16 Jun 2013 Pan Delta AFR Series Round 5: Julio Acosta cruises to victory in R5
Julio Acosta wins AFR Series R5 with a dominant drive after teammate Buzz Racing's Shigetomo Shimono failed to start the race because of mechanical failure. Taiwan star Roy Chiu claimed Asian Class victory and Leo Wong won in Masters Class.
Drying condition meant a change of set up was required before the Race 1. Most drivers opted to start on dry after some scramble in the pit. But the main drama happened right there as pole-sitter Shigetomo Shimono broke his driveshaft at the pit exit and left his 1st position box empty. He is out before the race actually starts.
That incident made Acosta's job much easier as he only needed to fend off his challenger at the start. He then led home with a comfortable margin over the second placed man, Asian Class winner Roy Chiu. The Taiwan star made a good start and overtook both Pete Olson and Alexandra Asmasoebrata. He tried to hang on with Acosta but has to settle for second.
Pete Olson finished third overall and second in International Class. His teammate Neric Wei finished behind him and took second in Asian Class. His other teammate, Alexandra, was less fortunate as she was involved in a 3-car collision at the first lap. She was tapped by ART's Thomas Luedi at Turn 7 and they both spun and Luedi’s teammate Leo Wong hit the stranded cars. They were all able to rejoin but lost precious time. Alexandra finished in 5th ultimately and settled for 3rd in International Class.
Master Class win went to Leo Wong, and Thomas Luedi failed to finish as he was off again in the dying moment.
Credit to newcomer Ni Weiliang as he successfully finished the difficult race. He was the only driver to start on Wet tires. That proved to be a wrong tire for the race as he was lapped twice by the leaders. After all the difficulties, he finally finished in 7th and Asian Class 3rd.
Pan Delta AFR Series Round 5 provisional results:
|
Pos
|
No
|
Class
|
Name
|
Team
|
Time
|
Laps
|
|
1
|
91
|
I
|
Julio Acosta
|
Champ Motorsport
|
17:11.226
|
10
|
|
2
|
18
|
A
|
Roy Chiu
|
Q Team
|
17:19.033
|
10
|
|
3
|
20
|
I
|
Pete Olson
|
PS Racing
|
17:34.051
|
10
|
|
4
|
17
|
A
|
Neric
|
PS Racing
|
17:49.152
|
10
|
|
5
|
15
|
I
|
Alexandra Asmasoebrata
|
PS Racing
|
18:27.171
|
10
|
|
6
|
82
|
M
|
Leo Wong
|
Asia Racing Team
|
18:31.908
|
10
|
|
DNF
|
9
|
M
|
Thomas Luedi
|
Asia Racing Team
|
17:10.160
|
9
|
|
7
|
3
|
A
|
Ni Wei Liang
|
Asia Racing Team
|
18:20.540
|
8
|
|
DNF
|
23
|
I
|
Shigetomo Shimono
|
Buzz Racing
|
No time
|
0
|