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Round 5 of the WTCS was at the bumpy and flat circuit at Sebring. Based on an old airfield strip the mix of slippery and bumpy concrete mixed with heat blasted asphalt proves a challenge for all disciplines around this circuit. The legendary sunset corner, the last corner, can really sort the field.
As in previous rounds for qualifying, put 20 minutes worth of fuel in and find a dance partner. This worked in Ryans favour with a 24th to start from. Tom and Chris started 34th and 38th respectively.
The thought of 3 or 4 wide into turn one became reality at the start as the field began the first race at Sebring. Most of the lads came through unscathed with positions gained. An awkard moment with Rob Sutherland at turn 2 after previously meeting the wall at Sunset corner forced Chris to take the quick repair and finishing in a lowly 44th. Despite putting on a good display Tom finished where he started in 34th, 12th in class. Same could be said for Ryan, with a solid 23rd and a 4th in class.
The second race was a scorcher on the track. The thermostat reaching 51C during the race. Tyre conservation would be needed. A hairy first lap for Ryan, soon settled into focus as he chased down a pack ahead with Am's to fight with. After collecting a friend (Cone strikes again) and making some passes, Ryan finished 19th, securing his first podium on the season, A 3rd in class. A dogged defence against Stuart Bickley and some neat overtaking earned Tom a 7th in class finish and 25th overall. The Am field was densely packed so any gains were mainly good gains. Some excellent accident avoidance and a great fight with Nick Clibbens earned Chris a 16th in class finished and 34th overall.
As the Americans would say on home soil, "The Big One" occured during race three. A tentative start from Ryan from 18th found himself with fellow teammate Tom, Craig Williams and Ben Gregory on lap 4, sending it 3 wide into Sunset corner. As the group came back together, contact between Tom and Ben caused a huge crash down the start finish straight, collecting multiple drivers totalling 9 cars severely damaged. Chris and Ryan made it through, but another incident into turn 1 on the final lap meant Chris finished 31st and 15th in class. Ryan managed to push on to set personal best lap times to try and catch Craig Williams but to no avail. 20th and 5th in class rounded off a good meeting for Ryan.
Despite a mixed bag of results, with the drop rounds yet to come into play, Prestanda NOMAD have leapfrogged DCW Racing in the Pro-Am Team standings to sit at the top of the pile for now. As we have followed this championship so far, there are definitely more twist and turns ahead, and sooner than you think. Nurbrurgring GP will host round 6 of WTCS. We'd be glad to see you cheering on the team next week!
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