somehow made a 1-stopper work.
1.
Chapman 2.
Wexler +11.9 3.
Margate +16.1
Vidal P4 +19.3
Woodford P9 +47.5
Final Lap:
And
Harry Chapman does it again.
Wexler went with soft and had to pit twice, losing the win to, and
Margate did the same thing, jumping
Iker Vidal to get into third place. Mighty blow for
Rossini and
Wexler as the
Steinmann driver now leads the WMC by 15 points!
1.
Chapman 2.
Wexler +10.4 3.
Margate +15.2
Vidal P4 +19.0
Woodford P9 +48.2