Chris Winter Strikes Late in SGP Qualifying Race Victory

Baasch Auto Sport driver Chris Winter was victorious in the Qualifying Race for this weekends Super GP at the High Speed Ring on the back of a late push to the lead in the thirty minute sprint race.

Winter, who is on loan from Racing Team Solvalou to Baasch, found himself in the constant see-saw battle with the other top five finishers for the lead in the second half of the race after dropping to sixth at the start from his fourth place starting position. The American would move into the limelight late in the race after polesitter Darren Older Jr. slipped back temporarily to fifth position past half distance, the pair would string together multiple overtakes in the second half of the race, with the Commonwealth Group driver leading the way. Older Jr. would retake the lead with eight minutes remaining from Antonio Reyna-Sanchez and would hold that lead for five minutes until Winter made his move for the lead stick at the final corner. The Baasch Auto Sport driver would hold onto the lead for the remainder of the race, with Darren Older Jr. losing second to Reyna-Sanchez with a minute to go in the race.

A total of five drivers would lead at some point during the thirty minute sprint race, with Tristan Jung in a one-off showing for Trueba showing strong pace in the first half of the race before dropping back, and Roger Ibe having a brief stint in the lead  at two-thirds distance in the Luxray Viper. The pair of them would finish fifth and fourth respectively. Niklas Svanberg would start to catch the lead group late in the race, but ran out of time before being able to make a charge, the Dane would finish sixth.

The battle for fourteenth, the final transfer position, would prove just as tight as the battle for the lead, as cars who would advance found themselves on the outside looking in at one point during the race. Yuya Kurosawa in the Toshio Ferrari would struggle early to stay within the top fourteen before flying by Federico Navarro in the Fulcrum Viper at one third distance, and eventually finishing seventh. AutoReject Super Touring front runner Paul Jenkins would struggle with the lack of top end performance in his Lister Storm, and would be in the middle of the battle throughout and manage to survive and finish thirteenth. Newcomers RMR Motorsport would drop to sixteenth after contact and damage to their Ferrari 575, but lead driver Morten Pedersen would rally alongside Jenkins to qualify for Sunday’s Super GP.

Race Results – After 31 Laps

Fastest Lap – Car 165 (Baasch Lister – Chris Winter) – 1:01.889