Dilano and the team became the 2021 champions!

With one more round left this season, we secured the driver’s and team championship his weekend in Jerez. Dilano became the 2021 driver and rookie champion after winning the second race of the weekend. This also meant we won the team championship for the 5ht time! It was overall a very good weekend for Dilano, who took pole for all races and converted them into race wins. Even though Dilano secured the championship, the last round of the season will still be very important for our other drivers and their personal results.

Qualifying 1

P1 Dilano van ‘t Hoff
P6 Rik Koen
P7 Suleiman Zanfari
P11 Manuel Espirito Santo
P12 Georg Kelstrup
P15 Noah Degnbol
P16 Gil Molina
P20 Emely de Heus
P21 Miron Pingasov

Qualifying 2

P1 Dilano van ‘t Hoff
P5 Manuel Espirito Santo
P8 Georg Kelstrup
P10 Suleiman Zanfari
P11 Rik Koen
P12 Gil Molina
P7 Noah Degnbol
P20 Emely de Heus
P21 Miron Pingasov

Race 1

It was a good start for Dilano, who kept the lead with Ryabov being very close behind him. Within the first lap, he already created a gap of a few tenths. Rik had a mega start, starting from P6 and immediately driving on third place after the start. Noah gained 2 positions in the opening lap, but unfortunately, quickly after he had to retire as he was touched and lost control, finishing in the gravel and being stuck there. This also brought out a safety car, after having raced for about 3 minutes.

After 5 minutes, the race restarted and Dilano held the lead again, even though Ryabov came close to about 2 tenths. Rik still kept his third place, Georg jumped from P11 to P9 during the restart, driving right behind Suleiman who was driving on P8. After a minute, the gap between Dilano and Ryabov increased and was now 7 tenths. Ryabov did not come close enough to make a move during the race. Rik had a lot of defending to do during the race and managed to cross the finish line as third. Unfortunately, he got pushed back to P6 because of a penalty he received for track limits.

Race 1 classification:

P1 Dilano van ‘t Hoff
P6 Rik Koen
P8 Suleiman Zanfari
P9 Georg Kelstrup
P10 Manuel Espirito Santo
P13 Miron Pingasov
P17 Emely de Heus
P18 Gil Molina
DNF Noah Degnbol

Race 2

Sunday’s weather was completely different compared to Saturday, as it was really cloudy, with even a few rain drops falling down. Another good start for Dilano, who again, kept the lead. Ryabov kept much closer to him compared to the first race. Manuel was driving in the 6th position, again in the points. With 9 minutes to go, three cars crashed which brought out the safety car.

With three cars to get rid of, and quite some debris on the track, it took a while before the safety car went back in. With 1 minute and 30 seconds left, the race started again. Right after the first turn, Manuel collided with an FA car, this brought out a red flag as the race had one more minute left. Luckily, Manuel kept his 6th position on the final sheet. All the cars came back in via the pitlane, with Dilano’s second win of the weekend, and he also secured his championship after this chaotic race.

Race 2 classification:

P1 Dilano van ‘t Hoff
P6 Manuel Espirito Santo
P9 Suleiman Zanfari
P10 Georg Kelstrup
P11 Rik Koen
P12 Noah Degnbol
P13 Miron Pingasov
P14 Gil Molina
P20 Emely de Heus

Race 3

Race 3 started in wet conditions, which is the first time this season. Dilano had quite a slow start, but had the inside line compared to Bordas, and took the lead right before they went into turn 2. Some parts of the track were really wet and with a lot of rain, compared to other parts. Bordas kept close and pushing pressure on Dilano, but Dilano managed to keep the lead in the opening lap. We’ve had a good top 10, with Rik on P6, followed by Manuel, Suleiman, Georg, and Gil finishing the top 10. With 20 minutes to go, Dilano missed the breaking point of the Senna chicane and had to go wide, dropping down to P3.

In the same chicane, not much later, Miron got stuck in the gravel and couldn’t continue. This meant another safety car had to come out, to remove Miron’s car. Right before the safety car came out, Dilano secured P2. Rik, Suleiman, and Manuel were now driving on P5, 6, and 7. Gil was still driving in the points on P9, with Georg right behind him in the 10th position. The safety car went back in, with 8 minutes left on the clock. Dilano immediately put pressure on Bordas but did not make a move yet. With the conditions getting worse and more rain fell down, Noah gained 12 positions and was driving on the 9th position. Rik made it to the fourth position, with Suleiman and Manuel still behind him. With less than 2 minutes to go, Dilano took back the lead of the race. Finishing his third race with another win. In the last lap, Suleiman overtook Rik for the fourth position.

Race 3 classification:

P1 Dilano van ’t Hoff
P4 Suleiman Zanfari
P5 Rik Koen
P6 Manuel Espirito Santo
P8 Noah Degnbol
P10 Gil Molina
P11 Georg Kelstrup
P20 Emely de Heus
DNF Miron Pingasov

Current driver standings:

P1 Dilano van ‘t Hoff – 336 points
P6 Rik Koen – 95 points
P8 Noah Degnbol – 64 points
P10 Georg Kelstrup – 62 points
P11 Suleiman Zanfari – 42 points
P13 Manuel Espirito Santo – 35 points
P18 Gil Molina – 19 points
P26 Miron Pingasov – 0 points
P29 Emely de Heus – 0 points

Team standings:

P1 – 493 points