The first race of the 2012 season was held on 28.04.2012 on the Abert Park circuit. Seven drivers took part in the event. The new season also brought new stringent regulations for the drivers. On one hand a lot of driving assistances were disabled and the “Mechanical Failures” feature was changed from “Normal” to “Time Scaled”. This means that the drivers have to be more careful not to “overload” the car.
At first we had some problems with the server, which were later fixed. And so with a little delay the race started at 21:15, instead of 20:40.
During the Qualifying session two groups of drivers were formed. Those who did laps in the range of 1:25 and the others at the range of 1:29.
Qualifying Results:
1. Ivan Hristov – Hispania
2. Georgi Mutafchiev – Red Bull
3. Suhail Manzoor – Lotus GP
4. Hristiyan Dimitrov – Toro Rosso
5. Michael Ghelezarski – Mercedes GP
6. Anthony Rusenov – Toro Rosso
7. Aleksander Petkov – McLaren
Luckily there were no serious collisions between drivers in the race. The only “major” collision was between Mutafchiev and Hristov, but the Administration of the League didn’t penalize Hristov for his actions. With time passing by the drivers experienced “the change in the regulations”. The first victim of the new “Mechanical Failures” was Anthony Rusenov as he blown the engine in lap 12. Two laps later he was followed by Ivan Hristov and Georgi Mutafchiev. Who were also struck by an engine malfunction. There were only two drivers left to fight for the victory. Hristiyan Dimitrov had a constant pace from the beginning of the race and after the pitstops of Mutafchiev and Hristov he managed to take the lead. The Mercdes GP driver – Michael Ghelezarski on the other hand wasn’t so lucky and after a series of spinings he was 1 lap behind the leader. In lap 15 his engine started to “smoke” but he was determined to finish the race and so he started driving the car only on high gears, to prevent a blown up. Hristiyan Dimitrov who found out about the problem of his rival was now driving carefully without taking pointless risks and he manage to drive his car to the finish line. This is a first victory for Hristiyan and it shows that speed is not always the most important factor. Aleksander Petkov and Suhail Manzoor didn’t finish the race. In a message to the Administration, Suhail said that if he didn’t have lag problem, he would have won the race. And he promised to get back in the battle for the title this year. Ivan Hristov and Georgi Mutafchiev were penalized by the Administration for chatting during the race and they miss next start.
Race Results:
1. Hristiyan Dimitrov – 25 p.
2. Michael Ghelezarski – 18 p.
3. Ivan Hristov – engine – 15 p. – Penalty for chatting during the race – misses next race
4. Georgi Mutafchiev – engine – 12 p. – Penalty for chatting during the race – misses next race
5. Antuni Rusenov – engine – 10 p.
6. Aleksander Petkov – DNF – 8 p.
7. Suhail Manzoor – Lag – 6 p.
We finish the article with an interview of the winner Hristiyan Dimitrov:
“- Hris, congratulations, you won !!! An excellent race for you here in Australia !!!”
“- Yes, thanks a lot !!!”
Question: “What were your expectations for the race today ? ”
Answer: “Well, my expectations weren’t high. I thought that if I do my best I could only get a podium finish, but I’ve managed to win. This is my first win and so far it is the greatest experience I have since I joined the league.”
Question: “What was the most difficult moment for you in the race ?”
Answer: “There wasn’t such moment for me. Everything turned out to be perfect.”
Question: “What are your expectations for Malaysia ? ”
Answer: Well, since the two fastest drivers today are going to miss the next race because of a penalty, I expect a new win !!!
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That was the most interesting from the Australian GP. Next race will be in Malaysia, on 12 May and it will start at 20:00 EET.
You can also find the article here:
http://bulgariansimworld.x10.mx/wordpress/the-start-of-season-2012-for-the-bulgarian-simworld-f1-f1c-league
