2014 F2RWRS Dutch Grand Prix

The 2014 F2RWRS Dutch Grand Prix was the seventh race of the 2014 F2RWRS season. Mitchell Macklin who scored pole would win his fourth race of the season from Rosco Vantini.

Report

Qualifying

Laurent Seron was the third driver out on track when his engine decided that starting a pyrotechnics show was a good idea, with predictable results. It left the back of the track absolutely covered in water, oil and all sorts of other crap which made for one hell of a qualifying session. Some, like Niko Bellic and Catrina Lopes starred while others, like local hero Micko Glotch and Marie Simon faltered. Simon's teammate Mitchell Macklin got the bonus point from Wouter Lamberigts while Alberto Cara's championship chances took a blow with a disappointing 8th on the grid.

Race

One almost got the feeling that the race was going to go off in a big way when a light sprinkling of rain greeting the field. While not enough to warrant wets (or inters for that matter) it made for a hair-raising start, especially with the jumbled-up grid from qualifying. Indeed, by the end of the first lap, Mitchell Macklin was already nearly 2 seconds up the road, Niko Bellic had gotten by Wouter Lamberigts and Alberto Cara was already up to 5th. While some drivers were trying to get around slower cars, Marco Bizzari was really tumbling around as a dramatic accident ended his day early and forced Laurent Seron in for a new nosecone when he clipped the still barrel-rolling Italian. Bizzari, whilst obviously shaken, was otherwise unhurt.

That kind of set the tone for the day as soon after, Lamberigts became the first of many to discover the gravel trap at the Renaultbocht with Michael Robertson following suit seconds later. Cara then made his way into an podium position with a brave move on Johannes Rueckert on the front straight and then set off in hot pursuit of Bellic. Local hero Micko Glotch became the next person to find that gravel trap on the very next lap as the track continued to get slipperier around the back of the circuit. While a dry line was starting to appear on the other half of the circuit, off line was still treacherous which Tommy Nash found to his disadvantage by running wide on the entry of the penultimate corner before following Catrina Lopes into the Renaultbocht gravel trap on the next lap. Nash went off at the same spot a lap later, made it as far as the wall, and was out of the race.

Alessandro Marchesi then became just the latest in a long line of people to find that particular gravel trap while the remaining Trueba of Du Lei the following corner before spearing off into the scenery and rejoining near the back of the field. Lap 10 and the sole Young Lions car of Jason Hamilton collided with Dave Anderson whilst trying to put a move on the American heading into turn 1. Hamilton's frustration boiled over as he didn't even bother to make it to the Renaultbocht to disappear off the road for the second time that lap. By this point, Rosco Vantini was all over the back of Rueckert for 4th place while Marie Simon and Tanner Jason were both making slow but steady progress through the field.

And then, on lap 14, Cara eliminated both himself and Bellic from the race with a collision at turn 1 whilst trying to pass him which effectively gave leader Macklin a free-kick in the championship and a massive lead in the race. Lap 14 was also the lap where the BMW powerplant in the remaining Rising Ashes car of Tanner Jason decided to blow up making the team's misery complete. At the end of the lap, Vantini finally got the move done on Rueckert for what was now 2nd place but while Macklin and Vantini were both on two stoppers, Rueckert was only making the one stop for the race. A few laps later, Anderson had a quick spin at the Vodafonebocht and continued in 14th place. At around this time, the two-stoppers made their first stops and Macklin had built such a gap that he was virtually a full pitstop ahead of everyone else and once he passed Rueckert on track to retake the lead, the race was as good as over. Rueckert's teammate Anton Bosevic was out by that point with electrical gremlins before Marchesi became the 7th retirement of the race by finding the wall before half-distance.

By this point, debutant Bastiaan van Nieuwenhuijzen was driving a steady race in 12th, which became 13th when he was overtaken by the absolutely irate Hamilton while up front and Rueckert's electrics had also given up on him. The race, whilst more quiet than before, was still unfolding with the remaining Beiaro car of Lopes having a quick, harmless spin whilst running 14th. Du Lei had a not so harmless spin at the final corner a few laps later when she ended up pointing the wrong way on the track. Hamilton was able to avoid the stricken Trueba but Anderson wasn't so lucky as a relatively low-speed collision forced him and Lei in for new front wings. Glotch hit debris from the collision and was also forced to pit for a new wing.

Seron, now back and running in the points, retired a few laps later when his BMW engine sprayed hot oil all over itself and caught fire in spectacular fashion which helped Hamilton's quest for points. At the back of the field, the local heros were having a battle of their own with Glotch making light work of van Nieuwenhuijzen for 12th and 13th before van Nieuwenhuijzen got back past him. Michael Robertson was having an absolutely stellar drive as, yet again, Simpson Motorsport's brilliant strategist had got him into a fantastic position, this time he was running 2nd on a one-stop strategy but with Simon and Vantini both catching him at a vast rate of knots on fresher tyres. Simon's chase were cut short when her engine became just the latest to blow up while, a lap later, Lopes had a heavy accident which removed her from the race and any chance she had of scoring her first points in the demolition derby.

With just a few laps to go, Vantini managed to catch and pass Robertson for 2nd place but with the Australian almost a minute ahead of Lamberigts, his podium was secure as long as nothing else happened to him. Something did happen, but to Du Lei as her messy race came to an end head first in a tyre barrier which meant the Trueba team had an expensive repair bill before the next race at Spa. The two KitKat cars were losing positions all over the shop however with Hamilton making Shioya his latest victim while at the back of the field, Glotch finally cleared van Nieuwenhuijzen and was now just one position out of the points, which was being held down by the second Simpson of Anderson.

The BMW embarrassment continued as on the final lap Wouter Lamberigts engine fried itself whilst running in 4th place, promoting Sani Morgan to that position after an incredible drive and Hamilton into 5th. Lamberigts managed to crawl across the line in 6th place, which was more Glotch's BMW engine could manage as he crawled to a halt before being able to cross the finish line.

Mitchell Macklin had no such problems however as he took his fourth win of the season to bring his campaign back on track ahead of Vantini and Robertson, an incredible result for the Simpson team which is by far and away the smallest in the paddock. Sani Morgan put in an equally fantastic performance for fourth place while Hamilton finished in 5th along with taking home the point for fastest lap. Lamberigts, Shioya and Anderson rounded out the points.

Classifcation

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Time	Gap	Points
1	7	Mitchell Macklin	MRT	1:28.596	--	1
2	4	Wouter Lamberigts	Gillet	1:28.665	+0.069
3	22	Niko Bellic	Rising Ashes	1:28.678	+0.082
4	15	Johannes Rueckert	Hydook	1:28.822	+0.226
5	6	Catarina Lopes	Beirão	1:29.242	+0.646
6	16	Alessandro Marchesi	Aston Martin	1:29.309	+0.713
7	0	Tommy Nash	Young Lions	1:29.350	+0.754
8	5	Alberto Cara	Beirão	1:29.589	+0.993
9	11	Rosco Vantini	Falik	1:29.659	+1.063
10	18	Michael Robertson	Simpson	1:29.659	+1.272
11	14	Anton Bosevic	Hydook	1:29.740	+1.353
12	20	Hansuke Shioya	KitKat	1:30.162	+1.775
13	8	Marie Simon	MRT	1:30.336	+1.949
14	17	Micko Glotch	Aston Martin	1:30.409	+2.022
15	19	Dave Anderson	Simpson	1:30.525	+2.138
16	2	Jason Hamilton	Young Lions	1:30.561	+2.174
17	10	Du Lei	Trueba	1:30.617	+2.230
18	9	Marco Bizzarri	Trueba	1:30.622	+2.235
19	23	Tanner Jason	Rising Ashes	1:31.590	+2.994
20	21	Bastiaan van Nieuwenhuijzen	KitKat	1:32.144	+3.548
21	12	Sani Morgan	Falik	1:32.164	+3.568
22	3	Laurent Seron	Gillet	No time

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	7	Mitchell Macklin	MRT	47	1:12:15.768	1	10
2	11	Rosco Vantini	Falik	47	+27.530	9	8
3	18	Michael Robertson	Simpson	47	+40.279	10	6
4	12	Sani Morgan	Falik	46	+1 lap	21	5
5	2	Jason Hamilton	Young Lions	46	+1 lap	16	4+1^
6	4	Wouter Lamberigts	Gillet	46	+1 lap	2	3
7	20	Hansuke Shioya	KitKat	46	+1 lap	12	2
8	19	Dave Anderson	Simpson	46	+1 lap	15	1
9	21	Bastiaan van Nieuwenhuijzen	KitKat	46	+1 lap	20
10	17	Micko Glotch	Aston Martin	45	+2 laps	14
Ret	10	Du Lei	Trueba	42	Accident	17
Ret	8	Marie Simon	MRT	36	Engine	13
Ret	6	Catarina Lopes	Beirão	35	Accident	5
Ret	3	Laurent Seron	Gillet	32	Oil Leak	22
Ret	15	Johannes Rueckert	Hydook	20	Electrical	4
Ret	16	Alessandro Marchesi	Aston Martin	17	Accident	6
Ret	14	Anton Bosevic	Hydook	16	Electrical	11
Ret	23	Tanner Jason	Rising Ashes	14	Engine	19
Ret	5	Alberto Cara	Beirão	14	Collision	8
Ret	22	Niko Bellic	Rising Ashes	14	Collision	3
Ret	0	Tommy Nash	Young Lions	8	Accident	7
Ret	9	Marco Bizzarri	Trueba	4	Accident	18

^ Jason Hamilton collected the fastest lap

Standings

• Bold text indicates who still has a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.

Drivers

Pos	Driver	Pts
1	Mitchell Macklin	58
2	Alberto Cara	35
3	Marie Simon	29
4	Rosco Vantini	27
5	Michael Robertson	20

Constructors

Pos	Team	Pts
1	Virgin MRT	87
2	Beirao	35
3	Falik Arrows	33
=4	Young Lions	25
=4	Aston Martin	25

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

Previous race: 2014 German Grand Prix	Formula 2 Rejects World Race Series Championship 2014 Season	Next race: 2014 Belgian Grand Prix
Previous race: None	F2RWRS Dutch Grand Prix	Next race: 2015 North Sea Grand Prix