Chris
Premium
Qualifying
After the first hotlaps of the session, it became clear that qualifying this time around would be a much closer affair than back in Melbourne. APIA Racing's Tony Binelli looked strong over one lap and had provisional pole for a short time before the Talking Door Racing drivers of Erhan Jajovski, Matheus Machado and Tobias Rohner unveiled their hand and took first, second and fourth on the grid respectively. Chris Stacey put his car in fifth behind Rohner by a tantalizing 0.005 seconds, and ahead of Thomas Hinss in sixth. Michael Stead managed to beat out Shaun Allan and Allie Ferrie for seventh as the trio were separated by a mere 0.04 seconds, with Jamie Pyatt rounding out the top ten for APIA Racing.
All in all, the competitiveness of the field was on full display as the top 15 drivers were separated by just one second.
Race
The lights went out and all three of the Talking Door cars made good getaways. Binelli was sluggish off the line which allowed for an uncontested Talking Door 1-2-3 into the first corner. Michael Stead, Thomas Hinss and Chris Stacey all got alongside Binelli for fourth place as the quartet went four-wide into one, however cool heads prevailed as Stead and Stacey backed out allowing for a largely incident free first corner.
On the entry to turn six, Tom Newman-Morris of Rondeau would have his race efforts hampered after making contact with Gabriel Sterr, sending the Rondeau driver around and dropping him in to dead last. Chris Stacey dropped to 31st after running onto the grass at the turn seven kink and losing control of the car.
As the race progressed, the field gradually began to string out as the drivers tried to get in to a groove for what looked to be a 54 lap race. Tony Binelli was pressuring Tobias Rohner hard for third place when on lap four, the German driver lost the rear end on the exit of turn six, dipped a wheel onto the grass at the inside of seven and found himself in a similar situtation to that of Stacey just three laps prior. Rohner was able to keep the car facing the right direction and only lost eight positions as a result.
Just behind Binelli was a six-long train of cars all similarly paced and eagerly trying to pass. To start lap five, Thomas Hinss of Copenhagen Apex utilised a dose of push-to-pass and the hugely long pit straight to get himself past Binelli and up into third place, however it would be short lived as on the following lap, Binelli was able to stick with him and use his push-to-pass to retake the position. Jamie Pyatt was also able to use the system to good effect on Michael Stead as he claimed sixth position.
Hunting in Packs: Pyatt and Binelli used a combination of clever strategy and teamplay to secure a strong result for APIA.
As the battle for the final podium position was heating up between Binelli and Hinss, Allie Ferrie in the #35 Smile Power Racing car was waiting in the wings, keeping her powder dry and looking for an opportunity. That moment came on the main straight on lap seven with a brilliant maneuver using both push-to-pass and a strong tow to get past both Hinss and Binelli in one swift move. Binelli ran slightly wide in turn one, allowing Hinss to get up the inside for fourth position. But, just one lap later the positions would change around again as Hinss used a superior tow to get past Ferrie into the first turn, Ferrie then had a sluggish exit which allowed Binelli to take her place up the inside of turn three. This battle allowed Jamie Pyatt and Michael Stead to close in on the trio, and thus, there was a five car battle for third place.
The closeness of this gaggle of cars meant that just the smallest mistakes could result in places lost and unfortunately for Ferrie over the course of just three laps she lost six positions. Out in front, the two Talking Door Racing drivers were controlling their pace and gapping the field, no one could touch them on this day.
With Thomas Hinss now beginning to gap the two APIA cars, some strategic maneuvers were required if the APIA squad wanted to get ahead of him. Clearly feeling that Pyatt was the best chance of getting it done, Binelli allowed his teammate through to try and chase Hinss down. The pair were closing in lap by lap, but it wasn't for another four laps until a move actually became viable. Down the long pit straight, Pyatt used another dose of boost to get past Hinss and hold on to the final podium spot.
As the pit window approached, the drivers would have to choose wisely as to whether or not to fit two, four or any fresh tyres at all. The pit lane at Goiania is long and slow, so given that the average speed is quite high, minimising the time in the pitlane was vital. Despite the length of the race, both APIA drivers elected not to fit fresh rubber, which saved them a huge amount of time and allowed them gain a sizeable advantage over their closest rival in Hinss. Hinss meanwhile elected to change all four tyres which set him back and gave him some work to do. However the clever, yet risky, strategy of the two APIA cars meant that both emerged well ahead of Hinss, but on fresh tyres Hinss would have the superior pace.
Davy Vandevenne made good progress after struggling in qualifying to get himself up into sixth place, however his strategy of stopping twice didn't quite pay off as he lost several positions in the pits to finish 12th. Towards the end of the race with the sun setting over the Goiania circuit, the hard fought action was still taking place as Kevin Harris and Sam Smith battled for the lower end of the points in what was a sensational scrap as the pair went back and fourth trading blows all the way to the chequered flag.
Final Result
As the chequered flag dropped, Talking Door Racing strengthened their grip on both the Driver's and Team's championships as Erhan Jajovski and Matheus Machado made it a TDR 1-2. APIA Racing can be extremely pleased with their efforts after finishing 3-4, and Thomas Hinss continued his strong performances for Copenhagen Apex to take fifth place.
Podium Interviews
Erhan Jajovski | Talking Door Racing - 1st Place
Q. Congratulations on taking the win Erhan, your first of the season! You looked to have the entire field covered as no one looked to be a match for your pace. Take us through your race.
A. "Thank you. My entire race was intense. I was focused throughout the race, because we all know what happened at round 1 with all of FCY's. Having said that, the start for me was the most important, because I knew I had the pace to stay in front."
Q. Was the target just to take as little out of the car as possible given the risky nature of the track? Or were you pushing hard to keep Matheus behind you?
A. "Not at all. I started cautiously first couple of laps and Matheus was behind my tale, pressuring me, which got me worried. He had couple of chances to make a move, but chose not to. After that, I started pushing and slowly opened a breathing space between us. But I never stopped pushing, I was 100% the whole race!"
Matheus Machado | Talking Door Racing - 2nd Place
Q. Well done on making it a Talking Door Racing 1-2, Matheus! It looks as if yourself and Erhan will be the main title challengers this season, can you keep the on track battles safe and respectful for the good of the team? Or will you go for a gap should the opportunity present itself?
A. "Thanks! Even if Erhan was not a member of TDR I would still try my best to keep it clean. Of course I won't be as agressive as I would be if I wasn't fighting a teammate, so I guess whoever can keep the car in front showing better pace will take the title."
Jamie Pyatt | APIA Racing - 3rd Place
Q. Congratulations on your first podium of the season Jamie! It looked like yourself and your teammate were both taking what looked to be a risky strategy by not changing tyres, were you ever concerned that you might not make it to the end with decent pace, especially considering Thomas had fitted fresh tyres?
A. "Thanks Chris. It was quite a day for me. Everything just seemed to fall in place once the race started. Yes, we were a little concerned about our tyre strategy but between all three APIA team members we ran the numbers in our heads during the last few laps of the first stint and figured Thomas would have to achieve 1.23.7's for every lap of the second stint in the race. In our thoughts this would be a very tough ask, given his tyres would start to degrade as well, so we decided to take the educated gamble and it paid off for both Tony and I.
"Sadly Jack had great pace all weekend but a weird tyre issue derailed his race although it was still a great team result for the APIA crew."
Championship Standings
As we leave Brazil, Talking Door Racing have well and truly strengthened their grip on both the Driver's and Team's championships. After their strong result in Goiania, APIA Racing have gained several spots, while RaceOnOz Motorsports and Copenhagen Apex have remained competitive after consistently strong races.
The Virtual Stock Car Championship now heads back home to Australia, more specifically: Queensland Raceway. A relatively small track, but one laden with bumps, gravel and grass. A track that's incredibly tough on brakes, the drivers will have stay focused and remember that it's long race and anything can happen. Make no mistake, this will be a tough one for both man and machine.
Stay tuned for all the wash up from Queensland in two weeks time!
Images courtesy of Sun Levi
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