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Round 8 of the WTCS championship this time saw the circus head to Interlagos and laps round a drivers favourite steeped in history.
No Ryan Hamilton this week as he was doing some of that "real life" stuff, so it was left to Tom Stanley and Chris Chadderton to see what they could get from three races that have often felt like dice rolls in the rounds so far.
Race 1
With that said, Race 1 went off relatively quietly throughout the whole grid. Both Tom and Chris got poor getaways from their 22nd and 28th positions on the grid respectively, staying out of trouble in both cases to finish up in 7th and 12th in class by the end.
Race 2
For Race 2 the temperature had rocketed up to 57 degrees on track, turning tyres to marshmallows moments from the grid. A better start by Tom from 22nd on the grid this time meant he could make some places, while Chris again struggled to get away.
From there Tom's setup change between races to reduce some wing had begun to help, and he was able to move forwards to finish in an eventual P19 overall – 5th in class, holding off a number of cars who wished to show their nose into every corner and slow the group down.
It wasn't as clean lower down the midfield, with normal service resumed in the circus. There are a couple of teams now making a habit of diving from a long way back, knowing that they'll often come off better in contact, and that's exactly what happened to Chris causing an unfortunate DNF.
Race 3
On to Race 3, where the temperatures had dropped to a still-very-warm 44 degrees on track. Another short reverse grid was no help to our cars, who started P19 and second to last.
Tom made great progress early on, gaining two positions in class in the early laps and holding a pack of AM cars behind while keeping up with the Pro cars ahead.
Unfortunately for Chris, there was no chance of a clean fight through, for similar reasons with the usual suspects.
Meanwhile Tom continued to fend off a group desperate to relieve him of his podium position, instead the opposite happening with a rise to P2. Steady, safe and consistent laps from there on held that position to the end for one of the teams best results so far.
The championship moves on to Watkins Glen for next weeks round 9. All the action can be seen on RaceSpot TV on YouTube.
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