By ghost_726
As the CRL grid filled the paddock at Suzuka, the main question on everyone’s mind was whether or not anyone could depose The_562KING. But with a number of tight battles developing in the drivers’ and constructors’ championship, Japan was set to host a dramatic battle to close out the first quarter of the season.
And the CRL grid delivered the drama, with a tightly contested qualifying that saw a number of close battles throughout the grid. Ellleventy11 would ultimately claim the pole position with a time of 1:29.290, a mere .045 seconds ahead of ghost_726. P3 on the grid would go to jurdiS09, who was .072 behind ghost_726, while The_562KING showed his pace by taking P4, .155 seconds off of Ellleventy11’s time, despite qualifying on the medium compound tire. Isiboy23 posted a 1:29.455, which was .010 seconds back of The_562KING, which was good enough for P5. xINCIDENTx put a second Haas car inside the top 10 by qualifying P6, putting Haas in good position to apply pressure to Alpine.
The fourth row on the grid was filled by both McLaren drivers, with KENNYHITMANHART and PCC-Godly putting up times of 1:29.644 and 1:29.696. Jmtitan10’s best lap saw him just .033 seconds back of PCC-Godly, good enough for P9, his second top 10 qualification this season. And returning driver Bigryeguy98 closed out the top 10 with a 1:29.968.
For all the drama of qualifying, race day had even more. When the lights went out ellleventy11 got away well, and built a steady lead. The_562KING would eventually run him down thanks to the alternate tire strategy, but a pit lane penalty saw ellleventy11 become the first driver to take a victory from The_562KING this season. jurdiS09 took the last spot on the podium after a consistent, error free drive.
While the leaders ran away early in the race, tragedy struck the McLaren camp. Both drivers were stuck behind a wounded Haas through sector 1, and unfortunately tried to overtake the slow car at the same time, came together, and crashed out of the race. These DNFs, combined with ghost_726’s required wing change, allowed a number of cars to advance their position despite the difficulty in overtaking here.
xINCIDENTx was one such driver, who came through the chaos unscathed and defended well against isiboy23 to finish P4. isiboy23 continued his good form for Aston Martin, finishing P5 and extending his top 5 finishing streak to 3 races. Bigryeguy98, HAL9100 and guitarhero1234 were all big winners in the McLaren/ghost_726 drama, picking up 4 spots from the grid to finish P6, P7 and P8 respectively.
Ghost_726 scored 2 points for Haas in P9 after the early damage and wing change, while Aleixcucco27 grabbed his first points of the season, and the first points for Williams, in P10.
With 19 points in Japan, and aided by PCC-Godly’s mishap, The_562KING extended his championship lead by 14 points to 32 points, which is massive at such an early stage of the season. But the pack tightened up considerably behind the championship leader, with isiboy23 narrowly moving into P2, one point ahead of both PCC-Godly and Ellleventy11, who sit on 36 points.
Moving down the list, ghost_726’s dropped 2 positions to P5, with jurdiS09 and xINCIDENTx 4 and 6 points back, respectively. Meanwhile HAL9100’s 6 points saw him jump teammate jmtitan10 by 2 points, but ultimately gained no positions from last week. Bigryeguy98’s 8 points saw him grab the last spot in the top 10.
Towards the bottom of the table guitarhero1234 and Aleixcucco27 scored their first points of the season, with guitarhero1234 moving into a tie for P11, while Aleixcucco27 moved into a tie for P14.
In the constructors’ championship, the top of the table remained unchanged, with Alpine extending their championship lead to 17 points over second place Haas. Meanwhile, Aston Martin’s 10 points saw them move into P3, jumping a McLaren team that was unfortunate to have both drivers DNF. Ferrari claimed the last spot in the top half of the table on the strength of Ellleventy11’s win in Japan.
In the bottom half of the table Mercedes 6 points was enough to stay in P6, but AlphaTauri is snapping at their heels after scoring 15 points in Japan to pull within 5 points. And Japan saw two teams find their first points of the season as Red Bull grabbed P8 after guitarhero1234 scored 4 points, and Williams secured P9 with a single point from Aleixcucco27.
Race at a Glance
Podium – Ellleventy11, The_562KING, jurdiS09
Team Win – Ferrari (25 points)
Pole Position – Ellleventy11 (1:29.290)
Fastest Lap – The_562KING (1:30.172)
Most Positions Gained – Bigryeguy98 (P10 -> P6), HAL9100 (P11 -> P7), guitarhero1234 (P12 -> P8), Aleixcucco27 (P14 -> P10)
Driver of the Day – Ellleventy11 (11/15 votes) – I knew going into the race that it would be about tire management and keeping the car between the lines. I got a good start, but Jurdi and king both had the pace. I got off my softs before jurdi and ended up ahead after he pitted, and king got an unfortunate penalty in the pits. King was on the better strategy and got ahead of me on his softs, but all I had to do was stay within 5 seconds and not get any penalties of my own to secure the win.