RACE 2 REPORT AND RESULT - MALAYSIA

Bernie smiles as the Sprinklers are turned on in Malaysia...

Race 3 - Malaysia - Pole = Bannbino - Toro Rosso - 1:36:253

And so we return to Kuala Lumpur, home of the Sepang International Circuit and Petronas Towers – will racing reach new heights for the second race of Season 2?

Qualifying began with an overcast sky and 30 percent chance of rain threatening to ruin the day. Bannbino set a good fast lap in the opening stage so it was therefore down to the rest of the pack to fight it out for position in the hope that the weather didn’t get any worse...but it did. A few minutes into qualifying and the heavens opened, denying any further attempts at taking Pole. The day ended with BSheepie pushing too hard in the wet, damaging his car forcing him to limp home with two punctures.

And so 1st place went to Bannbino closely followed by Adman11 and Rockeye. Further down the line up saw SheepieUK netting 4th closely followed by Villa John, Squeak83 and EagleJay01.

The Gods thought to test driving skill to the limit with a torrent of rain for the race itself. The choice of tyre boiled down to intermediates or wets with most people choosing full wets upon seeing the downpour. It quickly became apparent that conditions were worse than expected as visibility was reduced by the spray of water thrown up by the leading racing cars. Turns 1 and 2 were largely made without incident although a couple of nudges sent cars into a spin due to lack of grip on the wet surface; Villa John amongst the casualties. Satako (aka Crazy Frog) made a very successful pass of 7 cars to 4th but lost track position in the later turns.

SheepieUK, with an early lead was amongst the first casualties running wide into turn 4, losing valuable places. R0ckeye took the lead with Bannbino in 2nd and EagleJay01 in a very respectable 3rd. Tempy303 and Adman11 were closely following, hoping for a podium finish. Bannbino was pressurizing nicely and forced R0ckeye into making a mistake on the turn into the long straight to end up in the Kitty litter. EagleJay01 held 3rd position until lap 4 dropping behind Tempy303 and Adaman11. Adaman11 took 3rd in the following lap and was clearly looking to prove himself. Further down the pack saw Satako, leading SheepieUK and Cheeseman69Boi, until a lapse in concentration sent him wide off the track. A determined effort saw him retake 8th from Cheeseman69Boi to make up for the mistake.

Squeak83 had decided on intermediates in the hope that the rain would ease and play to his advantage; taking risks can win races however this was not to be the case today and forced an early retirement. Squeak was seen walking away with cigarette in hand and a determined look on his face, perhaps already focusing on winning the next race!

Satako sitting in 8th lost it in the penultimate corner as the pressure become too much. A spin sent him down to 11th for what have must been a frustrating finish. Cheeseman69Boi capitalise and finished a respectable 8th for his 2nd race. Further up the line up were Hypno85 and Sheepie UK who crossed the line in 6th and 7th.

Man of the race goes to a determined BSheepie who although placing 12th on the Grid, through dog eared determination managed to finish a well placed 5th for 8 points.

And so the podium was filled with Bannbino in 1st, R0ckeye in 2nd and Adaman11 in 3rd. Two wins so far for Bannbino who is looking very strong in Season 2. There is still a long way to go though and as we’ve seen in the past, anything can happen in Formula 1...

Better late then never! Good write up!

Yeah, wicked write up! Here's the in car from bannbino...

Nice write up, but it's a shame WHY Villa John was amongst the first corner casualties eh Rockeye, nudge nudge wink wink (probably more NUDGE than wink if you consult the video evidence!)

Haha I thought Bannbino was going to edit that part out! Racing incident anyone... Yeah was not a good line and in the wet I was only going one way; the WRONG way. I'll bring the gloves in tomorrow and take this one on the chin so to speak!

View from my racing seat!

you were never gonna make turn 2 at that speed! Poor Villa John...