May 08, 2025
Published on tags: Superlights

 

A rain-affected Superlights event for the 5th Round of the 2025 Championship saw tyre gambles, pitlane incidents and a clear winner in Rouven Meschede
Starting on intermediate tyres from P2, whilst the track was considered by most of the field to be too wet for them to cope, enabled Jeddah-winner Meschede to stay out in the first stint and avoid having to pit twice as the track dried. Polesitter Mike Kwint was on the full wets, and despite extending his advantage early on, was forced to pit on lap 11 to change to the inters. Meschede, meanwhile, stayed out until the track was dry enough for the slick tyres to work, enabling him to effectively gain a pitstop gap on the rest of the pack which he kept to the end.

Damp, Cold, Kwint
Qualifying was held in mixed conditions; most of the drivers qualified on the inter tyre, but it was certainly a variable rain-intensity throughout the session. Patrekur Magnusson took P3 behind the leading two, with Jan Dragoun, Joe Hurlock, Lucas Murno, and Federico Russo all qualifying within 2 tenths of the pole position time; indeed, the top 10 were all within 3 tenths, showing the strength of the Superlights pack.

Rolling The Dice
Once the race was underway, the rain had stopped. It was clear this would dry up and those who braved the early full-wet conditions on inters would shoot up the order. One of those was Sandeep Singh, making a return to Superlights. He qualified only 17th but stopping fewer times was the name of the game, and he moved through the pack to finish in P5.

How Hard Can It Be To Change Tyres
Also notable were the number of pitlane incidents. David Fidock crashed whilst entering the pitlane, throwing away very strong pace that could have seem him challenge for the podium. Fidock would end up P13.

Meanwhile, Patrekur Magnusson appeared to momentarily forget that hitting drivers in the pitlane is a terrible idea, as he crashed into Joe Hurlock's stationary Optiminal whilst pitting on lap 17 for slicks. Both drivers were unable to continue.

The final pitlane incident was on lap 36. Alex Rogoza lost it on the pit entry and was completely sideways whilst Luke Mitchell also came in. Rogoza already had race-ending damage, but Mitchell was unable to avoid him in the pitlane and also picked up heavy damage.

Vanishing Act
Another big story was the disconnections that two drivers suffered, almost simultaneously, on lap 21 - Federico Russo and Jose Soriano both disappearing from the track. Soriano has had that happen twice this season and will need to get his internet connection sorted if he's to push on to challenge for the title.

At the moment, it looks like Rouven Meschede has everything under control. The German has been imperious in round 4 and 5; let's see if that continues as we head to the great U S of A. Tune in on the 20th - we promise we won't apply any tariffs... GPVWC is free to watch on youtube, EVERY TIME.