OPEN class: Austrian festival in Brno
It was a well known picture: Ingo Gerstl (Top Speed) starting from pole position at race 1 (season race 11) at the „Masaryk Racing Days“ in Brno (Czechia). Finally the raced turned out as an „Austrian Festival“, since the top positions all were hunted by the Austrians of the start grid.
While weather conditions turned out well for the race again as during Qualifying, bit cloudy and 23°, technical issues caused struggles for a couple of drivers. Finally the OPEN class race was an Austrian duell between Ingo Gerstl and Bernd Herndlhofer (H&A Racing Team), while Wolfgang Jaksch (F Xtreme Racing Team) dropped out of the race in already in lap 1 due to technical issues (broken differential).
Two yellow flag phases as well as a safety car lap slowed down the pace of the race, which was clearly dominated by Ingo Gerstl in front of the start grid. The Austrian left no doubt, that he would bring home the sixt win in his seventh season race. He crossed the finish line with a total time of 20:43,264 min, driving his best lap in 1:39,778 min (lap 3). After a couple of super fast laps during practice and Qualifying (1:34,752) Gerstl passed the official track record in Brno only by 0,685 sec. But there are chances for a new track record in Sunday with hopefully less yellow flag and safety car laps.
„It was a troubled race, due to the yellow flags and saftey car laps“, the Top Speed driver stated after the podium ceremony. „I missed Wolfgang Jaksch on track. It’s always much more fun to race with a strong competition on track“, he regret the elemination of the Super Aguri SA06-driver in the beginning of the race. „It would have been a nice grid with Bernd Herndlhofer with his Arrows A22 and Jaksch with the Super Aguri.“ For Sunday’s race Gerstl is hoping for „dry weather conditions“ and the return of Jaksch in the start grid. The goal for race 2 in Brno is „pushing, pushing, pushing!“.
Ingo Gerstl leading the grid on race 1 in Brno 2017.
Bernd Herndlhofer showed a strong performance at his first ever season 2017 race for the BOSS GP. Starting from position 4 of the total start grid he crossed the finish line on position 2 of the total grid after 20:59,421 min, driving his best lap with 1:44,983 min (lap3). „On the whole, the race turned out okay“, Herndlhofer stated after the finish. „Since the beginning of the season, the first season race in Hockenheim, we work on the car. So there is still a lot of work to do honestly, but for today’s race one can see – it was okay for now. Our main focus laid on keeping the car on track for the whole race, less the tactical or personal skills.“
Bernd Herndlhofer (in front) racing to P2 at race 1 in Brno 2017.
Finishing on P2, Herndlhofer completed a strong Austrian presence of BOSS GP at the „Masaryk Racing Days“, since the first three top positions of the total start grid were covered by Austrian races: Ingo Gerstl on P1, Herndlhofer with P2 and Johann Ledermair (Ledermair Motorsport, FORMULA class) on P3 of the total grid.
Dropped out of the race: Wolfgang Jaksch (in front) with his Super Aguri S06 in Brno 2017.
The complete results of the Qualifying at „Masaryk Racing Days“ in Brno 2017:
| Position | No. | Name | Nat. | Team | Car | Total time | Fastest lap (min) | In | Gap | Laps | km/h |
| 1 | 1 | Ingo Gerstl | AUT | Top Speed | Toro Rosso STR1 F1 | 20:43,264 | 1:39,778 | 3 | 11 | 194,941 | |
| 2 | 21 | Bernd Herndlhofer | AUT | H&A Racing Team | Arrows A22 | 29:59,421 | 1:44,983 | 3 | 16,157 | 11 | 185,276 |
| 3 | 26 | Wolfgang Jaksch | GER | F Xtreme Racing Team | Super Aguri SA06 F1 | 2:40,351 | 2:39,831 | 1 | 1 | 121,704 |
In total Ingo Gerstl furthermore leads the total OPEN class ranking with now 150 points, in front of runner up Wolfgang Jaksch with 107 points. Herndlhofer makes a new entrance in the ranking on position 6 with 22 points.
Results race 1 Brno 2017, OPEN class.
MORE:
Picture gallery of Brno 2017: bossgp.com/gallery/brno-masaryk-racing-days-2/
Timetable for Brno 2017: bossgp.com/timetable-for-the-masaryk-racing-days-in-brno-cz/
OPEN class: Qualifying in Brno 2017: bossgp.com/open-class-after-qualifying-gerstl-on-pole-position-followed-by-jaksch/
OPEN class: Second free practice in Brno 2017: bossgp.com/open-class-gerstl-leading-again-jaksch-back-on-track-in-brno/
OPEN class: First free practice in Brno 2017: bossgp.com/open-class-gerstl-performes-best-at-first-free-practice-in-brno/
OPEN class: Start list at “Masaryk Racing Days” in Brno 2017: bossgp.com/open-class-start-list-for-masaryk-racing-days-in-brno-cz-is-set/
Standings of season 2017: bossgp.com/standings
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09/09/2017