Michael Shin opened its count of wins by taking a lights-to-flag-win in Race 1 at Hockenheim, his third in the series. The Korean of Motopart took the lead with an excellent kick-off at the start and disappeared from the rivals’ radars. “After three seconds so far, it is nice to be at the top and clinch an awaited win. Now I don’t want to get distracted and need to stay focused to get more wins”, he stated.
The first-lap incident between the two top championship contenders, Yevan David (Motopark) and Tymek Kucharczyk (BVM) cleared the way for other contenders to shine. US racer Everett Stack(Motopark) perfectly defended second and claimed his maiden podium and Rookie Trophy win ahead of Ed Pearson (Nielsen Racing).
THE RACE - It is a lively start, as Kucharczyk in pole has a poor kick-off and de la Torre next to him in first row remains stalled. Both Shin and David from row 2 jump ahead with David and Kucharczyk start a heated duel, passing each other a coupe of times. At the end of first lap though there is contact, with David’s front left wheel touching Kucharczyk’s rear right. Both drop back and the Sri Lankan is forced to a pit stop.
In the lead, Shin pulls away at a pace of one second per lap while Stack in second is catch by Garfias, which initiates a nice fight joined at mid-race also by Pearson and Barrichello. Despite a successful attack by Garfias, Stack managed to retrieve second, with the Mexican being passed by Pearson.
Positions don’t change in the closing laps, with Garfias finishing fourth ahead of Barrichello, Rashid and Green. Kucharczyk and David finish eighth and tenth; in-between, the Gold Cup winner, Paolo Brajnik.
