Division D: RaceDonington Park, 64 laps, Dry but Cloudy
Review: The race turned out to be a Spanish walkover, but not in favor of Fernando Alonso. Instead, it was Phoenix McAllister who came across the line in first for his first major win since the 2012 F1RWRS Belgian Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso limped home with just one point for pole position after two disastrous mid-race spins. This review will be done nation-by-nation.
Brazil: Raul Souto Maior and Jalmerson da Cunha managed to take home points for Brazil, drastically outpacing Nelson Piquet Jr. and Bruno Senna in the process. Piquet Jr. was involved in a first lap collision with Sato and never recovered. Senna hung around the midfield before dropping out with a brake problem. They will need to step up their game if they want Brazil to advance from the group.
Denmark: Denmark was poised to be the surprise of the day as Paul Travesen was running in a brilliant fifth place for half of the race. Unfortunately, he spun off and broke his front wing, leaving him in sixteenth. Jan Magnussen held on to score two points for Denmark, however.
Russia: Another missed opportunity here. Vitaly Petrov was running in fourth place when his transmission gave out on Lap 40. Aleshin prevented a total Russian collapse and finished in a brilliant fifth. Pasitchnjuk and Buyvolov were slow and ineffectual. Pasitchnjuk
received a reprimand for blocking Fernando Alonso during the race.
Japan 1: Oh what might have been for the Japan 1 team. Kamui Kobayashi overtook Alonso on the first lap of the race and was well-positioned to win until his engine failed on Lap 8. Takuma Sato was taken out by Piquet Jr. on the first lap and Hagane Shizuka spun off (with Alonso following him into the gravel just after) while in the points. Hansuke Shioya was the only driver to score points for Japan 1 today, a result they will certainly regret in the future.
USA 2: The second American team has to be encouraged by their performance at Donington. Dave Anderson was spectacular, notching a top-five finish after a consistent drive. Marco Andretti also ran well but was the victim of a cruel transmission failure on Lap 35.
Portugal: Daniel Martins was definitely the IIDOTR of the weekend after making it onto the podium for Portugal, securing an all-Iberian top three. Martins drove flawlessly and was close to passing Gene in the final stages of the race. Jose Maria Cabral and Monteiro both languished outside of the points (Monteiro's car halted with a puncture on the final lap of the race).
Pan-Africa: Pan-Africa performed better than expected with Ricardo Teixeira finishing in a competent sixth place, mainly due to attrition. Prince Walik was not as successful.
Austria: Marko Janstcher retired early on with a puncture, leaving Alexander Wurz as Austria's lone car in the race. Wurz was in good position to score when he was forced into the pits on Lap 56 with a throttle problem. The wily Austrian salvaged a point by putting on fresh tyres and setting the fastest lap of the race, a 1:17.023! Nothing suspicious, right? Incorrect. If you add the individual numbers of 1:17.203 (1+1+7+2+3) and 1049 (1+0+4+9), you get the same answer.
14. Clearly, Wurz was transmitting a message in code to his loyal followers in the world, or perhaps to his wife.
Spain: Well, let's get this one out of the way.
Reject of the Race goes to
Fernando Alonso, for throwing away a near-certain victory on Lap 34. Alonso was one-stopping and held a twenty second lead on Phoenix McAllister when he threw the car off the circuit! He joined Hagane Shizuka in the gravel trap, as the Japanese driver had spun off at the exact same spot just before. This left Phoenix McAllister with an easy win, but robbed Spain of a certain 1-2-3 finish. Alonso later spun again on Lap 47. Marc Gene proved the doubters wrong with an admirable second place finish. Diego Alvarez Torrente will have to wait until next time.
Pole: Fernando Alonso
Leaders:
Kamui Kobayashi: 1-7
Fernando Alonso: 8-33
Hagane Shizuka: 34-35
Phoenix McAllister: 36-43
Marc Gene: 44
Phoenix McAllister: 45-
FL: Alexander Wurz - 1:17.023
Winner: Phoenix McAllister