Jeddah Corniche Circuit

SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX

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June 12, 2009
Published on tags: Superleague
The Czech GP saw Joe Consiglio cruise to his fourth victory of the season at the Autodrom Most circuit. The Maltese/British driver led from start to finish eventually bringing his Honda-powered Nordsjoen home 15 seconds ahead of Janne Tanskanen in 2nd. Adam Rouse scored another podium after a sterling drive from the back of the grid.

The start saw a number of incidents into turn 1. Steve Bridge (Maximum) was slow to get away and was promptly hit from behind by Roberto Walter Conde. As Bridge headed skyward Conde speared across the track right into the path of Leontin Nemet (Gear). All three drivers sustained heavy damage with Bridge an instant retirement. Further down the road Phil Cullen got a wheel on the grass into turn 1 and went straight on down the escape road. The Irishman tried to rejoin the circuit but unfortunately beached his Synergetic in the process; when will Cullen catch a break, we all wonder? Into the hairpin 8th placed man Kieran Spencer (Maximum) ran straight into the back of an innocent Wayne Mullins (Gear). After dropping to the back both men eventually retired later on in the race. Roberto Luis Conde and Manrique (Platform) were also amongst the early retirements.

Ryan McConkey was unlucky not to finish on the podium for Synergetic Motorsport. The 2-stopping American was looking good for 3rd, however after his 2nd pitstop he was issued with a 10 second stop-go penalty for speeding in the pitlane. Never-the-less 4th position and fastest lap of the race was still a great achievement for McConkey.

Chris Allen finished 5th for Allen GP after another solid race. Mark Wicks crossed the finish line in 6th but might have hoped for more after running much of the race in 4th. Indeed a big part of this was due to an incident with Kieran Ryan a third of the way through. Ryan attempted to enter the pits but after hitting a nasty kerb came back onto the track and was quickly collected by the Woods driver. After pitting for repairs Kieran finished 8th for Platform.

Mark Fuller scored more valuable points for Phoenix, the Englishman staying out of trouble and coming home a respectable 7th. Unfortunately, teammate Phil Perkins faired less well. Running as high as 5th at one stage, Perkins lost it on the exit of turn 6, smacked the barrier and was forced to retire.

9th place went to debutant Chris Kinsman, driving in a one off appearance for Allen GP. After being drafted in last minute to replace William Ponissi, Chris did a good job to bring the car to the flag. Roberto Walter Conde was last of the classified runners.

British GP winner Dave Carr-Smith had an uncharacteristic race, eventually retiring on lap 17 after heavy contact with a barrier. DCS qualified on the front row alongside Consiglio but after a slightly tardy start found himself spinning on numerous occasions and dropping further down the order.

Notable by their absence were Constant Racing and D.O.R. Apparently both teams were unable to attend the race due to real-life commitments.

Consiglio extends his lead in the Drivers Championship to 15 points over Tanskanen. Nordsjoen seem to be running away with it in the Constructors Championship but nothing is a foregone conclusion at this stage of the season. Bahrain is next on the calendar, a true test of car and driver. Who will come out on top, find out in 2 weeks!

Thanks to Joe Consiglio for the Race Report