LFS Beginner's Cup Round 1 Race Report
Written by Joseph Ellis, 3 August '08
The first round of the beginner's cup saw quite a chaotic start. A daring move by Darryn Lobb sent several drivers wide through Turn one. Jack Atkinson nearly spun after contact between him and David Novak, after Novak's unfortunate detour onto the grass on the inside of the corner. As the second lap approached, a close battle for first place began between Travis D'Souza and Pawel Iskra took place, with third place driver Yann Laprevotte involved at times. After a bad exit in several corners, Laprevotte lost ground to the leaders, and moved down into fifth place.
Going into the fifth lap, the battle for first died off somewhat, and the scene of the action had become the scrap for fourth, between Laprevotte and Petr Jelinek. Jack Atkinson, down in 6th place, was not going to let the two of them gain ground without a fight; He had his eyes set on 5th place.
A few minutes before the half-way point of the race, the drivers in positions 2nd, 3rd and 4th bunched up, leaving Jelinek and Atkinson out of the action. Darryn Lobb locked up and skidded off the track at the end of the straight, allowing all three drivers behind him to gain a place. As lap nine loomed, Travis D'Souza was now well in the lead, lapping in the low 1.34s, and leaving behind him a four-way battle.
The drivers at the back of the field were driving a race of their own, holding the positions they left turn one with for the majority of the race
Jack Atkinson got the slipstream from Pawel Iskra on the straight in lap 9, and managed to move up into 4th place. From then onwards, positions remained very much the same, with Iskra trying, but not quite managing, to pass Atkinson on several occasions. Lap 14 saw Lobb and Sinclair fighting for 6th, a scrap which abruptly ended in the final corner of the lap, following minor contact between the two. Pawel Iskra lost a place to Darryn Lobb at the start of the final lap, and lost yet another place to Ally Sinclair after running out of fuel mere metres before the finish line.
