Hungarian GP - Race Report
Laps: 70 (9 Spent Under Saftey Car)
Pole: Bram Machiels (Toyota)
Fastest Lap: Bruno Domingues (Renault), 1:08.658 (Lap 33)
Spoilers!
Today saw the Grand Prix of Hungary take place infront of a close to sell-out crowd. It saw some close racing and some dramatic collisions, Bram Machiels started on pole with Jamez Shepherd sharing the front row, Davidson was 4th just behind Herman Chang in the first of the Renaults. Championship leader Jef Beyens started a distant 9th.
As the lights went out Bram Michiels and Lee Davidson both got swallowed up by the pack, it was later explained their tyres were not up to correct temperatures. However the disaster wouldn't end there for Machiels, as whilst trying to defend 12th into turn 1, the Belgian collided with Luke Mason's BMW Sauber, causing the Toyota to fly into the barrier, luckily Bram was fine but the car was a complete write off. Also on that lap, just behind leader Shepherd, Pete Reynolds tried a desperate move down the inside into the final bend. His Toro Rosso made contact with the Renault of Herman Chang resulting in a puncture for the American, Reynolds meanwhile knocked a brake pad off and would never find the same pace again. Lap 6 saw retirement number 2 as Blake Haswell found the door shut on him by Danny Graham as he dived up the inside, there was some chassis damage delivered to the Toyota but in comparisment to Haswell's 3-wheeled McLaren, he got off luckily. This was the second time in as many races that Haswell's race has ended early due to a collision with a Toyota, so it was no suprise to see him storm over to the Japanese team's Pit Box to deliver a few 'choice' words.
Graham's damage was getting worse throughout the lap and he was quickly caught up by Will Whitcomb, by the time they got to Turn 1 on Lap 7, Will was in a position to take the Brit. However in a copy-cat move, Graham once again closed the door on his competitor, resulting in a retirement for the BMW Sauber. Graham once again managed to drive off but this time a wheel bearing was out of whack and his car was all over the place. The Safety Car followed for 4 laps before the race restarted on Lap 12, Shephard and Reynolds held position with Jef Beyens overtaking the ill Toyota of Graham, Brad Horton appeared to let both Brett Edwards and Davidson through via team orders, Domingues rounded out the top 8. On Lap 14 Reynolds span his Toro Rosso at the fast Turn 4 loosing 4 positions, luckily he was able to continue, Laps 16 and 17 saw Davidson jump up 2 positions at the cost of Edwards and Beyens and in the process setting the fastest lap so far, however he would have to wait for the scalp of Shepherd as the Brit pitted on lap 19, confirming he was indeed light fueled.
The next lap saw yet another collision as Davidson, on cold tyres, misjudged the hairpin, touching wheels with Jessica Weiland, causing the Aussie to drop 5 places in her Red bull, Davidson went on to take 8th by the end of the lap. Leader Shepherd finally made his first stop on Lap 26, showing how great an effort was 2nd in qualifying, he certainly looked favourite for the win at this stage, this gave the lead to Bruno Domingues who was currently having a very quiet race by his standards. Jef Beyens confirmed he was running a 1 stopper after pitting on Lap 33 from second place, dropping to 3rd. Only Domingues was yet to pit out of the front runners, things were looking great for the Portugese driver as he came out of the pits still in 1st on Lap 35 and started to pull away from the Williams of Shepherd before disaster struck on Lap 43. Bruno misjudged Turn 4 and pummeled into the barrier, a heavy impact drawing concerned faces in the Renault garage, however he managed to climb out by himself and was taken to the Infield Hospital for checks. This gifted the lead straight back to Shepherd, however with the safety car out again he would have to defend from a requrgent Jef Beyens.
That would have been the case however if it wasn't for a firey exit for the Ferrari Driver on the very next lap as a oil leak caused a fire in his engine bay, the Englishman didn't seem too bothered, after all, he did have a 20 point lead before the race. As the safety car went in on lap 50, Shepherd led Reynolds in the Toro Rosso with Davidson recovering to 3rd, Brett Edwards was running well in the Super Aguri in 4th ahead of the sole McLaren of Duncan Hutchison. 6th saw Brad Horton with Mason and Jarrett Allman rounding out the points positions. Reynolds however relinquished 2nd on lap 53 as he didn't recieve enough fuel from the pump at the last stop, the gave Davidson second however it would be two Hondas in the top 3 as Horton drove a fantastic lap to climb to 3rd, taking both Edwards and Hutchison. The next lap featured a collision between Dubois and Chang, both were fighting over 9th as they entered the final turn, Chang forced Dubois wide onto the grass and saw the Canadian Season 4 Champ loose 4 places in the process. Come Lap 58, Davidson had closed the gap to leader, Jamez Shepherd to less than a second, the Honda looked perfectly set up for the track as Davidson readied an assult into turn 1, Jamez had it covered however and the Honda driver had to pull out of the move. Lap 59 saw yet another collision involving Herman Chang as he attempted to take the Super Aguri of Narayan, causing him to spin and loose his front wing, Chang however, appeared to get away without a scratch!
On the 60th lap, Shepherd again closed the door on Davidson as the two duked it out for the win, 7 laps later and Davidson finally chucked his Honda up the inside, resisting Shepherd's efforts, the Brit took the lead for the first time in the race as the Honda mechanics jumped up with joy. However Shepherd kept a ace up his sleeve, it was revealed he ran lower revs untill that moment and he infact had some extra power, this payed divident as he slipstreamed Davidson down the main straight the very next lap, Davidson was helpless. The Honda driver had one last attempt on Lap 69 but came too close to a collision, he had to settle for second as Shepherd won a superb race, Brad Horton finished off a great day for Honda taking the final step of the podium, 5 seconds behind Shepherd. Jarrett Allman saved Ferrari the blushes with a credible 4th place, with Edwards back in the points in 5th and Duncan Hutchison 6th. Luke Mason survived a couple of collisions to take 7th with Kawasie completing a quiet race in 8th for Spyker-Midland. Shepherd was ecstatic as he jumped out of his Williams, they were the best team on the day and the win was fully deserved, Davidson was the first to congratulate him before checking his car with team mate Horton. As the Australian National Anthem rang out on the podium, word has it this may be Shepherd's last season in F1 before moving to NASCAR, either way, in the present time, the kid is on fire.
