Imola F1 Pro Esports: Blakeley makes it two-for-two
15th September 2022McLaren Shadow’s Lucas Blakeley made it two-for-two, after the young Scotsman secured his second F1 Esports victory of the season in Imola – following his win yesterday, in Bahrain.
How the race unfolded…
It was a fairly even start from both the Haas’ pole sitter, Thomas Ronhaar, but Red Bull Racing Esports’ Marcel Kiefer had the edge as he was able to slip passed the Haas driver into the opening corners. As a result, the Haas was soon put under pressure from McLaren Shadow’s championship leader, Lucas Blakeley.
The McLaren soon made light work of the Pro Esports rookie, Ronhaar, in the early stages of the race and by the end of the first lap the top three order stood as; Kiefer, Blakeley and Ronhaar, in first, second and third respectively.
The defending world champion, Mercedes’ Jarno Opmeer, was placed 15th with an early spin in the opening corners and on lap six he reported his engine began to overheat overheating. The issue was seemingly produced as a result of the 20-car DRS train.
As the pack raced across the line to start lap seven, Blakeley – who worked to shape up a move on Kiefer, finally found a way into the lead as the McLaren driver passed the leading Red Bull down the main pit straight.
Alpha Tauri’s Josh Idowu was the first driver to pit, on lap 13, which spurred on the drivers to head towards the pit lane in the laps that followed. Red Bull’s Frederik Rasmussen was one of the following drivers who pitted ahead of Daniele Haddad, on the 14th lap.
Out of the front runners, Kiefer was the first to pit, at the end of lap 14, which allowed Blakeley to continue on for another lap before the Scotsman pitted – a lap later. The undercut nearly worked for the Red Bull duo, Kiefer and Rasmussen, as they nearly slipped past McLaren’s Scottish driver but the Shadow McLaren remained occupied the net-race lead.
Alpha Tauri’s Joni Tormala became the race’s first retirement of the session, on lap 17, after the x driver retired with his second stop of the session.
Aston Martin’s Manuel Biancolilla finally pitted from the lead of the race at the end of the 23rd lap to complete his mandatory pit stop, thus the Aston provided an end to the pitting-phase of the race. As a result, the Aston Martin driver dropped from the lead down to P16. However, Biancolilla was due to serve a eight-second time penalty for exceeding track limits (three-seconds) and speeding in the pit lane (five-seconds).
Despite everything Kiefer threw at the McLaren, Blakeley was able to make it two-for-two and secure his second, consecutive, victory ahead of the Red Bull duo as Kiefer and Rasmussen took second and third respectively.
Podium:
- Lucas Blakeley, McLaren
- Marcel Kiefer, Red Bull Racing
- Frederik Rasmussen, Red Bull Racing
That’s it for the article: Imola F1 Pro Esports: Blakeley makes it two-for-two! What did you think of the race? Let us know in the comments!
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