2011 Australian Grand Prix
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| Race details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race {{{Race_No}}} of the 2011 Superleague season | ||
| 200px | ||
| Date | March 24th, 2011 | |
| Official name | 2011 Australian Grand Prix | |
| Location | Albert Park Circuit Melbourne, Australia | |
| Course | Temporary Street Circuit 3.295 mi / 5.303 km | |
| Distance | 58 laps, 191.071 mi / 307.574 km | |
| Weather | Sunny | |
| Pole position | ||
| Driver |  Joe Consiglio
|
Nordsjoen-Mercedes |
| Time | 1:23.509 | |
| Fastest Lap | ||
| Driver |  Lee Morris
|
Draig Racing-Ferrari |
| Time | 1:24.032 | |
| Podium | ||
| First | Lee Morris
|
Draig Racing-Ferrari |
| Second | Dave Carr-Smith
|
Midnight-Renault |
| Third |  Sam Millar
|
Synergetic-Ferrari |
The 2011 Australian Grand Prix for the Superleague - the first race of the season - took place on the Albert Park track in Melbourne on the 24th of March.
On Thursday night the highly anticipated first race of the 2011 Superleague calendar arrived - and it didn’t disappoint. Twenty-four drivers lined up for the start of the Australian Grand Prix and together managed to produce a thrilling race that had it all: some surprise performances, a big accident at the start, some beautiful clean overtakes, an intensely fought battle for the lead all the way through the race and moment of bitter heartbreak at the end.
Contents
Report
Qualifying
The front row of the grid was more or less expected from the outcome of the first pre-season test in Jerez over forty days before. The dominance of both Joe Consiglio and Lee Morris was confirmed and an epic battle for the number one spot ensued. Consiglio led the way into Q2 but Morris was the first of the two to set the benchmark in the second session with a 1.24.052. This left Consiglio with work to do, but the Maltese ace responded with a 1.23.700. Morris was now the one in trouble but the Draig racer wasn’t fazed and set off on his last lap of the session, finishing with a time of 1.23.573 in the dying moments of the session. Pole Position looked to be his, but Consiglio proved he could always be counted on to produce something special. Joe, who was also on his last run, didn’t feel the pressure and put in a fantastic lap to out-qualify his rival by a mere six hundredths of a second.
Behind the squabbling duo was a tight group over a second off Morris’s pace but all within two tenths of each other. This was headed by Nick Rowland followed by débutant Ojay Clark, Jason Muscat and Dave Carr-Smith. Sam Millar lined up a slightly disappointing 7th. Adam Rouse’s qualifying mistakes resulted in him not being able to get higher than 8th, David Jundt was 9th and Jyri Lylykorpi found himself in 11th in a Stanton sandwich. The Woods drivers endured a dismal qualifying lining up 13th and 17th with promising new driver Ben Morgan just behind.
Red flagged start
There was already drama before the start. With Nick Rowland unable to make the grid, Muscat had a clear run and a great start off the line attacking Lee Morris into turn 1 but to no avail as a quick starting Sam Millar braked too late and careered into both Morris and Muscat.
This in turn created a chain reaction as Mark Wicks swerved left in avoidance of Millar and wiped out his team mate Kieran Ryan, who was left spinning in the middle of the pack. Christoph Lichtenstein, Tim-Oliver Wagner and William Ponissi were left with nowhere to go and were all involved in the pile up. A separate incident had already taken place before turn 1 at the back of the grid as Morgan collected a slow starting Ryan Walker. Phil Perkins also struggled off the line with what appeared to be a traction control issue. Ponissi, having to avoid the Walker/Morgan accident, cut across the path of Mark Fuller who in-turn hit Phil Perkins and both were immediately collected by Chris Williamson. Adam Rouse’s car was hit by Tom Parker later on in the lap and with an incredible fourteen cars badly damaged a sensible decision was taken to restart the race.
Race
Rowland was able to return and take up his third position on the grid and as the lights went out he got a flyer off the line and easily moved into 2nd, followed by Muscat who gained two places and Morris who had lost two. Clark followed in 5th with Millar 6th and Carr-Smith 7th. A tidy and respectable first lap was completed by all 24 drivers - but the fireworks were about to begin.
Rowland ran wide into turn 1 and his car’s rear snapped away in turn 2, leaving an unfortunate Muscat with a big impact into the wall and Morris with an invitation to move into 2nd he just couldn’t refuse. Rowland apologised for the incident and retired immediately while Muscat limped back to the pits.
On Lap 2, a fast and furious battle for 13th developed. Mark Wicks, who started from 18th, was defending from Phil Perkins and as they both ran a little wide, Lylykorpi got a run on them out of the fast chicane in Sector 2, gaining the inside line for the next corner. But three into one was a little too ambitious and the Finn was left in a spin with Mark Wicks dropping a further three places. As Clark and Millar tussled for 3rd position, disappointment struck ST Racing as, after a good start running in 9th, David Stanton suffered an engine failure as early as lap 4. Things only got worse for the team as on lap 6 Mark Fuller span into Chris Williamson giving both drivers damage. A small mistake by Millar then allowed Carr-Smith through to 4th position.
There was more action on lap 7 as, for the third year in a row Mark Stanton crashed heavily on his favourite part of the track, the exit of the infamous turn 11. The car was left destroyed and in the middle of the track with fast approaching David Jundt lucky not to be caught up in the mess. Wagner and Gavin Thomas were also early retirements. None of this bothered Consiglio as he gently pulled a comfortable gap to Morris in the early stages. This gap, however, proved essential as the two were on different strategies.
Lichtenstein and Tom Parker were making their way through the field after problems on the formation lap and, as they came across Ponissi, Lichtenstein was held up and passed by Parker before Ponissi copied his team mate’s spin in turn 11. Meanwhile, Ryan and Morgan battled for 13th.
The race leader was the next man in for a tyre change. A short pit-stop indicated that Consiglio was on a three-stop strategy and therefore had his work cut out if he wanted to beat the two-stopping Morris. The two leaders had pulled such a huge gap in the early stages, meaning Consiglio was still able to re-join in 2nd. A lap later, Parker and Lichtenstein’s battle ended as the German driver became another victim of turn eleven’s unforgiving nature. Three laps after Consiglio, Morris entered the pits and exited a few seconds behind Dave Carr-Smith. The race was on, as on Lap 20 Dave Carr-Smith pitted and Morris now had a clear road to Consiglio once again.
Clark and Millar then engaged in their second fight of the day, the Williamson Dynamics driver making a small mistake on the exit of the final turn was enough to give the Synergetic a nice slipstream and the speed to pass before turn 1 which gifted him 4th position. As the Wood’s pair exchanged positions at half distance, the positions were Consiglio, Morris, Carr-Smith, Millar, Clark, Rouse, Jundt and Lylykorpi.
Consiglio’s second pit stop on lap 29 promoted Morris into the lead, although Consiglio had done his homework and was just a couple of seconds behind Morris as both had one more stop to make and the 2009 World Champion had a set of fresh tyres to attack with.
Lap 33 and a long running battle between Morgan and Parker for 11th ended when the Nijo brushed the wall exiting the final corner. Parker was unaware that the incident had given him a puncture. On the approach to turn 1 he spun wildly and ended his good drive through the field with a big impact into the barriers knocking the rear wing off the car and deciding to join Adam Smith and Marco Vandenbroeck in the commentary box.
Just moments later, off-camera, Williamson had what appeared to be a similar incident as the Nijo was in an unusual position on the inside of turn 1 with no front or rear-wing. It was a disappointing debut for the team. At the end of lap 39 Jundt was promoted to 4th after a flurry of cars came into the pits including Millar, Rouse and Lylykorpi.
Rouse exited ahead of Clark as the pair entered a heated battle, switching positions in the following 2 laps but with Rouse coming off best. In the excitement of all this action, Morris made his final pit stop and it was time to put the hammer down if he wanted to make it out in front of Consiglio. Lap 42 saw Jundt making a late 2nd stop to re-join the track side by side with Rouse who managed to overtake round the outside in turn 3.
Consiglio stopped a lap later as the spectators watched intensely to see if he had done enough to get out in the lead. As Morris drove along the pit-straight the Nordsjoen popped out just a couple of seconds in front - the chase was on for Morris. The race was by no means settled behind them either. A five-way battle ensued between Millar, Rouse, Jundt, Clark and Lylykorpi, who dropped off the pack with a small spin at turn 3. Jundt was desperately trying to find a way back past Rouse but had his hands full with Clark who had picked up some damage.
Clark then spun himself out of contention just before Rouse got a little untidy coming round the final bend and an unsuspecting Jundt collected him putting Rouse into a spin and dropping him back into 7th. The incident caught the eye of the race stewards.
But more was to come, as to the shock of everyone Joe Consiglio spun away the lead in turn 12 with just seven laps to go. The spectators and Morris were left wondering what had happened as Consiglio was now limping.
A few moments later the brake failure on the 2009 World Champion’s Nordsjoen became apparent as, just three laps from the end, Consiglio went straight on at turn 3 and retired from the race. Morris could hardly believe his luck as he came round the final corner to win the first grand prix of the 2011 GPVWC Superleague season. The Englishman put in a huge effort and both drivers deserved to win on merit. Dave Carr-Smith had a steady if not un-eventful drive to 2nd on Midnight Motorsport’s début race, while Sam Millar took his second podium of his Superleague career with an impressive drive to 3rd. They were followed by David Jundt in his first race for Red Archer, Ojay Clark, Adam Rouse, Jyri Lylykorpi, Kieran Ryan, Mark Wicks and Ben Morgan.
Post-Race talking points
Morris vs Consiglio
The two men who have been on top of almost every test in the pre-season dominated the Australian Grand Prix in a fierce and intense battle that lasted from the beginning of qualifying till the closing stages of the race. Consiglio took a brave decision to go on a three stop strategy which is almost certainly what gifted him pole. Careful analysis shows a lap of qualifying to make up roughly one tenth of a second around the Albert Park circuit. The fact that Joe got pole by under a tenth and Morris stopped three laps later suggested Morris had the upper hand in qualifying. However, when it came to the race, Joe made the three stop strategy work. As up until the final moments neither driver had any known obstructions during the race, it has to be assumed that Consiglio did a better job in the race and made his strategy work better. Both drivers put in an incredible performance as they lapped everyone on track apart from Dave Carr-Smith. It originally looked like suspension problems or a puncture for Consiglio but after several more small off-track excursions, the driver went straight on into the wall at turn 3 with a mere three laps to go. The heart-breaking failure brought back bad memories for the Nordsjoen crew, who witnessed Joe himself as crashing out from brake failure at the Canadian GP the previous season. Whether Consiglio has the energy to brush off what happened to him remains to be seen, but the loss of a driver of Joe’s calibre will be very hard for the GPVWC to swallow for both his rivals and his team. Congratulations to Lee Morris who has really proved his worth with a stunning performance in practice, qualifying and the race.
Rowland vs Muscat
Nick Rowland’s and Jason Muscat’s races came to an end after just one lap of the Australian GP. Both Renault powered cars made a good start off the line to jump Lee Morris into the first corner. However, disaster struck as Nick Rowland ran a bit too wide into turn 1. He tried to brake, but in doing so the car swerved the across the track and bounced into Muscat. Muscat’s problems went from bad to worse with technical difficulties throughout the race and suspension damage leading to an awful first day for the popular race-winner. Rowland apologised to Muscat and it seems that the stewards be taking no action as contact was unavoidable.
Best of the rest
The race came alive in the latter stages not just because of the battle up front, but also to a squabbling bunch of drivers in five different teams, all competing for what was to become 3rd position. It began with Sam Millar and Adam Rouse exiting the pits just in front of Ojay Clark, who was hot on the heels of them and driving around the outside of the TDR driver who was suffering from cold tyres into turn 3. Rouse quickly responded though, as the two battled fiercely for the next two laps. Clark defended in any way possible with Rouse picking up good acceleration off the corners enabling him to perform the switchback manoeuvre into turn 12, as the two went side by side a couple of times. Slight contact was made, giving Clark problems later on, but Rouse was through with a bit of brilliant driving. David Jundt was his next target as the Red-Archer exited the pits from a lengthy stint that had paid off. Rouse knew the Swiss driver had cold tyres and repeated Clark’s manoeuvre round the outside into turn 3. The battle continued as Lylykorpi dropped off; Jundt was being slightly held up by Rouse and had his mirrors full of Clark trying to drive round the outside of him and ending up on the grass on more than one occasion. Things then got scruffy for the trio as Clark had a violent spin on lap 51, just before Jundt clipped the back of Rouse sending him into a spin setting him back two positions. News is yet to be heard of the result from Rouse’s appeal on the incident but the battle was enjoyed by all drivers with some very clean and fair racing.
Newcomers
Three new teams made their début at the Australian Grand Prix. Midnight Motorsport, despite a late start to organising the team and driver line-up were the most impressive of outfits. Both drivers qualified in the top six on the grid and Dave Carr-Smith and the team can be very proud of a 2nd place in Australia. Triple-Double had an impressive start too, with Adam Rouse up there with the top guys as was expected. Both teams scoring points on their début is a huge success. Likewise, newcomers Clark and Morgan who also scored points can be proud of points on their début. Nijo Racing did not get off to the best start. However, the team has just lost a very promising young driver and with the signing of a new talent for the rest of the season things should look better for the next race.
Classification
Qualifying
Race
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Pitstops | Fastlap | Controller | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | Lee Morris
|
Draig-Ferrari | 58 | 1:22:58.049 | 2 | 2 | 01:24.032 | 
|
15 |
| 2 | 24 | Dave Carr-Smith
|
Midnight-Renault | 58 | +1:00.422s | 6 | 3 | 01:24.187 |
|
12 |
| 3 | 10 | Sam Millar
|
Synergetic-Ferrari | 57 | +1 Lap | 7 | 2 | 01:25.237 |
|
10 |
| 4 | 6 |  David Jundt
|
Red Archer-Renault | 57 | +1 Lap | 9 | 2 | 01:25.469 |
|
8 |
| 5 | 19 | Ojay Clark
|
Williamson-Mercedes | 57 | +1 Lap | 4 | 3 | 01:25.681 | 
|
6 |
| 6 | 23 | Adam Rouse
|
TDR-Toyota | 57 | +1 Lap | 8 | 2 | 01:25.493 |
|
5 |
| 7 | 0 |  Jyri Lylykorpi
|
Nordsjoen-Mercedes | 57 | +1 Lap | 11 | 2 | 01:25.116 |
|
4 |
| 8 | 4 |  Kieran Ryan
|
Woods-Mercedes | 57 | +1 Lap | 14 | 3 | 01:25.563 |
|
3 |
| 9 | 3 | Mark Wicks
|
Woods-Mercedes | 56 | +2 Laps | 17 | 2 | 01:26.867 |
|
2 |
| 10 | 12 |  Ben Morgan
|
Computrac-BMW | 56 | +2 Laps | 18 | 3 | 01:26.454 |
|
1 |
| 11 | 15 | Ryan Walker
|
Draig-Ferrari | 55 | +3 Laps | 16 | 2 | 01:26.792 |
|
0 |
| 12 | 9 |  Christoph Lichtenstein
|
Synergetic-Ferrari | 55 | +3 Laps | 15 | 4 | 01:26.848 |
|
0 |
| 13 | 2 | Joe Consiglio
|
Nordsjoen-Mercedes | 54 | DNF† | 1 | 3 | 01:24.079 |
|
0 |
| 14 | 8 |  William Ponissi
|
Constant-Renault | 54 | +4 Laps | 21 | 2 | 01:28.311 |
|
0 |
| 15 | 16 | Mark Fuller
|
ST-BMW | 54 | +4 Laps | 22 | 3 | 01:28.957 |
|
0 |
| 16 | 5 | Jason Muscat
|
Red Archer-Renault | 52 | +6 Laps | 5 | 3 | 01:27.862 |
|
0 |
| Ret | 21 | Chris Williamson
|
Nijo-Toyota | 31 | DNF | 23 | 1 | 01:29.945 |
|
0 |
| Ret | 20 | Tom Parker
|
Nijo-Toyota | 31 | DNF | 0 | 2 | 01:26.664 |
|
0 |
| Ret | 22 | Phil Perkins
|
TDR-Toyota | 20 | DNF | 13 | 1 | 01:26.452 |
|
0 |
| Ret | 18 | Tim-Oliver Wagner
|
Williamson-Mercedes | 7 | DNF | 19 | 1 | 01:28.997 |
|
0 |
| Ret | 7 | Mark Stanton
|
Constant-Renault | 7 | DNF | 10 | 0 | 01:26.103 |
|
0 |
| Ret | 11 | Gavin Thomas
|
Computrac-BMW | 7 | DNF | 20 | 0 | 01:28.821 |
|
0 |
| Ret | 17 | David Stanton
|
ST-BMW | 3 | DNF | 12 | 0 | 01:27.297 |
|
0 |
| Ret | 25 | Nick Rowland
|
Midnight-Renault | 1 | DNF | 3 | 0 | 01:31.528 |
|
0 |
† Driver retired from the race, but completed more than 75% distance and so remained as a classified finisher.
Standings after the race
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External links
| Preceded by: 2010 Singapore Grand Prix |
2011 Australian Grand Prix 2011 |
Succeeded by: 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix |
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