Valencia poster
Formula SimRacing is back to Europe for round 9, held at the new built Valencia Street Circuit. The pre-race report will take a closer look at the midseason championship standings and discuss the unique features of the tricky circuit, along with the top 8 bets for Sunday. Be sure to follow the 57-lap event live on MultiBC, with World Championship from Sunday 17:30 GMT onwards.
Track facts:
Length: 5.44km
Race distance: 57 laps / 310.08km
Direction: clockwise
Number of corners: 25 (left: 13, right: 12)
Full throttle: 59%
Tyre wear: Medium
Valencia map
Engine wear: Medium
Downforce: Medium
Lap record: Roy Kolbe 1:35.409 (2009)
Previous winners:
2009 Jaakko Mikkonen
2008 Bruno Marques
History
Valencia Street Circuit provides a modern venue for racing, built on 2008, with only two hosted Formula SimRacing World Championship events up to this date. The track offers a slow-corner biased mix of corners interconnected by long straights, which allows for overtaking in spite of the street circuit character.
Bruno Marques scored the inaugural win on the circuit in 2008 after a racelong battle with Yannick Lapchin and Patrick De Wit, who lost his victory chances after fading brake power. The race was also remembered from the no-less-than 12 retirements. The 2009 race saw a similar pattern regarding the retirements, but the race up front provided plenty of exciting moments. Foremost Jaakko Mikkonen scored the first win for Precision Motorsports, which came after a brilliant 3-stop strategy in front of the Twister duo Kolbe-Hirrle who visited the pits 4 times - a strategy mainly employed due to the high brake wear.
Analysis
The half-season point is closing down as the 9th race of the season is about to go underway. Is it time to start making predictions regarding the championship?
Definitely not. The 2010 season has certainly provided one of the tightest championships in the league history, with 6 different winners and no driver winning more than twice. The victory has race by race switched between Twister-Racing and Precision Motorsports since China and the two teams will certainly decide the victory at Valencia as well.
But in which order, whom does the track favour?
The Montreal results as an indicator would suggest another Precision victory, such stunning was the pace of Ronny Hähnel and Bono Huis on the semi-street circuit. However, victory can also bring an exaggerated feeling of confidence, which can hinder the development and the strive forwards. No doubt this year the opponents will do anything in order to catch the development of the leaders, such big is the prize.
What about other teams, disappointed in their performance?
In terms of pure pace no, but in overall performance somewhat. Especially in qualifying we see that Morris, Nilsson, along with a couple of other drivers put up excellent lap times, but unfortunately most of the time the qualifying pace isn't rewarded. Key decisions during the race, including pitting on the right time, pit stop length, strategy, tire management, engine management, etc. - in all the categories above we saw mistakes from numerous teams. In terms of race decision making and reacting the two teams are still a light-years of distance above the rest.
What are the features of the Valencia circuit noteworthy for the spectators, and the race deciders?
Strategy and strategic timing will once again play the key role, since the track is long and a wrongly timed stop will cost dearly. The importance of a good grid position should not be underestimated due to the accident-prone first laps. The circuit is mainly built around long straights connected with slow corners, which means slipstreaming and braking from the slipstream will play a key role, as was the case in the already legendary Shanghai race. Based on this, I am confident to say the race will bring lots of overtaking and excitement. An additional hazard is provided by the tricky pit lane entry, where drivers can either make up or lose crucial seconds.
Finally, the top eight bets and the dark horses?
1. Bruno Marques
2. Bono Huis
3. David Greco
4. Jaakko Mikkonen
5. Rasmus Tali
6. Fredrik Nilsson
7. Dennis Hirrle
8. Karol Poniatowski
