2012 F1RWRS German Grand Prix
The 2012 F1RWRS German Grand Prix was the third race in the 2012 F1RWRS season. It was also the third German Grand Prix to be held at the Hockenheimring and the third F1RWRS German Grand Prix. The race was won by then-reigning champion Nathanael Spencer from Prospec.
Contents
Race Report
Pre-qualifying
Rain struck pre-qualifying once again which spiced up the results considerably. Daniel Martins topped the overall times by 0.01 seconds over Phoenix McAllister. Chris Dagnall and Kay Lon were not far behind Martins and reigning champion Nathanael Spencer rounding out the top five. Richie White just missed out on the grid for the second time running, this time by only 0.02 seconds. Other notable non-qualifiers included Hagane Shizuka (who had finished on the podium in Oschersleben), Douglas Mann and Ashley Watkinson. The entire field was covered by 1.83 seconds, an astoundingly close margin.
Aguri Suzuki Cup
Tristan Jung, the slowest qualifier in pre-qualifying, won the consolation race after a brilliant drive on a drying circuit. Shizuka made up for his poor performance in pre-qualifying by finishing second. Thomas De Bock finished third and Jeroen Krautmeir finished fourth. De Bock also took fastest lap.
Qualifying
David Koczo took his first pole of the season for Calinetic. Chris Dagnall qualified second ahead of Spencer, Rhys Davies and Luca Pacchiarini's Pacchia. The top two drivers from pre-qualifying, Daniel Martins and Phoenix McAllister could only manage 10th and 13th, respectively.
Race
Koczo held the lead as the field streamed into Turn 1 but Spencer was able to pass Dagnall at the first turn. Daniel Melrose lost two spots but Pacchiarini gained one through the first half lap. At the hairpin, Dagnall attempted to repass Spencer while the Prospec driver tried to pass Koczo. The three drivers entered the hairpin three wide but Spencer was able to come out in the lead. Pacchiarini decided to make his move on Lap 2, passing both Koczo and Dagnall and moving into second place. Sammy Jones went on a charge and moved from ninth to fourth in the span of one lap, passing both James Davies and Rhys Davies at the same corner. However, Jones' charge would be cut short after a collision with Koczo on Lap 3. Koczo had repassed the Pacchia but Pacchiarini refused to give in. He pushed Koczo wide and straight into the path of Jones. Jones' front wing was knocked off in the collision and he fell to the back of the field. Kay Lon and Dagnall took advantage by passing Koczo. Barii Mori also made up a few spots in the following laps.
Spencer and Pacchiarini began to pull away slightly while Lon, Dagnall and Koczo battled for third. Lon eventually came out in third after the three-lap battle. Mori dropped to the back of the pack after running wide on two consecutive laps. Lap 14 saw Dagnall and James Davies breeze past Koczo. Dagnall set a new fastest lap on Lap 15 and took third back from Kay Lon. His time was quickly dislodged by Melrose on Lap 17 as the MRT driver made his way back to fifth. Lon also retook third on the same lap. Melrose fell back two spots on the next lap. Despite all the action, the chasing pack was just a few seconds behind the Lon/Dagnall battle. The battle continued until Lap 21 when Lon made a clumsy overtaking maneuver on Dagnall. Dagnall was forced wide, letting a resurgent Rhys Davies and Melrose past. At the front, Spencer continued to cruise along with no problems. Pacchiarini was also running comfortably in second. Dagnall put in a brilliant lap and made up for lost ground by passing Davies on Lap 22.
Spencer pitted on Lap 23, followed by Pacchiarini, Lon and Dagnall. Melrose took the lead, with Mori second and Jones third. By Lap 26, the pit cycle had ended. Spencer continued to hold a comfortable lead but Pacchiarini lost second to Lon in the pits and third to Melrose two laps later. Meanwhile, Dagnall was having serious problems with his new tyres causing two off-track moments on successive laps. After tapping the wall on Lap 30, Dagnall dropped back to ninth. This was all erased, however, when Spencer dramatically spun on Lap 31, letting Kay Lon into the lead of his home grand prix! Spencer managed to stop the bleeding and rejoined in second, albeit by holding up the entire field behind him. Dagnall passed five cars and moved back into fourth while Spencer gave chase to Lon's Kahama. Spencer turned around his situation in less than a lap by re-passing Lon at the hairpin on Lap 32. Jones was unable to stop his teammate from moving past into third as five cars swarmed for third place. Spencer held his ground and Lon was forced to settle for second. Melrose passed Dagnall at Turn 2 and took third place. Koczo made a late charge after his stop to take fourth with Dagnall fifth, Jones sixth, Pacchiarini seventh and Mori in eighth.
Standings after the race
- Bold text indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.
- Drivers' Championship standings
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Kay Lon
|
22 |
| 2 |  Pippa Mann
|
18 |
| 3 | Darren Older Jr.
|
16 |
| 4 | Nathanael Spencer
|
15 |
| 5 | James Davies
|
11 |
- Constructors' Championship standings
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  AMR-Peel-Ford
|
29 |
| 2 |  Kamaha-Ford
|
22 |
| 3 |  CR-Ford
|
16 |
| 4 | Prospec
|
15 |
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
| Previous race: 2012 Saxon Grand Prix |
Formula 1 Rejects World Race Series Championship 2012 Season |
Next race: 2012 Luxembourg Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 2011 German Grand Prix |
German Grand Prix | Next race: 2013 German Grand Prix |
