SRF GT-MES Season 10 | Finished
- Thread starter Nilsemann2002
- 103 comments
- 6,029 views
- 712
- Home
- sota__59
FINALE IS HERE!!!!
After long season, we have arrived to Le Mans, France. Extra long race, extra points, 3 titles to be decided, history to be made.
We have seen big shocks and upsets in past, even if you lead the championship, you cant win the title, if you cant perform in Le Mans.
Lets look in to our championship contenders:
Gr2
5x GT-MES champion, 5x Le Mans winner sota59 in Honda is heading in to Le Mans as championship leader, and strong favorite. Season started in Germany with 4th place, after losing second place late in the race, and then allowing his teammate go past with better tyres. Next weekend though, he got pole position in Laguna Seca, and after falling back earlier in the race, he fought himself back in to the lead, and took his first win of the season. Round 3, he got suprise pole position, but quickly let his teammate pass for the lead. Race was Honda domination, and sota59 finished second behind his teammate. Monza was interesting, Finnish driver took the lead, only to be taken out by backmarker. He got back in to the fight for lead though, but strategy was ruined already, and could not match the leader in final stint. Round 5 in Red Bull Ring was bit harder, and rather than pushing for the podium himself, he focused on helping his teammate, and ended up finishing 4th place. Spa in the rain was going to be struggle, but with others having problems starting the race, Honda-pair got 1-2, but after swapping positions with his teammate several times, sota59 had to settle for second. Round 7, sota59 got lead early, and faultless strategy and clean drive earned him his second win of the season.
As championship leader, his title hopes are in his own hands. He does not need to win the race, but must pick up certain amount of points, if one of his rivals ends up winning the race. sota59 commented on this weekends race: ''We have both Honda-drivers in strong position to win the title, so objective is to secure that, ofc i want title myself, but i am ready to help out my teammate if it comes down to that.''
In his 6th full season, jonimestari91 in second Honda is by far most experienced driver without the title. He has helped his team to secure Manufacturers-title twice, seen his teammate secure drivers title twice, and himself been in losing end couple times. This is the best chance for title he has had. Round 1 he got late podium to start the season, but struggled with experience in Laguna Seca. Round 3 he just missed out on pole, but after that everything went perfectly, and won his first race of the season. In Round 4, he lead for moment, but mistake caused him to drop down to third, and another third place followed in Round 5. Round 6 in rain, suprise chance for victory was given, and he beat his teammate for his second win of the season, and 4th podium in a row. Last weekend in Barcelona was bit of a struggle, and had to settle for 4th place.
jonimestari91 has struggled in Le Mans in the past, causing him to miss out on the titles in Season 5, and Season 8. But he is mentally stronger than ever, and rumor is that testing has been excellent. He needs to beat his championship rivals, what basically means he needs to win the race. His teammate has couple points lead, so it may come down to who has the fastest lap in the end.
Defending champion G4 Rotary is trying to win his second title, in his second season. Only 3 drivers in past have successfully defended their title. Season been difficult for the British driver, Round 1 he fell down quickly after struggling on medium tyres, had to finish 5th. Next weekend in Laguna Seca, he lead big part of the race, but tactical error dropped him to 3rd. Another third place followed in Fuji, but everything clicked in Monza, taking his first win of the season, after dramatic race. Race in Red Bull Ring was quite a shocker, no pace, and strategy did not work out, falling 5th. After missing out Round 6, he returned in Barcelona with pole position, but he quickly fell out of the lead battle, after another strategy error and spin, but got second place and important points for the championship.
Winner last season in Le Mans, he needs to do that again this time. Win is a must for the title, maybe even fastest lap is required, and bit of a luck. His teammate
de-luck4 will try to help him out, but it wont be easy, no place for mistakes. G4 Rotary commented: ''We should be quick, but I said that at Red Bull Ring and I was last. If I'm not in a position to win I wont get in the way of the Honda title fight''
Gr3
Porsche-driver RLH_Wesley99 is the championship leader, by narrow margin going in to Le Mans. After early struggles, he has been excellent ever since. Dutchman could not start the Round 1 due technical issues, but was able to start in Round 2. He took the poleposition, but lost the lead due error early in the race. Last stint he was able to gain back his position, and won his first race of the season. Round 3, his Porsche was no match for the Audi-domination, but got third place. Podium steak continued in Round 4 with third place, and another third place followed in Round 5, after dropping from lead due tactical error, but made clutch overtake to get podium late in the race. Round 6 in wet weather, masterclass performance, highlight of his season, and second win. Round 7 RLH_Wesley99 kept it clean, and came home with his 3rd win of the season, and has currently been on podium in every race.
He head to Le Mans with heaviest car, and his closest rivals performing well in high speed circuits so far this season, is big worry. Depending how his rivals do in Le Mans, RLH_Wesley99 could even settle to finish outside the podium. But that is big ''what if'', and he needs to aim for the race win.
His biggest worry is Ryslan Zharinov in Audi, who is mathematically tied with him for the championship-lead, after drop rounds. Belarusian-driver has often been the fastest in the field, but he has had big errors. Round 1, he took the lead early in the race, dominated, but fuel miscalculation costed him the win, and had to settle for second. Next weekend in Laguna Seca, spin costed Ryslan Zharinov podium. Round 3 he got it all right, dominating from start to finish, winning his first race of the season. Monza was another struggle, mistakes and bad luck dropped him out of the podium. Round 5, clean drive, no traffic, pitstops timed perfectly, and he was able to cruise to his second win of the season. Round 6, it was supposed to be epic fight for the win, but he had to start from the back, and was quickly caught by accident, resulting for 5th place. Round 7, he kept the lead at the start, but big error dropped him down the field, but managed to climb back to second, but surely another win missed.
His Audi might be best car to have in Le Mans, but Ryslan needs to avoid mistakes. He needs to beat RLH_Wesley, and finish high enough to gain more points, to get the championship lead. If one of the next to names win the race, Ryslan needs to be high as third, or even second to take the title.
osully14 in BMW has had his fair share of technical problems. Round 1 he had brake-problem, but he sorted it out, and Round 2 he got impressive second place after getting handle on his car. Win was possible, but late mistake cost him dear. Round 3 was missed chance due technical issue, but Round 4 he was able to start, and lead from start to finish to win the race. Round 5 another technical issue, but Round 6, he was able to get third place after clean drive in difficult weather. He continued that in Round 7, clean drive was rewarded with third place.
osully14's title hopes are really not in his own hands, he must get second place, or even win, to have any chance for the title. That also requires that his rivals finish fell down the field.
3-time champion Nils in Audi, wants to finally defend his title. He has difficult challenge ahead of him, but unlike his rivals who are on their first ever GT-MES-season, German is going to Le Mans for 8th time, title in mind. Round 1 Nils won after his teammate ran out of fuel, but Round 2 was difficult, low quali-result and accidents dropping him way down in the field. Round 3 was solid second place, but he just missed out on podium in Monza, after couple mistakes. Round 5 he even lead for bit, but struggles end of the race on medium-tyre, dropped him from the podium. Impressive drive in wet earned him second place from Round 6. He missed Round 7 due sickness, blow to his championship, but he is still in it.
3-time Le Mans winner, dominated last season, is big favorite for the win. But for title, he needs perfect race, and lot of luck. But never say never....
- 712
- Home
- sota__59
jonimestari91 wins Gr2 title by only one point.
It his first title, this was his 7th season, and 48th race.
Ryslan Zharinov wins his first GT-MES title in Gr3 after getting all important second place in Le Mans.
And Honda wins their 6th Manufacturers-title.
3 of them won by jonimestari91 and sota59.
