Formula SimRacing - The Official RFactor2 Open Wheel Championship
---- 2024 Season ----
Round 1 | March 3rd Bahrain
Round 2 | March 17th Australia
Round 3 | March 31st Public Vote
Round 4 | April 14th Singapore
Round 5 | April 28th Britain
Round 6 | May 12th San Marino
Round 7 | June 2nd Turkey
Round 8 | June 16th Belgium
Round 9 | July 14th United States
Round 10 | August 4th Japan

Spa Francorchamps - Belgium Round 10 World Championship Review

 


Circuit.
7.004 km  44 laps
Tyres Soft - Medium 
Weather 15-16 deg C.

Chance of Rain: 15%

 

Circuit history.
The iconic and historic Spa Francorchamps circuit in the beautiful Ardennes Forest in the municipality of Wallone Belgium welcomed the Formula Sim Racing World Championship grid for round ten of the 2015 Season.

The circuit bearing this name has hosted motor racing since their first 24 hour race in 1924 and has hosted international open wheeler racing since 1925. It has undergone several changes the most significant was when the old circuit which was essentially the road between Francorchamps, Malmedy, and Stavelot was dropped in 1970 from the Formula One calendar. It was not used again until the modern circuit was first used in 1983.

Track Details
A favourite track of many drivers the Spa circuit offers a beguiling mix of high medium and low speed challenges and a stunning drive up, along and back down the valley. The infamous Eau Rouge has lost some of its bite due to re profiling and the sheer grip of the modern F1 car but it still commands respect especially in traffic.
In terms of set up it offers the teams some choices of aero settings depending whether they want to be fastest in the more twisty sector 2 or in the fast sectors 1 and 3.
These choices may seem simple but setting a fast car can mean tyre wear issues that can manifest late in a stint or even mean an extra stop.    

Simulation Breakthrough
On the Sim part of Formula Sim Racing a little history was being made this weekend.
It was the first time in a World Championship open wheeler event where real time real world weather was to be simulated in-game. 
As of this race at round 10 we now have the excitement and unpredictability the actual real world weather from the tracks actual physical location in real time.

This applies to rain as well as temperature. If it starts to sprinkle rain in Spa, it will sprinkle on the track within the space of a couple of minutes causing the same mayhem as in real life. Once the rain stops the dry line will start to appear and teams will have to decide when to pull the trigger on the switch from wets to slicks. One lap too soon and it can mean curtains. One lap too late and you can be undercut massively by the team that got the call correct.
The Ace race had it all. Wet qualifying, a wet start to the race and a switch to slicks for the last few laps.

 


To keep an eye on the weather, the teams and any viewers who wish to do so simply log in to http://www.wunderground.com/wundermap/ and chose the closet weather station to the track and you will see the weather that is being rendered in the simulation. If you want to second guess the teams strategy you can look at when it is likely to rain or clear

Adding weather to the package of physics, real road and the tyre model that Rfactor 2 offers and we think we can say we are experiencing the most authentic and credible Sim Racing world title ever contested on any platform.
Its now more dynamic and unpredictable than ever.

Qualifying

Petar Brljak took pole with a time of 1m45.682 and a margin of 0.156 second. He was accompanied on the front row by Mike Partington

The rest of the grid was made up of
Row 2 Bigazzi and Simoncic
Row 3 Patel and Brzezinski
Row 4 Kostadinov and Simon
Row 5 Kiss and Martin

 

Race


The opening lap saw intense but clean action as drivers battled for the upper hand with some 218 litres of fuel on board. Francesco Bigazzi managed to slip past the surprise front row starter Mike Partington relegating him to third.

 


Lap 2 Simoncic who seems to like a car with low wing for these occasions managed to do the same. Was Partington leaving the podium party?


Lap 3 and this time it was two time race winner Muhammed Patel who managed to get Partington who was now P4. Brljak is managing on these high fuel levels to pull a small gap.


Lap 4 Kostadinov has a big moment on the outside of Pouhon. He keeps it off the barriers but will soon have to pit for tyres compromising his chances to capitalise on his top 10 qualifying position.


Lap 5 and Brzezinski manages a straight forwards DRS pass on Partington.

 


Lap 6 and as tyre wear differences kick in the top five drivers start to close up into a tighter group. It is getting exciting again


Lap 7 Bigazzi and Simoncic are within 1.8 sec of leader Brljak. Kostadinov pits.

 


Simoncic attacks and passes Bigazzi  with DRS.


Lap 9 The start of the pit stops of many teams.


Lap 10 Leader Brljak pits. All seven of the leaders but for Simoncic have pitted.


Lap 11 Superb battle of driving and tactics begins to evolve as Carlos Martin and Daniel Kiss tussle into Les Combes.  Team mates Simoncic and Simon pit and take primes.


Lap 13 Back to the battle for P6 and Martin passes Kiss.

 

 


Lap 17 Kiss-Martin continue to slug it out.  For now Kiss has P6 back.


Martin will decide to pit for an undercut and it's a decisive move in this enthralling duel. He gets the edge and Kiss gets some traffic later.


Lap 24 Top four Brljak, Bigazzi, Simoncic and Brzezinski have a 5 second buffer to fifth placed Partington who is in clear air now and his car set up seemingly coming to him.


Lap 31 Simoncic after his late first stop has used his tyre advantage to close somewhat on Brljak. He Brljak and Brzezinski all pit for the final time.

 


Lap 41 There is a a threat of rain and the race comes alive with significant battles all over the place. Jonny Simon and Parisis over P7. Kuba and Bigazzi over P3, Patel and Martin over P6.


Lap 44. The rain holds off for an amazingly tight finish as after one hour and twenty one minutes of racing Martin, Patel, Simon and Parisis all finish in a scrum for places 6,7,8,9.

 


It's been a great race. Teams kept their eyes on the weather in a town called Francorchamps and the World Championship drivers delivered. 

 


It's been a great race. Teams kept their eyes on the weather in a town called Francorchamps and the World Championship drivers delivered. 

Finish


With pole and the win Petar Brljak Twister 2Fast4You crossed the line with a useful if not comfortable margin of 5.820sec  in 1h21m15.366  with a best lap of 1m47.141.

In second place after climbing from fourth in qualifying and setting the fastest lap of the race with a 1m47.068 was Slovenian Jernej Simoncic of GhostSpeed Racing Team +5.820 

The final podium spot was claimed by a fast and consistent Francesco Bigazzi hailing from Italy and driving for Eventa Simracing. +13.226sec Best lap 1m47.785

Claiming fourth after a sixth place qualifying Kuba Brzezinski Poland, Origin Front Row Racing. Best lap 1m47.703 +14.755
Mike Partington brought home fifth in what must be seen as a good drive from the Faster Than Speed Ace series regular who stepped up for the weekend. +25.208 Best 1m48.249

Sixth and from 10th on the grid in strong drive following that enthralling battle with Kiss Spanish driver Carlos Martín from Trines NetRex GP. A good points scoring result after many issues in earlier races prevented his speed resulting in points. +26.916 Best lap 1m48.002   

 

 

Seventh place from eight on the grid was Jonny Simon.  The Australian World Championship driver and star Pro commentator not taking his best result of the season but after some stunning qualifying in 2015 that did not translate to the race result it was very encouraging to see Jonny moving forwards from his qualifying position in the race proper. +28.461 1m47.570.

Eighth place saw two time WC race winner and front runner Greek driver Jim Parisis Twister Racing Team +29.515 Fastest lap 1m47.658

Ninth and in the points for the first time in 2015 having stepped up from Ace was New Zealander Thomas Satherley GS Engineering +35.452    Fastest lap 1m48.348

Tenth Daniel Kiss (Hungary) Twister Racing Team fell back a little in the latter stages after a great fight with Martin.    +40.869  Best lap 1m47.718

Eleventh Muhammed Patel United Kingdom Twister 2Fast4You England +57.645 1m47.340 (30 sec penalty-Cuts)   

Twelfth from 7th on the grid Dian Kostadinov Bulgaria Eventa Simracing +1m09.715 Fastest lap 1m48.021   

Thirteenth Blair Disley Australia GS Engineering 1m48.068 +1m13.923   

Fourteenth Norbert Leitner Hungary Faster Than Speed +1m19.065 1m48.417   

Fifteenth Danny van der Niet Trines NetRex GP Netherlands  +1m20.801  1m48.262

Sixteenth John-Eric Saxén Finland Avid Chronic Racing Team +1m46.867 1m48.905   

The minor honours

Pole  Petar Brljak, Croatia, Twister 2Fast4You

Fastest Lap  Jernej Simoncic, Slovenia, GhostSpeed Racing Team 1m47.068

Full results are HERE


Comment.
Petar Brljak delivers with the win after a not seeing the top step since the Red Bull ring.

Bigazzi impresses with a great drive for his third podium of the season.

Simoncic puts his travails in Monza behind him and equals his seasons best of second place scored in Canada with second place and the fastest lap of the race.

Brzezinski is the mover in the Championship standings and his fourth place moves him above Parisis to claim third in the standings.

 

 

Our track-side interviewer spoke to Mike Partington and got a hint of his aero set up. It seems that once he was in clear air he was able to make good consistent pace but was vulnerable in the early laps to attack due to top speed. He also complained of struggling to find stability under brakes in the opening laps.

Highs and Lows
Brljak High: Pole and the win, need we say more. Low-none
Simoncic: High uses pace and tyre strategy to get second place.
Partington High: Front row in WC in Spa and P5 for the Ace driver. Low: traffic on Kemmel straight passing him by in opening laps.
Thomas Satherley High: Ninth and First World Championship points in his debut WC year.
Jonny Simon High: Moving forwards from qualifying position to a better race result and his second solid points result for 2015.
Carlos Martin. High: superb battle with Kiss for sixth. His second best points for the season following only fifth in China.

 

 



World Championship Standings after Round 10


1.     Petar Brljak  - Croatia 187
2.    Muhammed Patel - United Kingdom 134
3.    Kuba Brzezinski - Poland      119
4.    Jim Parisis - Greece 117
5.    Francesco Bigazzi - Italy 75
6.    Jernej Simoncic - Slovenia         64
7.    Daniel Kiss - Hungary    39
8.    Dian Kostadinov - Bulgaria 38
9.    Blair Disley - Australia 37
10.  John-Eric Saxén - Finland     34
11   David Greco - Italy     12.
.      Carlos Martín - Spain  18
.      Μarco Conti - Italy    18
14.  Daniel Brewer - United Kingdom    16
15.  Jonny Simon - Australia     15
16   Jeroen Kweekel - Netherlands 12
.      Mike Partington - United Kingdom     12
18.  Eros Masciulli - Italy     10
.      Morgan Morand - France      10
20.  Enrico Di Loreto - Italy         8
.     Patrick De Wit - Netherlands     8
22.  Marek Godek - Slovakia  4
23.   Michele D Alessandro - Italy    2
.     Thomas Satherley - New Zealand     2
.      Fabrizio Gobbi - Italy      2
26.    Danny van der Niet - Netherlands        1
.  and Pashalis Gergis - Greece     1
.    also Victor Ivanov - Bulgaria 1

Full standings information is HERE



Keep an eye on Formula-simracing.net and the weather in Singapore!

 

 

 

 

 

'23 Champion Jernej Simoncic

PRO Champion Victor Ivanov

ACA Champion Thomas Smit

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