Tumbran Domestic Motorsports Newswire

[Tumbra]

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TUMBRAN DOMESTIC MOTORSPORTS NEWSWIRE
Run by the Federation of Tumbran Motorsports

The following thread serves as a compendium for all of motorsports-related Tumbran news. For all football-related news, click on this link to be brought to the Tumbran Football Newswire, while for non-sports news, click on this link to be brought to the Tumbran International Newswire.

Welcome to the Tumbran Domestic Motorsports Newswire, the one-stop shop for all the latest news regarding Tumbran domestic motorsports.

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Tumbran Super Formula

SEASON 01: Season Hub

[Tumbra]

TUMBRAN SUPER FORMULA: An Overview

Tumbra's highest level of domestic single-seater open wheel racing, Tumbran Super Formula was first contested in 1990 and is currently administered by the Federation of Tumbran Motorsport. It is often seen as a "junior" series to the top two tiers of international open-wheel motorsport — the World Grand Prix Championship (WGPC) and the World Grand Prix Championship 2 (WGP2); but it has a bigger following within Tumbra than the above two series, or at least until Tumbran driver Ted Pressley broke through into the upper echelons of WGPC.

Unsurprisingly, regulations in TSF are much stricter than in WGPC, including restrictions on the nature of the car in terms of size and shape, and requiring the halo safety device on all cars. Cars run at about 90% of WGPC's speed, making it one of the fastest series in the world outside the top two tiers of open-wheel motorsport in the world, and AstyF1.

Technical Regulations

LENGTH AND WIDTH: The maximum length of a car is 5.5m; the maximum width of a car is 2.3m, the maximum height of a car is 1.0m (not including on-board camera), and the minimum weight is a car is 600kg.

ENGINES AND POWER: As of the current season, engines are required to be 1.6 litre-turbocharged V6 engines, with an Energy Recovery System (ERS) available to drivers to deliver an extra power boost, similar to push-to-pass systems found in other racing series.

AERODYNAMICS: To aid overtaking, the Drag Reduction System (DRS) is also available for drivers to use.

GEARBOXES: All gearboxes are required to have 8 forward gears and 1 reverse gear.

COMPONENT DURABILITY: A driver is allowed to use three (3) of each of the following engine components during the year: the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), turbochargers (TC), motor-generation unit heat (MGU-H), motor-generation unit kinetic (MGU-K), energy store (ES), and control electronics (CE).

A driver is allowed to use six exhaust systems (EX) throughout the season.

A driver is allowed to change gearboxes any time throughout the season, provided the gearbox has lasted two race weekends. A practice gearbox, for practice sessions 1 and 2, is allowed.

INNOVATIONS AND DRIVER AIDS: Despite these stricter regulations, other innovations like tuned mass dampers, dual-axis steering, active suspension and other driver aids are allowed, and regularly feature on cars within the series.

SAFETY: All WGPC-relevant safety features apply; there must be at least 30 centimetres between the driver's feet and the front of the car, the driver's head must not touch the floor if the car were flipped over, seat-belts, removable steering wheels, the mandatory use of the "halo" safety device are all present in TSF.

REFUELLING: Refuelling is banned.

TYRES: There will be one tyre supplier for the entire competition. The tyre supplier will be required to supply five sets of dry compounds (ultra-soft, super-soft, soft, medium and hard), one set of intermediate compounds and one set of extreme wet tyre compounds. Three compounds from this selection are available at each race weekend, and are determined by the tyre supplier. All teams must use at least two compounds of dry tyres during a dry race. This restriction is lifted if any of the intermediate or wet compound tyres are used.

Sporting Regulations

NUMBER OF RACES:Allowances are made for a maximum of sixteen events. This, however, has never been reached, and most seasons have ten to twelve races.

WEEKEND STRUCTURE: Each weekend consists of three days; two sessions of practice on Friday (totaling one hundred and eighty minutes); one practice session on Saturday (ninety minutes); qualifying, also on Saturday, and the race on Sunday. (The results of the practice sessions will not be posted)

QUALIFYING FORMAT:The qualifying session takes the format of the three-stage elimination format.

RACE LENGTH: Races are run to the smallest number of laps that exceeds 260km. There is a two-hour time limit on racing time; red flag stoppages do not add to this time.

POINTS SYSTEM: The current points system is as follows, for a grid of 24 drivers:

Pos	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	FL
Pts	25	18	15	12	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1	1

One point is awarded for fastest lap.

The points system will be adjusted from season to season to allow for half the grid to score points. A maximum of 30 cars are allowed on the grid. Drivers must have finished the race to 90% distance of the winner to be eligible to score points. If not enough drivers are classified as having finished a race, no points will be awarded after the last driver to finish 90% race distance.

POINTS SYSTEM (SHORTENED RACES): "Shortened races" are defined as races that either i) are red-flagged and deemed unsuitable to restart, due to adverse weather conditions or other circumstances, or ii) races that end before the planned distance of 260km + 1 lap due to the two-hour time limit on racing. In these situations:
1. Should more than 75% of the planned race distance be completed, full points will be awarded.
2. Should between 25% and 75% of the planned race distance be completed, points will be awarded as follows:

Pos	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	FL
Pts	12.5	9	7.5	6	5	4	3	2.5	2	1.5	1	0.5	1

3. Should between three laps and 25% of the planned race distance be completed, points will be awarded as follows:

Pos	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	FL
Pts	8	6	4	3	2	1	1

POLE POSITION LOCATION: Pole position will always be situated on the side of the track with more grip (i.e. on the racing line)

TEAM TO DRIVER COMMUNICATION: Team orders are allowed. Teams are forbidden from initiating communicating with the stewards during a race; only the stewards may initiate contact.

WINNER AND TIEBREAKERS: At the end of the season, the driver with the most points wins the TSF Drivers' Championship, while the constructor with the most points wins the TSF Constructors' Championship. Ties will be broken on countback; e.g. a driver with two will be placed higher than a driver with one win. If both drivers have a similar number of finishes, then the next best place will be considered; e.g. drivers with the same number of victories will be compared based on the number of second places, and so on.

[Tumbra]

Prior to the season it was announced that Tumbran Super Formula would be changing up tons; a lot of this was put down to the desire to make the series more popular abroad. Single-car makes were disallowed, leading to all six of the existing single-car operations to depart the sport, though it wouldn't be without much fist-waving at the new Chief Executive Officer of the series. Geoffrey Westmoreland.

Westmoreland, 52, installed by the Federation of Tumbran Motorsports, has one keyword on his mind: "internationalisation." That means throwing open the doors to outside investment, in a long-term bid to make Super Formula "the third biggest open-wheel racing series" in the world behind just WGPC and WGP2. "The market for expansion exists," he said in his annual address to teams at the start of the season. "I would encourage all of you, after this season, to start looking for partners from outside. Expand your horizons. Make Tumbra a home of motorsports throughout the globe." The series' long-unspoken rule of only holding races within Tumbra also looks set to be broken should there be enough interest, though Westmoreland has also promised that the series will remain "focused on Tumbra, developing Tumbran motorsport, and bringing up the next generation of Tumbran racers."

But Westmoreland acted quickly in acting on his keyword of internationalisation by swiftly dumping long-serving tyre suppliers Wellspring one year early; and has attracted bids from tyre suppliers from overseas. Aurunan brand Kaikau-Mälö, Valkean brand Suhonen and Graentfjaller brand Brústeinn, the last of whom are the suppliers of the WGPC Pressley Racing team, are reportedly interested in supplying tyres. Westmoreland has said he is "not a fan" of tyre wars; and that he intends for one tyre supplier to supply the entire series, as has been tradition since 1998.

A whole host of technical changes have meant that effectively, all the teams this season are starting from zero; and while the usual frontrunners like Rochester, Pressley, and Thornton are expected to be strong, there's also a hope from lower in the midfield that they'll be able to make the leap upwards to challenge the established top three.



The eleven-race calendar comprises of ten permanent circuits located throughout the country and one street circuit, in Couno. Many of these are fan-favourite circuits, and are mainstays on the Tumbran motorsports calendar; while it was surprising that Mount Fesmos wasn't moved down in the calendar to coincide with the WGPC Tumbran Grand Prix, the decision was explained with an unwillingness to allow the WGPC calendar to clash too much with the TSF schedule.

The status of the historic Couno race was in doubt until very late in the calendar; there were disputes over the amount that the Grand Prix of Couno organisers had to pay to host the race, longer-term disagreements over the selection of Mount Fesmos over the Couno Street Circuit for the Tumbran WGPC entry, and indecision over a proposed reprofiling of Turn 4 to accomodate a planned roundabout at the intersection. Ultimately, the circuit remains untouched; the roundabout works have been postponed indefinitely, much to the chagrin of Couno motorists but to the relief of racing fans who did not wish to see the right-hand sweeper turned into a slow chicane and adding even more time to the circuit.

RACE 01: Grantfeldt Grand Prix @ Grantfeldt Raceway
RACE 02: Marlsbruhe Grand Prix @ Fontwell Motorsports Park
RACE 03: Westmond Grand Prix @ Penbury Park
RACE 04: Caduke Grand Prix @ Mount Fesmos Circuit
RACE 05: Napier Grand Prix @ Guillemard Ring
RACE 06: Bechor Grand Prix @ Bechor Speedway
RACE 07: Marcato Grand Prix @ Fennewick Circuit
RACE 08: Grand Prix of Couno @ Streets of Couno
RACE 09: Straton Grand Prix @ Welland Park
RACE 10: Kingsbury Grand Prix @ Thistlebury Raceway
RACE 11: Thornton Grand Prix @ Thornton Raceway

▍ Carlton                 Rochester
▍  7     Lily O'Brien
▍ 20     Johan Welsh

▍ Embassy Racing          Thornton.
▍  8     Lauren Taylor
▍ 58     Lisa Hawley

▍ Ensign Racing           Thornton.
▍  3     Jeremy Crawford
▍ 90     Suzanne Evans

▍ Henson Engineering      Thornton.
▍  2     Emma Griffin
▍ 10     Colin Flanagan

▍ Hoyalux                 Rochester
▍ 11     James Linden
▍ 18     Hugh Bancroft

▍ Hunter Motorsports      Thornton.
▍  9     Stuart Dixon
▍ 66     Anne Horton

▍ Macarthur Racing        Rochester
▍ 14     Richard Brent
▍ 77     Jason Lee

▍ Pressley Racing         Kaylan...
▍ 45     Claudia Reynolds
▍ 93     Paul Steinbrugge

▍ Rochester               Rochester
▍  5     Elisabeth Soto
▍  6     Getter Himanen

▍ Ryder                   Rochester
▍ 22     David Shun
▍ 49     Greg Talent

▍ Starbrook               Rochester
▍  4     Ethan Knight
▍ 52     Tom Sanders

▍ Thornton Motor Works    Thornton.
▍ 28     Derek Rice
▍ 68     Corinna Burns

CARLTON RACING TEAM

Carlton aren't exactly a name most associate with fast cars. The most popular Carlton product is the Carlton Cross, which has become perhaps emblematic of Tumbran cars; the small, nimble two-door, four-seater lives on in the public memory as the quintessential icon of the 1960s. The marque were mostly associated with rallycross, after an intense fascination with proving that their little shits of a car could be thrown at any type of terrain imaginable and still function. They began being interested in high-performance, high-precision racing after getting into endurance racing; and from there it was a short hop and a leap to be awarded a TSF license. Since then they've done alright — a win or two per season can be expected — but they dropped the ball rather hard last season, coming ninth out of twelve teams. It's not certain if they've done enough to make the leap back up to where they expect to be.

It doesn't help that their lineup is relatively inexperienced. Both Lily O'Brien and Johan Welsh are relative youngsters, having been brought into the fold from the Carlton youth programme; but both are still very raw in terms of TSF experience. If anything, this season is supposed to be more of a transitional season than anything as the team gets to grip with the new rules; the car itself hasn't shown much promise either, being particularly prone to mechanical failures and being rather slow on the straights.



EMBASSY RACING

Most decried that the age of the corporate team had arrived when alcohol manufacturers Embassy purchased a team license and entered a TSF team that promptly finished bottom. Those days of Embassy finishing bottom are long over — they're a solid midtable effort now — but the large amounts of money Embassy have poured into Tumbran racing have probably gone a long way into their brands being more recognisable in the supermarket. Their current livery — pink — is meant to promote a pink, sparkling wine that they're pushing very hard. Additional money seems to have fallen into their lap with a partnership with tobacco company TTobacco (the first T stands for Tumbran) and their e-cigarette brand numos. Quite why the authorities haven't banned numos from being advertised to the entirety of the country hasn't been figured out yet.

For all their faults, Embassy have consistently focused on bringing women through to TSF; their current team is no different. This is Lisa Hawley's first season in TSF, and the 20 year-old looks like she could be one of the next greats. Her team-mate, Lauren Taylor, is an experienced hand who'll be looking to take more of a backseat in future years; rumours have it she's interested in becoming team principal after she retires. Expect them to turn up in the lower half of the midfield; though depending on how fast Hawley develops, this team might start challenging somewhat soon.



ENSIGN RACING

Most probably wouldn't expect Dorival to be the second home of Tumbran motorsport. There's the Golden Crescent of Thornton — where nearly half the teams are based out off — and then there's Rochester, where, fittingly, Rochester are based. But Ensign, an all-Dorival outfit, figuratively come from the wild west of motorsport; they come from the state of Dorival, which is more renowned for more niche forms of racing like motorbike or dirt track racing. That they've made a TSF-capable entry is great; that they've been consistent has been even more so. One of a few teams to have competed since the series' debut season in 1990, Ensign are a reliable privateer team who pride themselves on hiring almost always locally; with the exception of driving personnel.

Jeremy Crawford looks to be the team's main challenger this season, armed to the teeth with a car that looks exceptionally challenging. He's in the second year of a partnership with Suzanne Evans, who was highly rated but has somewhat struggled since her move to Ensign. The car has been quite unreliable in pre-season testing, but has also been very fast; so if Crawford and Evans can keep it together, there's more than a hint that the Dorival-based outfit have a pocket rocket on their hands.



HENSON ENGINEERING

Henson Engineering is probably the most privateer of the teams; it's probably the smallest operation on the entire grid, and has results to match. The team is the brainchild of Dorival-based engineer Martin Henson, who split from Ensign after they tried to blame him for being too adventurous with a fast (albeit very unreliable) car. Henson's stuck to his guns since; his cars are very fast, very striking (the yellow and black livery has stayed consistent every season they've been in TSF) and can be rather unorthodox in design; but that's how the team rolls.

This season, the team's lineup consists of Emma Griffin, who's probably one of Tumbra's most underrated drivers; fittingly aggressive and reliable at the same time, Griffin's hoping to drag a potentially uncompetitive car up the order to score some good points. Colin Flanagan, another driver from the previous era of TSF who's nearing the end of his career, has come under fire for not seemingly being motivated enough in the car; and rumours are swirling that this will be a swansong for the long-serving midfield driver.



HOYALUX

The original corporation team, Hoyalux's racing arm was established by the original founder of the Hoyalux electronics corporation; they've since embarked on endurance and open-wheel racing, but struggled to achieve success in open-wheelers. Still, for founder Obuchi Katsuya, open-wheelers is his passion project; and Mr. Obuchi still passionately attends almost every race he can. In his advanced age, however, he's become more amenable to selling the team on; he knows that his sons are not really in favour of keeping the team on — they see it as a waste of resources — nor do they share their father's passion for racing. The recent news of internationalising the series has revitalised Obuchi's ability to sell the team; if anyone takes advantage of the to-be-sold team, it's him.

Which is a shame, because Hoyalux seem to have turned out an actually decent car that's nimble and could do well at the lower speed tracks. What could let them down is their driver lineup; neither James Linden nor Hugh Bancroft, veterans of the series, are particularly fast; and yet Obuchi has stuck with them, often intervening directly in the team's driver lineup to make sure that Linden and Bancroft remain at the team.



HUNTER MOTORSPORTS

Hunter are a car brand that have aimed themselves largely at the upper-middle class demographic, with sedans and SUVs their main production car. Most tend to ignore that they have a history in motorsport; even more tend to gloss over the fact that they actually originate from Kotzellach, where engineer Thorsten Jaeger hailed from. He moved his business to Tumbra in the early 20th century, renamed the marque Hunter in deference to the Terrenean language, and quietly established themselves as one of Tumbra's best car manufacturers ever since. They always shied away from motorsports, however, perhaps afraid of it after Jaeger died an early death at the wheels of one of his own creations in a fiery accident; but the 21st century saw a pivot back to motorsports, keen to show the performance of what they could really do.

They've built a car that can stand the stresses of the season (or so they hope); and they've got the grid's strongest lineup of Stuart Dixon and Anne Horton. Dixon has five Tumbran titles to his name — one from Thornton and four from Rochester — and the oldest driver on the grid is still looking for a record-breaking sixth. Dixon's racecraft is unrivalled, and the wily fox is a master in changeable conditions. Anne Horton, a Hunter junior driver come good, is also one of Tumbra's best drivers on raw skill alone; Dixon's tutelage at the marque has brought her skills to a whole new level. If the team can keep the two from going directly against each other should they tak



MACARTHUR RACING

Macarthur burst onto the scene strong; representing northern Georgia, team founder Nick Derrigan nearly brought the team to a Constructor's Championship at the turn of the century before they slowly faded from relevance. Nowadays, they're largely seen pushing up the rest of the grid; and a long, protracted legal fight with former driver John McKerras, which essentially split the team in twain as those who supported the driver's side of the situation left to support McKerras' single-car make. Now that single-car makes have been abolished, however, the team are looking to bring McKerras back on board; which would go a long way to making them competitive again, since he's flush with sponsors and valuable cash.

Plus, he'd probably go a long way to improving their driver lineup; Macarthur's lineup, bar none, is probably the weakest on the grid. Jason Lee and Robert Brent are the latest in a long line of pay drivers that Macarthur have taken on to keep themselves afloat; Brent in particular has been lambasted for a particular lack of pace. McKerras replacing either of the two of them would go miles to improving the team's pace; but it doesn't help either that the car's a dog that doesn't do anything particularly well. It'll be a miracle if they score points this season.



PRESSLEY RACING

Probably the most prescient threat to the Thornton-Rochester duopoly that has existed since the beginning of the series, much of Pressley Racing's success can be attributed to team CEO Charlie Pressley's single-handedly pushing for his team to be successful. He's a controversial figure, to put it lightly — having engaged in multiple spats with the owners of Thornton and Rochester over customer teams receiving lower-power powerplants, he broke the duopoly and looked outside Tumbra for an engine supplier. That answer came to him in the form of Ayawanatha-based Mangkon Motors, who supplied a series of high-power yet highly fragile engines for a season. It paid off; Pressley won the Constructors' title, launching his son, Ted, into World Grand Prix stardom, and gaining an infinitely more reliable engine supply partner in the form of Togonistani-based Kaylan Racing Motors.

With Ted and youngster Sophie McCreary both now partaking in WGPC, the team's fallen back upon two more established, if slightly unspectacular drivers to make up for it. Paul Steinbrugge is a loyal number two driver, having helped Ted to a title and getting Sophie a few wins in TSF, but will probably now be a bit uncomfortable in the team lead driver role. His teammate will be Claudia Reynolds, making the jump over from Embassy; the twenty-eight year old is in the prime of her career, armed with shockingly good pace and is a generally all-rounded driver that could challenge for the title in her maiden season with the team. The question is how far the team's resources will be stretched; with the team going all in on its WGPC effort, questions have arisen over how much Pressley is still committed to TSF. The skeleton crew that showed up for pre-season testing in Thornton certainly didn't help perceptions.



ROCHESTER

Tumbra's oldest racing outfit, Rochester are best known for making luxury cars; but they're also known for their racing outfit. If anything, them selling luxury cars is now purely to fund the racing team; which is the oldest and most successful in Tumbra. In recent years, they've amassed a squad most would be scared of; perhaps the only thing that's holding the team back is an insane willingness to go against the grain on strategy (not very useful) and build cars that often drive themselves to bits (also not recommended). This season, it seems like they've changed tack in a bid to finish more races. Every season, Rochester are in the fight for titles; every season, Rochester make sure to at least put up a valiant challenge.

This season, Rochester are amongst the two favourites to win the constructors' title; the other favourite is Hunter. Their driving staff are two of Tumbra's best and brightest; Getter Himanen is one of Tumbra's most well-balanced drivers and is a confident, no-holds-barred aggressor, while Elisabeth Soto has already won one Tumbran title and is looking for her second with the Rochester-based outfit.



RYDER EASTWOOD MOTORS

Teams in Tumbran Super Formula can largely be divided into three categories. There are the manufacturers; your Rochesters, Carltons, Hunters and Thorntons. There are your privateers; Henson, Ensign, Macarthurs, even Pressley, arguably. Then there are the company teams; teams established to promote a brand. In a way, the manufacturers are this; but there's also the Hoyalux (electronics), Starbrook (an airline, surprisingly) and Embassies (alcohol). Then there's Ryder. Ryder are a bit of all three. Sam Ryder started out as a manufacturer of bicycles; he then entered motor racing in a bid to increase the sales of his bicycles; and then, when good friend and fellow competitor John Eastwood's enterprise went bust, including the Tumbran Super Formula team, he bought the entire thing and continued to manufacture cars — albeit in a much more limited scope, and the Eastwood name is now much more associated with high performance technology than cars. It's why the full name of the Ryder team is Ryder Eastwood Motors.

Ryder have mostly been a midfield outfit for most of their existence, though they had brief flashes of success in the mid-2000s; they finished eighth last season, and this season's car looks to be decidedly another midtable effort. Their driving personnel are solid midtable runners too, capable of solid points finishes; but ultimately there's not much to expect from the Ryders. David Shun, nearing the end of his career, has looked like he's checked out of the series and almost nobody expects his deal to be renewed after this season; Greg Talent, while fast, does struggle on the lower-speed circuits.



STARBROOK RACING TEAM

The blue-and-bronze outfit of Starbrook started out life as Zephyr, a flagging back-end team who were fan favourites despite poor on-track performances for persevering despite their lack of resources or speed. The plucky outfit were responsible for funneling several talents into TSF, despite also needing to field pay drivers; and while the Zephyr name may be long gone, Hunter Motorsports stalwart Stuart Dixon owes his career to Starbrook; after all, they were the ones to give him his TSF debut. But they couldn't run forever, and they were eventually bought by three-time Tumbran Grand Prix champion and airline magnate Ignatius Starbrook as a way to promote his airline after he retired.

Starbrook have become a bit of a yo-yo team; good in bouts, but mostly anonymous in others. This period seems to be one in which they seem to have come good; the blue-and-bronze cars did relatively well last season, grabbing a couple of podiums near the end of last season to march to the front of the midfield. They'll be hoping for more this season with Ethan Knight and Tom Sanders; both popular drivers who've proven their speed many times over and have proven the best on the grid at pulling their machinery through to the end of the race, even if a lesser driver would drive the car to bits. Current team principal Josh Weiss seems to prize that reliability, alongside adaptability; the car has been designed to be good at nearly every circuit.



THORNTON MOTOR WORKS

Part of the engine manufacturer duopoly in Tumbran open-wheel racing, TMW are a manufacturer's manufacturer; they're one of the biggest car manufacturers in the country, in contrast to Rochester's more luxury-focused clientele. That's who they share a great rivalry with; the best drivers at any time in Tumbran motorsport can often be found driving for one of TMW or Rochester. Founded back in the 1920s as an amalgamation of several smaller automobile companies, Thornton has done a lot to turn the state into the automobile capital of the country, with several of the teams in TSF being based out of Thornton.

They're the second-most successful manufacturer in TSF history, and are looking once more for success; Derek Rice is in his prime, is one of the best drivers on the grid, and is looking for a Tumbran title, while Corinna Burns, daughter of legendary racing driver Jo Burns, is an up-and-coming rear gunner who's only too happy to learn from Rice and take advantage of the exquisite machinery she's in.

[Tumbra]

With a few months to go until the season began, Aurun tyre supplier Kaikau-Mälö was confirmed as the sole tyre supplier for Tumbran Super Formula on a four-year deal; all teams were allotted extra testing kilometres at the Thornton Raceway to help both Kaikau-Mälö and the teams to get data on the new tyres. Ultimately, reception to the tyres was largely positive; the level of grip provided was praised for being better around high-speed corners than the previous Wellspring tyres. Much of the potential criticism towards Kaikau-Mälö's selection as the grid's official tyre supplier was muted, mainly because the main opponent of their selection — Pressley Racing CEO Charlie Pressley, who had been pushing for Graentfjaller tyre supplier Brústeinn to be selected — was not present at many of the pre-season testing events.

The official testing sessions, also held at Thornton, would show the pace of the teams pre-season; and most attention would focus on the upcoming duel between Rochester and Hunter, with TMW not that far behind. Worryingly, Starbrook looked quite off the pace; but nobody could really place the teams until the flag dropped in Grantfeldt. Pressley looked some way back, but still threatened to be competitive; while it looked to be a challenging season for the Carltons, Hensons, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the Macarthurs.

Conditions:      	Dry
Predicted Optimal Time:	00:01:21.924
Qualifying Type:	Elimination
Nation:         	TMB
Circuit:        	Grantfeldt Raceway

GRANTFELDT RACEWAY has a reputation of being a good "beginner's track"; built in the 1970s as a proving ground for high-performance race cars, open-wheelers took to it like a moth to a flame. The aggressive first sector — which has been neutered with the addition of a twisty chicane leading into the tightened hairpin at turn three — is balanced by a twisty second sector, and a third sector that opens up near the end. The turn 7-8-9 complex is the key to the rest of the lap; a bad entry into turn 10 effectively compromises the rest of sector 2. That complex remains the best overtaking opportunity on the track; a daring driver could try to leap into turn 12, since it is fairly difficult to overtake in the faster sector 3; turn 3, at the end of the gargantuan main straight, presents an opportunity for a driver who is later on the breaks to dive down the inside if they can follow the preceding car through the turn 1 and 2 complex.

Nowadays, the circuit is effectively Pressley Racing's home track; regular visitors can see Pressley Racing's third and reserve driver Dario Nülkeschläger putting on the testing miles in a bid to become competitive in their main WGPC effort; it helps, too, that the track is located only about thirty kilometres away from Pressley Racing's headquarters.

POS # ▍DRIVER                           	FASTEST Q1	GAP TO LEADER	FASTEST Q2	GAP TO LEADER	FASTEST Q3	GAP TO LEADER
 1 28 ▍Derek Rice                       	00:01:22.308	00:00:00.325	00:01:23.290	00:00:00.184	00:01:22.754	FASTEST : Q3
 2  5 ▍Elisabeth Soto                   	00:01:22.092	00:00:00.109	00:01:23.156	00:00:00.051	00:01:22.763	00:00:00.009
 3  9 ▍Stuart Dixon                     	00:01:21.983	FASTEST : Q1	00:01:23.106	FASTEST : Q2	00:01:22.763	00:00:00.009
 4 66 ▍Anne Horton                      	00:01:22.280	00:00:00.297	00:01:23.199	00:00:00.094	00:01:22.791	00:00:00.037
 5 93 ▍Paul Steinbrugge                 	00:01:22.411	00:00:00.428	00:01:23.247	00:00:00.141	00:01:22.793	00:00:00.039
 6  3 ▍Jeremy Crawford                  	00:01:22.221	00:00:00.238	00:01:23.201	00:00:00.095	00:01:22.796	00:00:00.042
 7 45 ▍Claudia Reynolds                 	00:01:22.581	00:00:00.598	00:01:23.427	00:00:00.321	00:01:22.798	00:00:00.045
 8 68 ▍Corinna Burns                    	00:01:22.169	00:00:00.186	00:01:23.211	00:00:00.105	00:01:22.814	00:00:00.060
 9  2 ▍Emma Griffin                     	00:01:24.202	00:00:02.218	00:01:23.617	00:00:00.511	00:01:22.822	00:00:00.069
10 52 ▍Tom Sanders                      	00:01:22.820	00:00:00.836	00:01:23.244	00:00:00.138	00:01:22.834	00:00:00.081
11 49 ▍Greg Talent                      	00:01:23.362	00:00:01.379	00:01:23.541	00:00:00.435	00:01:23.008	00:00:00.254
12 18 ▍Hugh Bancroft                    	00:01:22.775	00:00:00.791	00:01:23.652	00:00:00.547	00:01:23.057	00:00:00.303
13  6 ▍Getter Himanen                   	00:01:23.477	00:00:01.494	00:01:23.685	00:00:00.579		
14 58 ▍Lisa Hawley                      	00:01:23.716	00:00:01.733	00:01:23.690	00:00:00.584		
15 90 ▍Suzanne Evans                    	00:01:24.222	00:00:02.238	00:01:23.932	00:00:00.827		
16 77 ▍Jason Lee                        	00:01:23.003	00:00:01.019	00:01:23.949	00:00:00.843		
17 10 ▍Colin Flanagan                   	00:01:23.915	00:00:01.932	00:01:24.044	00:00:00.938		
18 22 ▍David Shun                       	00:01:24.316	00:00:02.333	00:01:24.593	00:00:01.487		
19 14 ▍Richard Brent                    	00:01:24.700	00:00:02.716				
20 20 ▍Johan Welsh                      	00:01:24.770	00:00:02.786				
21  7 ▍Lily O'Brien                     	00:01:25.084	00:00:03.101				
22  4 ▍Ethan Knight                     	00:01:25.107	00:00:03.123				
23 11 ▍James Linden                     	00:01:25.409	00:00:03.426				
24  8 ▍Lauren Taylor                    	00:01:26.208	00:00:04.225

The big surprise from qualifying was probably Rochester driver Getter Himanen's surprising failure to make it to the third part of qualifying, with her final lap being just three hundredths short of Hoyalux driver Hugh Bancroft's effort to get the car into the top twelve. At the sharp end of the grid, the three most likely title challengers — Derek Rice of TMW, Stuart Dixon of Hunter and Elisabeth Soto of Rochester — ended up occupying the top three slots on the grid, with Dixon originally setting the pace in the first two sessions but ultimately falling just nine thousandths short of Derek Rice's polesitting lap. Amazingly, him and second-placed Elisabeth Soto set the exact same time in the third qualifying shootout; Soto, however, got onto the front row of the grid by virtue of setting the time earlier.

The Pressleys of Steinbrugge and Reynolds were comfortably fourth best, split by the surprising entry of Jeremy Crawford's Ensign sitting on sixth place; a figure that was made even more surprising when one looked at his team-mate, Suzanne Evans, who could only drag the car to a measly fifteenth place. Other surprises included Emma Griffin, whose Henson car was sixteenth of eighteen cars proceeding to the second qualifying session, before being extremely close to being knocked out in the second part of qualifying as well; she ended up sticking it on ninth place on the grid. Carlton ended up being the only team failing to get a car out of qualifying one on merit; Lauren Taylor's qualifying was dogged by her second run being impeded and her third and final run ending in a spin, leading to a perhaps ignominious timing of being four seconds off the pace.

Either way, the front of the grid looks to be a teaser for the championship fight that will take place across the season; Derek Rice, Elisabeth Soto and Stuart Dixon will all be looking for that all-fabled momentum. Dixon's effort will probably be helped by the fact that his team-mate, Anne Horton, is right behind him in fourth; meanwhile, Rice's teammate, Corinna Burns, is in eighth; and Rochester's second driver Getter Himanen is down in thirteenth and will probably be looking for a recovery drive to get her back into the points-scoring positions.

[Tumbra]

Conditions:      	Light Showers
Laps:              	60
Nation:         	TMB
Circuit:        	Grantfeldt Raceway
Event:	Grantfeldt Grand Prix
Safety Car Deployed on Laps:
Cars on Grid:	24

Start           After 15 Laps           After 30 Laps           After 45 Laps			
 1 ▍RIC       	 1 ▍DIX +0           	 1 ▍DIX +0           	 1 ▍DIX +0           
 2 ▍SOT       	 2 ▍RIC +1.809       	 2 ▍RIC +2.001       	 2 ▍HOR +15.408      
 3 ▍DIX       	 3 ▍HOR +15.661      	 3 ▍STE +15.218      	 3 ▍RIC +15.674      
 4 ▍HOR       	 4 ▍STE +23.958      	 4 ▍HOR +19.378      	 4 ▍SOT +25.074      
 5 ▍STE       	 5 ▍BUR +26.7        	 5 ▍HIM +24.526      	 5 ▍REY +27.006      
 6 ▍CRA       	 6 ▍SOT +27.438      	 6 ▍BUR +26.103      	 6 ▍STE +39.354      
 7 ▍REY       	 7 ▍CRA +28.148      	 7 ▍SOT +27.048      	 7 ▍SAN +40.757      
 8 ▍BUR       	 8 ▍REY +30.947      	 8 ▍BAN +32.438      	 8 ▍HIM +42.608      
 9 ▍GRF       	 9 ▍TAL +33.322      	 9 ▍REY +33.873      	 9 ▍BUR +46.951      
10 ▍SAN       	10 ▍SAN +34.638      	10 ▍SAN +37.038      	10 ▍EVA +67.563      
11 ▍TAL       	11 ▍BAN +35.53       	11 ▍CRA +37.941      	11 ▍BAN +67.953      
12 ▍BAN       	12 ▍EVA +35.699      	12 ▍EVA +49.733      	12 ▍CRA +71.334      
13 ▍HIM       	13 ▍HIM +40.18       	13 ▍TAL +58.874      	13 ▍LEE +74.615      
14 ▍HAW       	14 ▍LEE +47.772      	14 ▍LEE +61.938      	14 ▍SHU +79.585      
15 ▍EVA       	15 ▍FLA +51.487      	15 ▍KNI +66.232      	15 ▍KNI +87.462      
16 ▍LEE       	16 ▍GRF +55.834      	16 ▍FLA +74.877      	16 ▍TAL +88.854      
17 ▍FLA       	17 ▍KNI +63.602      	17 ▍SHU +76.57       	17 ▍FLA +Laps: 1     
18 ▍SHU       	18 ▍LIN +65.613      	18 ▍GRF +86.345      	18 ▍BRI +Laps: 1     
19 ▍BRE       	19 ▍BRI +65.653      	19 ▍BRI +87.053      	19 ▍BRE +Laps: 1     
20 ▍WEL       	20 ▍BRE +69.262      	20 ▍BRE +Laps: 1     	20 ▍GRF +Laps: 1     
21 ▍BRI       	21 ▍SHU +72.669      	21 ▍WEL +Laps: 1     	21 ▍TAY +Laps: 1     
22 ▍KNI       	22 ▍WEL +72.686      	22 ▍TAY +Laps: 1     	22 ▍WEL +Laps: 1     
23 ▍LIN       	23 ▍TAY +81.923      	                    	                    
24 ▍TAY

The heavens opened two hours before the race started. By the time the five red lights went out and the cars went tiptoeing towards the first corner, the rain had somewhat lightened but the track was still wet. Still, Stuart Dixon showed Tumbra why he was still the best driver on the grid at the age of 41 by slipping up the inside of Elisabeth Soto, who'd gotten a horrid start off the racing line, and Derek Rice, who'd anticipated holding off Soto and moved off to cut her off, but ended up falling victim to the fast-charging Dixon. He took the lead at turn three; and while he'd be pursued by Rice, would hold the lead comfortably for most of the race.

Further behind, Jeremy Crawford struggled with the wet conditions in his Ensign, and a fast-charging Emma Griffin in her Henson tagged him on the run into turn 12. Both would continue — Henson would have to pit for a new front wing, while Crawford would have to struggle with a damaged car for the remainder of the race — but it effectively put paid to both their races that day. Griffin would drop way down the order, and with the Henson ill-fitted to overtaking, would only drop more positions throughout the rest of the race.

Yet further behind, the second Rochester of Getter Himanen would take advantage of the torrid conditions to start climbing; she decided to conserve her tyres as the race went on, and was up to fifth by the midway point of the race. It was a fortuitous strategy, and her solid, calm driving would put her in stark contrast to teammate Elisabeth Soto, who spun on lap eight while pursuing Stuart Dixon and fell to eighth. Soto would claw her way back up, of course, but any chance of her winning the race would also be shot. A short duel with Pressley driver Claudia Reynolds would end with the Rochester driver sliding off the racing line and onto the grass, but recovering enough to hold onto fifth. It was a relatively forgettable weekend for Rochester; who'd dominated pre-season testing and assumed they would be on the front foot here.

It turned out to also be a race to forget for Embassy; while they'd fixed Lauren Taylor's mechanical issues that had led her to be so far off the pace on Saturday, Lisa Hawley would slide off into the gravel on the run out of turn eighteen and beach the car. Thankfully (or not), she beached it so far in that the race didn't require a safety car to slow the cars down as the stricken pink Embassy was towed off the track. Taylor herself wouldn't do much better, largely fighting with the Carlton of Johan Welch for twenty-first place.

At what was effectively their home race, Pressley Racing held a respectable showing; Claudia Reynolds confidently made up positions in the latter half of the race, pulling off a daring overtake on teammate Paul Steinbrugge; she would hold her nerve against Elisabeth Soto, too, sending the Rochester driver onto the grass and securing fourth for herself. Steinbrugge would have a good race, holding off Himanen in the last laps of the race to take a car that was definitely not as strong as the Rochesters.

What looked to be a certified win for Dixon — he'd extended his lead to nearly twenty seconds by lap fifty — was placed in jeopardy as he slid off the track at turn 12, and flat-spotted his tyre. The remaining ten laps were a matter of damage control for Dixon; while teammate Anne Horton would hold off a charging Derek Rice, Rice would eventually scythe his way past, and the gap at the end of the race was only four seconds to Rice. It would be first blood to Stuart Dixon, however, who'd led from slightly after lights to the chequered flag; and gaining a valuable start in the title race.

POS  # ▍DRV Name                     Team                     	Time      	Pts	Fastest Lap	
  1  9 ▍DIX Stuart Dixon             Hunter Motorsports       	01:36:35.108	25		
  2 28 ▍RIC Derek Rice               Thornton Motor Works     	00:00:04.560	18		
  3 66 ▍HOR Anne Horton              Hunter Motorsports       	00:00:08.088	15		
  4 45 ▍REY Claudia Reynolds         Pressley Racing          	00:00:14.849	12		
  5  5 ▍SOT Elisabeth Soto           Rochester                	00:00:24.518	10		
  6 93 ▍STE Paul Steinbrugge         Pressley Racing          	00:00:38.015	8		
  7  6 ▍HIM Getter Himanen           Rochester                	00:00:38.088	6		
  8 52 ▍SAN Tom Sanders              Starbrook                	00:00:50.256	5 + 1	1:33.764	
  9 68 ▍BUR Corinna Burns            Thornton Motor Works     	00:00:52.273	4		
 10 90 ▍EVA Suzanne Evans            Ensign Racing            	00:01:07.345	3		
 11 18 ▍BAN Hugh Bancroft            Hoyalux                  	00:01:16.119	2		
 12  4 ▍KNI Ethan Knight             Starbrook                	00:01:18.062	1		
 13  3 ▍CRA Jeremy Crawford          Ensign Racing            	00:01:22.236			
 14 77 ▍LEE Jason Lee                Macarthur Racing         	00:01:23.954			
 15 22 ▍SHU David Shun               Ryder                    	00:01:32.618			
 16 49 ▍TAL Greg Talent              Ryder                    	00:01:35.067			
 17 10 ▍FLA Colin Flanagan           Henson Engineering       	Laps Down: 1			
 18  7 ▍BRI Lily O'Brien             Carlton                  	Laps Down: 1			
 19  2 ▍GRF Emma Griffin             Henson Engineering       	Laps Down: 1			
 20 14 ▍BRE Richard Brent            Macarthur Racing         	Laps Down: 1			
 21 20 ▍WEL Johan Welsh              Carlton                  	Laps Down: 1			
 22  8 ▍TAY Lauren Taylor            Embassy Racing           	Laps Down: 1			
DNF 11 ▍LIN James Linden             Hoyalux                  	Ret. lap 17			
DNF 58 ▍HAW Lisa Hawley              Embassy Racing           	Ret. lap 2

Pos # ▍DRV Name                      Team [Engine]                                        Pts
 1  9 ▍DIX Stuart Dixon              Hunter Motorsports [Thornton]                        25
 2 28 ▍RIC Derek Rice                Thornton Motor Works [Thornton]                      18
 3 66 ▍HOR Anne Horton               Hunter Motorsports [Thornton]                        15
 4 45 ▍REY Claudia Reynolds          Pressley Racing [Kaylan]                             12
 5  5 ▍SOT Elisabeth Soto            Rochester [Rochester]                                10
 6 93 ▍STE Paul Steinbrugge          Pressley Racing [Kaylan]                             8
 7  6 ▍HIM Getter Himanen            Rochester [Rochester]                                6
 7 52 ▍SAN Tom Sanders               Starbrook [Rochester]                                6
 9 68 ▍BUR Corinna Burns             Thornton Motor Works [Thornton]                      4
10 90 ▍EVA Suzanne Evans             Ensign Racing [Thornton]                             3
11 18 ▍BAN Hugh Bancroft             Hoyalux [Rochester]                                  2
12  4 ▍KNI Ethan Knight              Starbrook [Rochester]                                1
13  7 ▍BRI Lily O'Brien              Carlton [Rochester]                                  0
13 20 ▍WEL Johan Welsh               Carlton [Rochester]                                  0
13  8 ▍TAY Lauren Taylor             Embassy Racing [Thornton]                            0
13 58 ▍HAW Lisa Hawley               Embassy Racing [Thornton]                            0
13  3 ▍CRA Jeremy Crawford           Ensign Racing [Thornton]                             0
13  2 ▍GRF Emma Griffin              Henson Engineering [Thornton]                        0
13 10 ▍FLA Colin Flanagan            Henson Engineering [Thornton]                        0
13 11 ▍LIN James Linden              Hoyalux [Rochester]                                  0
13 14 ▍BRE Richard Brent             Macarthur Racing [Rochester]                         0
13 77 ▍LEE Jason Lee                 Macarthur Racing [Rochester]                         0
13 22 ▍SHU David Shun                Ryder [Rochester]                                    0
13 49 ▍TAL Greg Talent               Ryder [Rochester]                                    0

Pos NAT ▍Team [Engine]                                        Pts
  1 HUN ▍Hunter Motorsports [Thornton]                        40
  2 TMW ▍Thornton Motor Works [Thornton]                      22
  3 PRE ▍Pressley Racing [Kaylan]                             20
  4 ROC ▍Rochester [Rochester]                                16
  5 STB ▍Starbrook [Rochester]                                7
  6 ENS ▍Ensign Racing [Thornton]                             3
  7 HOY ▍Hoyalux [Rochester]                                  2
  8 CAR ▍Carlton [Rochester]                                  0
  9 EMB ▍Embassy Racing [Thornton]                            0
 10 HEN ▍Henson Engineering [Thornton]                        0
 11 MAC ▍Macarthur Racing [Rochester]                         0
 12 RYD ▍Ryder [Rochester]                                    0

[Tumbra]

More change, this time in the powerplant and teams department; Chief Executive Geoffrey Westmoreland has announced a plan to 'simplify' the engine rules in the sport, in a bid to attract more engine suppliers — both domestic and foreign alike — to the series. Key to the change will be the elimination of the motor generation unit heat (MGU-H), which came under criticism for its complexity, unreliability and cost from manufacturers like Carlton and Hunter. To keep the engines at the current brake horsepower that they are now — at about 900bHP — it is expected that the new regulations will allow for a greater displacement in engine capacity, an increased rev limit, and greater fuel flow rates to make up for the loss of power from the MGU-H.

Hoyalux owner Obuchi Katsuya confirmed that his team was up for sale after twenty-four years in the sport; in a written statement, the elderly businessman confirmed that he "wished to pass the team on to a new owner" and expressed hope that the sale of Hoyalux would prove to "bring new talent into the sport." It is unknown what the regulations on team sales will be to owners outside Tumbra; but Westmoreland confirmed that any foreign buyer would, true to the name of 'Tumbran' Super Formula, keep operations mostly based within the country.

Conditions:      	Dry
Predicted Optimal Time:	00:01:36.973
Qualifying Type:	Elimination
Nation:         	TMB
Circuit:        	Fontwell Motorsports Park

One of the newer circuits in the country, FONTWELL MOTORSPORT PARK's current configuration is actually an invention of the 1990s; prior to this, the circuit looped around a long lake. The old configuration splits off at turn 7, going around the lake before rejoining at what is currently turn ten; but the new "arena" section still provides a lot of excitement. Turn 1 is almost entirely in the shade, with massive gradstands providing a good view of the first turn action; before a quick left jerk at turn 2 and a quick right jerk again at turn 3. The long, yawning back straight follows; drivers go flat-out through 5 and 6, almost. Turn 7 leads onto the tiny kink that's counted as turn 8, before turn 9 opens up to a long straight; the entry into 10 is crucial to set up for the overtaking point at 11. From there, the rest of the circuit remains a flat out blast until turns 15 and 16, the other main overtaking opportunity on the track; before a quick right-hand kink at turn 19 leads back onto the main straight.

POS # ▍DRIVER                           	FASTEST Q1	GAP TO LEADER	FASTEST Q2	GAP TO LEADER	FASTEST Q3	GAP TO LEADER
 1 68 ▍Corinna Burns                    	00:01:37.235	00:00:00.191	00:01:38.372	00:00:00.019	00:01:37.950	FASTEST : Q3
 2  9 ▍Stuart Dixon                     	00:01:37.280	00:00:00.236	00:01:38.353	FASTEST : Q2	00:01:37.953	00:00:00.004
 3 66 ▍Anne Horton                      	00:01:37.044	FASTEST : Q1	00:01:38.359	00:00:00.006	00:01:37.964	00:00:00.014
 4  6 ▍Getter Himanen                   	00:01:37.439	00:00:00.396	00:01:38.372	00:00:00.019	00:01:37.964	00:00:00.015
 5 93 ▍Paul Steinbrugge                 	00:01:37.577	00:00:00.533	00:01:38.581	00:00:00.228	00:01:37.968	00:00:00.018
 6 90 ▍Suzanne Evans                    	00:01:37.432	00:00:00.388	00:01:38.382	00:00:00.029	00:01:37.972	00:00:00.022
 7  5 ▍Elisabeth Soto                   	00:01:37.164	00:00:00.120	00:01:38.394	00:00:00.041	00:01:37.975	00:00:00.026
 8  4 ▍Ethan Knight                     	00:01:37.555	00:00:00.511	00:01:38.668	00:00:00.315	00:01:37.993	00:00:00.043
 9 45 ▍Claudia Reynolds                 	00:01:37.562	00:00:00.519	00:01:38.634	00:00:00.281	00:01:38.028	00:00:00.079
10 49 ▍Greg Talent                      	00:01:37.778	00:00:00.735	00:01:38.602	00:00:00.249	00:01:38.035	00:00:00.086
11 28 ▍Derek Rice                       	00:01:37.735	00:00:00.692	00:01:38.741	00:00:00.388	00:01:38.144	00:00:00.194
12  3 ▍Jeremy Crawford                  	00:01:37.739	00:00:00.695	00:01:38.811	00:00:00.458	00:01:38.242	00:00:00.292
13 11 ▍James Linden                     	00:01:38.239	00:00:01.195	00:01:38.847	00:00:00.494		
14  2 ▍Emma Griffin                     	00:01:37.874	00:00:00.831	00:01:38.929	00:00:00.576		
15 20 ▍Johan Welsh                      	00:01:38.519	00:00:01.476	00:01:39.053	00:00:00.700		
16 52 ▍Tom Sanders                      	00:01:38.543	00:00:01.499	00:01:39.243	00:00:00.890		
17 10 ▍Colin Flanagan                   	00:01:38.474	00:00:01.430	00:01:39.470	00:00:01.117		
18 77 ▍Jason Lee                        	00:01:39.193	00:00:02.149	00:01:39.881	00:00:01.528		
19 58 ▍Lisa Hawley                      	00:01:39.294	00:00:02.251				
20 18 ▍Hugh Bancroft                    	00:01:39.842	00:00:02.799				
21 22 ▍David Shun                       	00:01:39.935	00:00:02.892				
22  7 ▍Lily O'Brien                     	00:01:40.948	00:00:03.904				
23 14 ▍Richard Brent                    	00:01:41.547	00:00:04.503				
24  8 ▍Lauren Taylor                    	00:01:41.659	00:00:04.615

Q1: Embassy continue to look woefully off the pace, as they were the only team that couldn't make it into Q2; Lisa Hawley was denied at the death by Jason Lee, who put in a respectable effort in his Macarthur to enter Q2 for the second race running. Her team-mate, Lauren Taylor, would once again bring up the back of the pack; this time, it was genuinely due to a lack of pace rather than assorted misfortunes befalling the experienced driver. Embassy team principal and 2009 Tumbran champion Jeanette Carlyle said that there was "a lot of work" to be done after qualifying; and that upgrades to the car would be available by the fourth round in Caduke. Surprisingly, it wasn't Stuart Dixon but his teammate Anne Horton setting the pace; while the two Rochesters struggled for pace in the first qualifying session.

Q2: The big shock was Starbrook's Tom Sanders not making it to the final twelve; mechanical gremlins meant he was forced to park it on track on his second outlap, forcing a short red flag and ending the Marray-based driver's hopes of making it to Q3. Derek Rice and Jeremy Crawford only narrowly made it to the final part of qualifying, with the Ryder of Greg Talent proving to be the dark horse and making it to the final part of qualifying for the first time in two seasons. Stuart Dixon would set the pace here; with his teammate Horton just six thousandths behind as the Hunters look set to stretch their legs on this more technically-demanding track.

Q3: And yet, the ultimate polesitter was the orange TMW; and it wouldn't be Derek Rice, who was a bit too slow on the exit out of turn 16 and ended up two tenths off the pace. It was his teammate, Corinna Burns, beating out the two Hunters by thousandths; but Stuart Dixon still manage to hold on to his front row place. He may be off the racing line, but Burns will have her work cut out for her in trying to hold off the wily veteran; if Burns is beaten to turn 1, Dixon will probably run off into the distance. It was another disappointing qualifying session for Rochester, with Getter Himanen only managing fourth; defending driver's champion Elisabeth Soto could only muster seventh, albeit just two hundredths off the pace; the start of the season has not been going the way that the Rochesters quite envisioned.

Conditions:      	Dry
Laps:              	53
Nation:         	TMB
Circuit:        	Fontwell Motorsports Park
Event:	Marlsbruhe Grand Prix
Safety Car Deployed on Laps:	7, 8
Cars on Grid:	24

Start           After 13 Laps           After 26 Laps           After 39 Laps			
 1 ▍BUR       	 1 ▍DIX +0           	 1 ▍DIX +0           	 1 ▍DIX +0           
 2 ▍DIX       	 2 ▍BUR +11.186      	 2 ▍SOT +20.691      	 2 ▍BUR +28.244      
 3 ▍HOR       	 3 ▍SOT +11.317      	 3 ▍CRA +44.904      	 3 ▍LIN +42.513      
 4 ▍HIM       	 4 ▍CRA +13.823      	 4 ▍RIC +48.575      	 4 ▍HIM +70.707      
 5 ▍STE       	 5 ▍LIN +24.313      	 5 ▍LIN +48.845      	 5 ▍CRA +71.223      
 6 ▍EVA       	 6 ▍TAL +28.865      	 6 ▍HIM +52.739      	 6 ▍REY +75.251      
 7 ▍SOT       	 7 ▍LEE +31.512      	 7 ▍BUR +54.22       	 7 ▍STE +76.629      
 8 ▍KNI       	 8 ▍EVA +33.077      	 8 ▍TAL +71.813      	 8 ▍KNI +82.566      
 9 ▍REY       	 9 ▍REY +33.462      	 9 ▍STE +73.062      	 9 ▍RIC +84.507      
10 ▍TAL       	10 ▍WEL +35.817      	10 ▍SHU +78.69       	10 ▍SOT +92.318      
11 ▍RIC       	11 ▍BAN +39.641      	11 ▍SAN +79.028      	11 ▍FLA +Laps: 1     
12 ▍CRA       	12 ▍SHU +40.523      	12 ▍TAY +86.341      	12 ▍EVA +Laps: 1     
13 ▍LIN       	13 ▍SAN +41.157      	13 ▍REY +87.333      	13 ▍SAN +Laps: 1     
14 ▍GRF       	14 ▍HIM +41.846      	14 ▍KNI +90.889      	14 ▍TAL +Laps: 1     
15 ▍WEL       	15 ▍FLA +46.725      	15 ▍BAN +92.71       	15 ▍BRI +Laps: 1     
16 ▍SAN       	16 ▍BRI +48.621      	16 ▍FLA +Laps: 1     	16 ▍BAN +Laps: 1     
17 ▍FLA       	17 ▍KNI +50.917      	17 ▍BRI +Laps: 1     	17 ▍TAY +Laps: 1     
18 ▍LEE       	18 ▍STE +55.329      	18 ▍LEE +Laps: 1     	18 ▍GRF +Laps: 1     
19 ▍HAW       	19 ▍RIC +58.103      	19 ▍WEL +Laps: 1     	19 ▍SHU +Laps: 1     
20 ▍BAN       	20 ▍TAY +58.924      	20 ▍EVA +Laps: 1     	20 ▍HOR +Laps: 1     
21 ▍SHU       	21 ▍HOR +64.98       	21 ▍GRF +Laps: 1     	21 ▍WEL +Laps: 1     
22 ▍BRI       	22 ▍GRF +66.406      	22 ▍HOR +Laps: 1     	22 ▍BRE +Laps: 2     
23 ▍BRE       	23 ▍BRE +86.003      	23 ▍BRE +Laps: 1     	23 ▍LEE +Laps: 2     
24 ▍TAY

Ultimately, the talk of Corinna Burns holding off Stuart Dixon was all for naught; Dixon dived up the inside in turn one and flew away with the lead. Dixon's move on Burns would mean that the third-place Anne Horton would be left with nowhere to go; Burns tagged Dixon, who was sent spinning into the gravel with a damaged front wing and a punctured front right tyre. She would have to limp back to the pits; with a similar fate befalling Emma Griffin, who spun into the gravel trying to defend from Johan Welsh.

The safety car would come out after Lisa Hawley broke down on the front straight, her Thornton engine smoking and slowing down dangerously; it would be a second retirement in a row for the Embassy team. The subsequent flurry of pitstops would see Getter Himanen, Derek Rice, Paul Steinbrugge, and Ethan Knight lose out; but they would be able to climb back up the order after the safety car went back in. One notable figure who didn't pit for new tyres was Jeremy Crawford, on the mediums; he thought he had enough of a handle on them, starting from twelfth, and was duly rewarded with track position after the safety cars. The Hoyalux of James Linden, which had been plonked on thirteenth on Saturday, followed Crawford up the order; it seemed that Linden's strategy was effectively to tag onto the end of whatever Crawford was doing and see how the race panned out.

By the midpoint of the race, Stuart Dixon had pulled out a nearly twenty-second lead on Elisabeth Soto; Soto would eventually fall back after the second round of pitstops, but a lost duel to Burns on-track meant that the defending champion would also lose track position. James Linden bravely held third at the three-quarters mark, but a slow pitstop ultimately meant he lost out to both Getter Himanen and Jeremy Crawford, who pulled off a ballsy overtake into turn 10 that forced Himanen to give up the apex or spin out and end her race.

Burns would eventually take second, to a dominant drive from Dixon; Crawford would nick the final podium spot. Not to be deterred, Derek Rice drove a solid recovery drive to claim fourth; while Elisabeth Soto drove a relatively anonymous race to finish fifth. The Pressleys had a disappointing race, with Steinbrugge's fastest lap being of little consolation to the team; James Linden's three points for Hoyalux were raucously celebrated in the garage while Colin Flanagan nicked the last points-scoring position to give Henson their first point of the season.

Stuart Dixon, with two wins from two, opens up an early twenty-point lead from Derek Rice as he attempts to be the first driver to win the championship with three different teams; Corinna Burns' second-place moves her to third in the championship, ahead of Anne Horton, whose twenty-first placed finish showed just how much she struggled with a damaged car. Jeremy Crawford's podium moves him up to fifth in the championship; while Elisabeth Soto's title defence isn't exactly going too well.

In the constructor's championship, eight of the twelve teams have now scored points; Rochester overtake Pressley to take third in the championship, while the early momentum still looks to be with Hunter, though a fast-charging TMW effort could mean that this season's title fight comes down to the silver Hunters and the orange Thorntons. Next week, the circus moves on to Westmond and Penbury Park, where the aggressively-set up Rochesters look to come back from a disappointing start to the season.

POS  # ▍DRV Name                     Team                     	Time      	Pts	Fastest Lap	
  1  9 ▍DIX Stuart Dixon             Hunter Motorsports       	01:38:49.428	25		
  2 68 ▍BUR Corinna Burns            Thornton Motor Works     	00:00:15.092	18		
  3  3 ▍CRA Jeremy Crawford          Ensign Racing            	00:00:46.885	15		
  4 28 ▍RIC Derek Rice               Thornton Motor Works     	00:01:02.294	12		
  5  5 ▍SOT Elisabeth Soto           Rochester                	00:01:07.602	10		
  6  4 ▍KNI Ethan Knight             Starbrook                	00:01:08.539	8		
  7 93 ▍STE Paul Steinbrugge         Pressley Racing          	00:01:12.541	6 + 1	1:41.827	
  8  6 ▍HIM Getter Himanen           Rochester                	00:01:12.856	5		
  9 90 ▍EVA Suzanne Evans            Ensign Racing            	00:01:22.589	4		
 10 11 ▍LIN James Linden             Hoyalux                  	00:01:23.088	3		
 11 45 ▍REY Claudia Reynolds         Pressley Racing          	00:01:35.354	2		
 12 10 ▍FLA Colin Flanagan           Henson Engineering       	00:01:45.906	1		
 13  2 ▍GRF Emma Griffin             Henson Engineering       	Laps Down: 1			
 14 49 ▍TAL Greg Talent              Ryder                    	Laps Down: 1			
 15  7 ▍BRI Lily O'Brien             Carlton                  	Laps Down: 1			
 16  8 ▍TAY Lauren Taylor            Embassy Racing           	Laps Down: 1			
 17 18 ▍BAN Hugh Bancroft            Hoyalux                  	Laps Down: 1			
 18 52 ▍SAN Tom Sanders              Starbrook                	Laps Down: 1			
 19 22 ▍SHU David Shun               Ryder                    	Laps Down: 1			
 20 20 ▍WEL Johan Welsh              Carlton                  	Laps Down: 1			
 21 66 ▍HOR Anne Horton              Hunter Motorsports       	Laps Down: 1			
 22 77 ▍LEE Jason Lee                Macarthur Racing         	Laps Down: 2			
 23 14 ▍BRE Richard Brent            Macarthur Racing         	Laps Down: 2			
DNF 58 ▍HAW Lisa Hawley              Embassy Racing           	Ret. lap 6

Pos # ▍DRV Name                      Team [Engine]                                        Pts
 1  9 ▍DIX Stuart Dixon              Hunter Motorsports [Thornton]                        50
 2 28 ▍RIC Derek Rice                Thornton Motor Works [Thornton]                      30
 3 68 ▍BUR Corinna Burns             Thornton Motor Works [Thornton]                      22
 4  5 ▍SOT Elisabeth Soto            Rochester [Rochester]                                20
 5  3 ▍CRA Jeremy Crawford           Ensign Racing [Thornton]                             15
 5 66 ▍HOR Anne Horton               Hunter Motorsports [Thornton]                        15
 5 93 ▍STE Paul Steinbrugge          Pressley Racing [Kaylan]                             15
 8 45 ▍REY Claudia Reynolds          Pressley Racing [Kaylan]                             14
 9  6 ▍HIM Getter Himanen            Rochester [Rochester]                                11
10  4 ▍KNI Ethan Knight              Starbrook [Rochester]                                9
11 90 ▍EVA Suzanne Evans             Ensign Racing [Thornton]                             7
12 52 ▍SAN Tom Sanders               Starbrook [Rochester]                                6
13 11 ▍LIN James Linden              Hoyalux [Rochester]                                  3
14 18 ▍BAN Hugh Bancroft             Hoyalux [Rochester]                                  2
15 10 ▍FLA Colin Flanagan            Henson Engineering [Thornton]                        1
16  7 ▍BRI Lily O'Brien              Carlton [Rochester]                                  0
16 20 ▍WEL Johan Welsh               Carlton [Rochester]                                  0
16  8 ▍TAY Lauren Taylor             Embassy Racing [Thornton]                            0
16 58 ▍HAW Lisa Hawley               Embassy Racing [Thornton]                            0
16  2 ▍GRF Emma Griffin              Henson Engineering [Thornton]                        0
16 14 ▍BRE Richard Brent             Macarthur Racing [Rochester]                         0
16 77 ▍LEE Jason Lee                 Macarthur Racing [Rochester]                         0
16 22 ▍SHU David Shun                Ryder [Rochester]                                    0
16 49 ▍TAL Greg Talent               Ryder [Rochester]                                    0

Pos NAT ▍Team [Engine]                                        Pts
  1 HUN ▍Hunter Motorsports [Thornton]                        65
  2 TMW ▍Thornton Motor Works [Thornton]                      52
  3 ROC ▍Rochester [Rochester]                                31
  4 PRE ▍Pressley Racing [Kaylan]                             29
  5 ENS ▍Ensign Racing [Thornton]                             22
  6 STB ▍Starbrook [Rochester]                                15
  7 HOY ▍Hoyalux [Rochester]                                  5
  8 HEN ▍Henson Engineering [Thornton]                        1
  9 CAR ▍Carlton [Rochester]                                  0
 10 EMB ▍Embassy Racing [Thornton]                            0
 11 MAC ▍Macarthur Racing [Rochester]                         0
 12 RYD ▍Ryder [Rochester]                                    0

[Tumbra]

THERE wasn't much news this week, but the amount of contracts running up at the end of the season did spark plenty of speculation even three weeks into the season on what next season's grid would look like. Henson's test driver, the half-Licentian Cyrus Billingham, made an appearance in the first practice session in place of Colin Flanagan and acquited himself very well, setting competitive times against Emma Griffin. Speculation that Griffin would be on her way to Pressley Racing to replace a Paul Steinbrugge in the final year of his contract began after Griffin was spotted with Pressley team principal Jason Kellner; with Steinbrugge already 34 and possibly thinking about retirement after spending nearly a decade with the Grantfeldt-based team, the team could be set to look for the next generation of the Pressley lineup.

One driver who ostensibly isn't thinking about retirement is Stuart Dixon; the Hunter Motorsports driver signed a further two-season contract extension with the team, locking in the team's lineup for the next two seasons. Dixon, on the hunt for his sixth Tumbran title and looking to be the first driver to win titles with three different teams, expressed a wish to "go on as long as possible"; and with his team in imperious form, having won both races this season, that might just be possible.

Conditions:      	Dry
Predicted Optimal Time:	00:01:22.421
Qualifying Type:	Elimination
Nation:         	TMB
Circuit:        	Penbury Park

PENBURY PARK in Ridgewell, Westmond, occupies the semi-unique status of being both a permanent track and one run on public roads; though it takes place almost entirely within the aforementioned park, the long run down from turn 11 to 13 takes place on a Ridgewell street. The circuit has a long, starting straight, before the first chicane; this is because there isn't enough runoff area at turn 4. Carry as much speed as possible into turn 4, before riding roughshod over the kerbs at 5 and 6; there's enough space to carry more speed than normal into the short blast to turn 7. A 90-degree complex follows, before a slowly tightening turn 9; and then a short blast out of the park into turn 11, the middle of Ridgewell, and down the long blast down to turn 13. A tight, twisty technical section follows; the turn 15-16-17 complex is probably the hardest on the track; before a long blast out to the front straight.

POS # ▍DRIVER                           	FASTEST Q1	GAP TO LEADER	FASTEST Q2	GAP TO LEADER	FASTEST Q3	GAP TO LEADER
 1 28 ▍Derek Rice                       	00:01:22.439	FASTEST : Q1	00:01:23.589	FASTEST : Q2	00:01:23.252	FASTEST : Q3
 2  9 ▍Stuart Dixon                     	00:01:22.691	00:00:00.253	00:01:23.641	00:00:00.052	00:01:23.259	00:00:00.006
 3 93 ▍Paul Steinbrugge                 	00:01:22.901	00:00:00.462	00:01:23.674	00:00:00.085	00:01:23.281	00:00:00.028
 4 52 ▍Tom Sanders                      	00:01:24.656	00:00:02.217	00:01:23.782	00:00:00.193	00:01:23.281	00:00:00.029
 5 68 ▍Corinna Burns                    	00:01:24.298	00:00:01.859	00:01:23.725	00:00:00.136	00:01:23.290	00:00:00.038
 6 66 ▍Anne Horton                      	00:01:22.690	00:00:00.251	00:01:23.687	00:00:00.098	00:01:23.291	00:00:00.038
 7  3 ▍Jeremy Crawford                  	00:01:22.619	00:00:00.181	00:01:23.696	00:00:00.107	00:01:23.295	00:00:00.042
 8  6 ▍Getter Himanen                   	00:01:22.710	00:00:00.271	00:01:23.774	00:00:00.185	00:01:23.304	00:00:00.052
 9  4 ▍Ethan Knight                     	00:01:23.427	00:00:00.988	00:01:23.741	00:00:00.152	00:01:23.313	00:00:00.060
10 45 ▍Claudia Reynolds                 	00:01:23.046	00:00:00.608	00:01:23.726	00:00:00.137	00:01:23.322	00:00:00.069
11  5 ▍Elisabeth Soto                   	00:01:22.835	00:00:00.397	00:01:23.792	00:00:00.203	00:01:23.335	00:00:00.082
12 18 ▍Hugh Bancroft                    	00:01:24.171	00:00:01.733	00:01:23.915	00:00:00.326	00:01:23.343	00:00:00.091
13 20 ▍Johan Welsh                      	00:01:24.185	00:00:01.747	00:01:23.983	00:00:00.394		
14 14 ▍Richard Brent                    	00:01:24.416	00:00:01.977	00:01:24.038	00:00:00.449		
15 22 ▍David Shun                       	00:01:23.814	00:00:01.376	00:01:24.153	00:00:00.564		
16 49 ▍Greg Talent                      	00:01:24.232	00:00:01.793	00:01:24.687	00:00:01.098		
17  8 ▍Lauren Taylor                    	00:01:24.024	00:00:01.585	00:01:24.768	00:00:01.179		
18 90 ▍Suzanne Evans                    	00:01:24.917	00:00:02.479	00:01:25.620	00:00:02.031		
19 58 ▍Lisa Hawley                      	00:01:25.193	00:00:02.755				
20  2 ▍Emma Griffin                     	00:01:25.202	00:00:02.763				
21 10 ▍Colin Flanagan                   	00:01:26.157	00:00:03.719				
22 11 ▍James Linden                     	00:01:26.174	00:00:03.736				
23 77 ▍Jason Lee                        	00:01:26.777	00:00:04.338				
24  7 ▍Lily O'Brien                     	00:01:26.982	00:00:04.543

Q1: Not many surprises were had in Q1, though Suzanne Evans only scraping through to Q2 by about three hundredths of a second was quite surprising, considering Jeremy Crawford posted the second best time of the session. Lauren Taylor became the first Embassy to make it through to the second part of qualifying this year, while the Hensons had an uncharacteristically bad qualifying session, resulting in both of their drivers being booted out of qualifying in this phase. Richard Brent and Johan Welsh made it through to the second phase of qualifying at the expense of their teammates; Jason Lee and Lily O'Brien occupying the last row on the grid, both nowhere near the pace.

Q2: Suzanne Evans' pace woes continued, as she qualified bottom of the top eighteen; after the session, she blamed her not being able to set-up the car well enough for the aggressive Penbury Park circuit. "We unfortunately didn't get enough running because of some mechanical issues in the practice sessions, but I'm happy that we're even on the grid at all," she said. Derek Rice would set the fastest time in qualifying, setting down an ominous marker for the final twelve; while the two Rochesters looked hopelessly off the pace in the session, with defending champion Elisabeth Soto finishing only eleventh and her teammate Getter Himanen posting the ninth fastest time of the session.

Q3: Derek Rice proved his command of the Penbury track — the one-time Tumbran champion has won three times here — but there was almost nothing separating him and Stuart Dixon from the inside line of pole position. Paul Steinbrugge would stick his Pressley on the third row — the 34 year-old would later say it was the most 'tiring' qualifying lap of his entire career — while Tom Sanders in the Starbrook was a surprising fourth. The two Rochesters of Himanen and Soto would only make the fourth and sixth row of the grid; while Jeremy Crawford's Ensign would only make seventh. Ultimately, with Dixon on the front row next to another Thornton, the run down to turn one would prove vital if TMW wished to stop Dixon from winning three races in a row.

Conditions:      	Dry
Laps:              	58
Nation:         	TMB
Circuit:        	Penbury Park
Event:	Westmond Grand Prix
Safety Car Deployed on Laps:	
Cars on Grid:	24

Start           After 14 Laps           After 29 Laps           After 43 Laps			
 1 ▍RIC       	 1 ▍RIC +0           	 1 ▍REY +0           	 1 ▍RIC +0           
 2 ▍DIX       	 2 ▍STE +8.201       	 2 ▍RIC +5.524       	 2 ▍HIM +6.584       
 3 ▍STE       	 3 ▍REY +19.687      	 3 ▍HOR +41.728      	 3 ▍DIX +13.864      
 4 ▍SAN       	 4 ▍BUR +22.312      	 4 ▍DIX +42.828      	 4 ▍BUR +17.631      
 5 ▍BUR       	 5 ▍DIX +22.854      	 5 ▍CRA +43.717      	 5 ▍REY +18.202      
 6 ▍HOR       	 6 ▍HIM +33.284      	 6 ▍STE +44.15       	 6 ▍HOR +19.445      
 7 ▍CRA       	 7 ▍CRA +44.165      	 7 ▍HIM +64.187      	 7 ▍STE +20.103      
 8 ▍HIM       	 8 ▍HOR +55.437      	 8 ▍BUR +74.152      	 8 ▍CRA +36.581      
 9 ▍KNI       	 9 ▍KNI +61.47       	 9 ▍SOT +Laps: 1     	 9 ▍SOT +39.493      
10 ▍REY       	10 ▍SHU +65.076      	10 ▍KNI +Laps: 1     	10 ▍BAN +Laps: 1     
11 ▍SOT       	11 ▍SAN +70.274      	11 ▍BAN +Laps: 1     	11 ▍KNI +Laps: 1     
12 ▍BAN       	12 ▍WEL +72.145      	12 ▍SAN +Laps: 1     	12 ▍TAL +Laps: 1     
13 ▍WEL       	13 ▍BAN +Laps: 1     	13 ▍TAL +Laps: 1     	13 ▍SAN +Laps: 1     
14 ▍BRE       	14 ▍SOT +Laps: 1     	14 ▍SHU +Laps: 1     	14 ▍SHU +Laps: 1     
15 ▍SHU       	15 ▍HAW +Laps: 1     	15 ▍FLA +Laps: 1     	15 ▍FLA +Laps: 2     
16 ▍TAL       	16 ▍TAY +Laps: 1     	16 ▍HAW +Laps: 1     	16 ▍HAW +Laps: 2     
17 ▍TAY       	17 ▍TAL +Laps: 1     	17 ▍EVA +Laps: 2     	17 ▍LEE +Laps: 2     
18 ▍EVA       	18 ▍BRI +Laps: 1     	18 ▍LEE +Laps: 2     	18 ▍GRF +Laps: 2     
19 ▍HAW       	19 ▍BRE +Laps: 1     	19 ▍GRF +Laps: 2     	19 ▍TAY +Laps: 2     
20 ▍GRF       	20 ▍FLA +Laps: 1     	20 ▍TAY +Laps: 2     	20 ▍BRE +Laps: 2     
21 ▍FLA       	21 ▍EVA +Laps: 1     	21 ▍WEL +Laps: 2     	21 ▍WEL +Laps: 2     
22 ▍LIN       	22 ▍LEE +Laps: 1     	22 ▍BRE +Laps: 2     	22 ▍LIN +Laps: 2     
23 ▍LEE       	23 ▍GRF +Laps: 1     	23 ▍LIN +Laps: 2     	                    
24 ▍BRI       	24 ▍LIN +Laps: 1

Ultimately, Dixon wouldn't get as good a start as last time; he would fall behind and be swamped by Steinbrugge and Corinna Burns at the chicane. Tom Sanders would end up with a wrecked front wing, necessitating an early pitstop; but there was still a good chance of a recovery drive from the Marcato-born driver. Polesitter Derek Rice would build up a semi-solid lead from the two Pressleys of Steinbrugge and a fast-climbing Claudia Reynolds, who'd gotten a good start to jump Ethan Knight and Getter Himanen.

A puncture for Emma Griffin would see her lose a couple of places, while further down the field David Shun would pick up very impressive pace on a day where it seemed the more aggressively-tuned cars would benefit. Elisabeth Soto would be lapped as early as lap fourteen, but a quick pitstop would see her unlap herself when Derek Rice was stalled for a bit longer in the pitbox after the left front tyre had trouble being attached. The first retirement of the race would take place on lap 24, as Lily O'Brien's gearbox seized up on her to compound a miserable weekend.

Ten laps later, Suzanne Evans, suffering from a malfunctioning engine that meant she was down on power, also pulled up in the pits; but Ensign's trouble would be compounded by Jeremy Crawford's suspension just going eight laps before the end. He speared off into the wall at turn six, and collected Paul Steinbrugge; who would struggle on for another five laps before calling it a day.

Derek Rice would ultimately come home, collecting a rock-solid victory; Elisabeth Soto, who'd driven almost everything out of her Rochester, came home just six seconds behind to mark an impressive recovery drive from her sixth-row start. Stuart Dixon, who'd been surprisingly anonymous for most of the race, scraped third; while it would be points on the board for the Henson of Colin Flanagan and the Ryder of David Shun, meaning only three teams have failed to score points this season.

Stuart Dixon's lead at the top of the standings is cut to ten points, while Elisabeth Soto moves into third in the standings. In the team's championship, the same applies; Hunter's lead at the top shrinks to seven points, while Rochester take advantage of Steinbrugge's non-points scoring weekend to overtake Pressley and place themselves in contention for a second consecutive constructor's title.

POS  # ▍DRV Name                     Team                     	Time      	Pts	Fastest Lap	
  1 28 ▍RIC Derek Rice               Thornton Motor Works     	01:34:51.951	25		
  2  5 ▍SOT Elisabeth Soto           Rochester                	00:00:06.883	18 + 1	1:26.543	
  3  9 ▍DIX Stuart Dixon             Hunter Motorsports       	00:00:23.110	15		
  4 66 ▍HOR Anne Horton              Hunter Motorsports       	00:00:35.153	12		
  5  6 ▍HIM Getter Himanen           Rochester                	00:00:38.115	10		
  6 68 ▍BUR Corinna Burns            Thornton Motor Works     	00:00:50.252	8		
  7 45 ▍REY Claudia Reynolds         Pressley Racing          	00:01:12.601	6		
  8 18 ▍BAN Hugh Bancroft            Hoyalux                  	Laps Down: 1	5		
  9  4 ▍KNI Ethan Knight             Starbrook                	Laps Down: 1	4		
 10 52 ▍SAN Tom Sanders              Starbrook                	Laps Down: 1	3		
 11 10 ▍FLA Colin Flanagan           Henson Engineering       	Laps Down: 1	2		
 12 49 ▍TAL Greg Talent              Ryder                    	Laps Down: 1	1		
 13 22 ▍SHU David Shun               Ryder                    	Laps Down: 2			
 14  2 ▍GRF Emma Griffin             Henson Engineering       	Laps Down: 2			
 15  8 ▍TAY Lauren Taylor            Embassy Racing           	Laps Down: 2			
 16 11 ▍LIN James Linden             Hoyalux                  	Laps Down: 2			
 17 77 ▍LEE Jason Lee                Macarthur Racing         	Laps Down: 2			
 18 58 ▍HAW Lisa Hawley              Embassy Racing           	Laps Down: 2			
 19 14 ▍BRE Richard Brent            Macarthur Racing         	Laps Down: 2			
 20 20 ▍WEL Johan Welsh              Carlton                  	Laps Down: 3	
DNF 93 ▍STE Paul Steinbrugge         Pressley Racing          	Ret. lap 55 
DNF  3 ▍CRA Jeremy Crawford          Ensign Racing            	Ret. lap 52								
DNF 90 ▍EVA Suzanne Evans            Ensign Racing            	Ret. lap 33	
DNF  7 ▍BRI Lily O'Brien             Carlton                  	Ret. lap 24

Pos # ▍DRV Name                      Team [Engine]                                        Tyres                    Pts
 1  9 ▍DIX Stuart Dixon              Hunter Motorsports [Thornton]                        Kaikau-Mälö              65
 2 28 ▍RIC Derek Rice                Thornton Motor Works [Thornton]                      Kaikau-Mälö              55
 3  5 ▍SOT Elisabeth Soto            Rochester [Rochester]                                Kaikau-Mälö              39
 4 68 ▍BUR Corinna Burns             Thornton Motor Works [Thornton]                      Kaikau-Mälö              30
 5 66 ▍HOR Anne Horton               Hunter Motorsports [Thornton]                        Kaikau-Mälö              27
 6  6 ▍HIM Getter Himanen            Rochester [Rochester]                                Kaikau-Mälö              21
 7 45 ▍REY Claudia Reynolds          Pressley Racing [Kaylan]                             Kaikau-Mälö              20
 8  3 ▍CRA Jeremy Crawford           Ensign Racing [Thornton]                             Kaikau-Mälö              15
 8 93 ▍STE Paul Steinbrugge          Pressley Racing [Kaylan]                             Kaikau-Mälö              15
10  4 ▍KNI Ethan Knight              Starbrook [Rochester]                                Kaikau-Mälö              13
11 52 ▍SAN Tom Sanders               Starbrook [Rochester]                                Kaikau-Mälö              9
12 90 ▍EVA Suzanne Evans             Ensign Racing [Thornton]                             Kaikau-Mälö              7
12 18 ▍BAN Hugh Bancroft             Hoyalux [Rochester]                                  Kaikau-Mälö              7
14 10 ▍FLA Colin Flanagan            Henson Engineering [Thornton]                        Kaikau-Mälö              3
14 11 ▍LIN James Linden              Hoyalux [Rochester]                                  Kaikau-Mälö              3
16 49 ▍TAL Greg Talent               Ryder [Rochester]                                    Kaikau-Mälö              1
17  7 ▍BRI Lily O'Brien              Carlton [Rochester]                                  Kaikau-Mälö              0
17 20 ▍WEL Johan Welsh               Carlton [Rochester]                                  Kaikau-Mälö              0
17  8 ▍TAY Lauren Taylor             Embassy Racing [Thornton]                            Kaikau-Mälö              0
17 58 ▍HAW Lisa Hawley               Embassy Racing [Thornton]                            Kaikau-Mälö              0
17  2 ▍GRF Emma Griffin              Henson Engineering [Thornton]                        Kaikau-Mälö              0
17 14 ▍BRE Richard Brent             Macarthur Racing [Rochester]                         Kaikau-Mälö              0
17 77 ▍LEE Jason Lee                 Macarthur Racing [Rochester]                         Kaikau-Mälö              0
17 22 ▍SHU David Shun                Ryder [Rochester]                                    Kaikau-Mälö              0

Pos NAT ▍Team [Engine]                                        Tyres                    Pts
  1 HUN ▍Hunter Motorsports [Thornton]                        Kaikau-Mälö              92
  2 TMW ▍Thornton Motor Works [Thornton]                      Kaikau-Mälö              85
  3 ROC ▍Rochester [Rochester]                                Kaikau-Mälö              60
  4 PRE ▍Pressley Racing [Kaylan]                             Kaikau-Mälö              35
  5 ENS ▍Ensign Racing [Thornton]                             Kaikau-Mälö              22
  6 STB ▍Starbrook [Rochester]                                Kaikau-Mälö              22
  7 HOY ▍Hoyalux [Rochester]                                  Kaikau-Mälö              10
  8 HEN ▍Henson Engineering [Thornton]                        Kaikau-Mälö              3
  9 RYD ▍Ryder [Rochester]                                    Kaikau-Mälö              1
 10 CAR ▍Carlton [Rochester]                                  Kaikau-Mälö              0
 11 EMB ▍Embassy Racing [Thornton]                            Kaikau-Mälö              0
 12 MAC ▍Macarthur Racing [Rochester]                         Kaikau-Mälö              0