For the first time this season, the skies opened up on the Canadian eMotorsports Network Formula 1 Series.
With rain wreaking havoc on the field, Jason Butler’s intermediate tyre gamble under safety car conditions paid off, as the 519 E-Racing Bugatti withstood a furious last-lap charge from series champion Corbin MacAulay to win a wild Fix Auto Charlottetown Brazilian Grand Prix at the virtual Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, the second-last stop on the 2020 calendar.
Butler’s victory propels him to sixth in the driver standings with 106 points, while MacAulay’s second-place finish and fastest lap bonus point helped clinch the constructors championship for Hurricanes eMotorsports.
After qualifying 12th, Don Kasza turned in a great drive to finish third in his North Border Racing Ferrari to complete the podium and match his best result of the season.
Daniel Cudmore came home fourth in his Alpha Flow Honda, while Mike Marini rounded out the top-five.
Cody Cudmore grabbed sixth place in his Silver Hornet Mercedes, followed closely by Mark Cox in his MCRaceLab Honda.
Ivan Reynolds grabbed a few points for Ares Racing in eighth, while Darcy Cudmore (ninth) and Colin Doran (10th) made it a double-points finish for Silver Hornet Racing and Hurricanes eMotorsports, respectively.
Through the majority of a dry qualifying session, Daniel Cudmore was the man to beat, having set an early time of 1:08.180 seconds around the 4.309-km circuit. However, MacAulay snatched pole position with a time of 1:07.539 seconds shortly after the timer hit zero.
Both Alpha Flow cars got a good jump off the line, as Michael Dimitroff jumped up from fourth to take the early lead with Daniel Cudmore in second, with MacAulay dropping to fourth.
Dimitroff held the lead until Lap 11, when MacAulay overtook both Dimitroff and Darcy Ford for the lead, which he held comfortably until Lap 24, when Zach Sullivan’s crash triggered the safety car just as rain was in the forecast.
Multiple strategies played out under the safety car, with Dimitroff reclaiming the lead after choosing to stay out on his hard tyres to create an Alpha Flow 1-2 with Daniel Cudmore having pitted for soft tyres, while MacAulay dropped to fourth after pitting for medium tyres.
However, Butler, who was sixth on the restart, was the first driver in the field to go for the intermediate weather tyre as the Sao Paulo skies grew darker.
When the race restarted on Lap 28, Daniel Cudmore took the lead from his teammate with his tyre advantage, building up an early gap on the field. However, the lead was short-lived, as he spun toward the end of Lap 29 and dropped to fifth, with MacAulay taking the lead once again.
However, MacAulay would be forced to pit for intermediate tyres on the very next lap, ceding the lead to Butler, who opened up a near six-second gap on Kasza.
As Butler kept hitting his marks, MacAulay charged back up the field, passing Kasza for second on Lap 35 before trying to catch Butler, whose tyres were on their last treads. However, despite shaving 2.3 seconds of time on his final lap, MacAulay’s efforts fell one lap short as Butler crossed the line with a winning margin of 0.992 seconds.
The Canadian eMotorsports Network Formula 1 Series wraps up its inaugural season next Thursday, December 17, with the Holland College Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Pre-race coverage begins on the Canadian eMotorsports Network Facebook page at 7:30 p.m. EST, with qualifying beginning at 7:40 p.m. EST, and the race immediately afterward.
For more information on the Canadian eMotorsports Network, visit hollandcollege.com/esports, and follow across social media @eMotorsportsCAN.
For more information about this release, please contact: Daniel Cudmore, Athletics Development and Communications Coordinator Tel: (902) 894-6870
Date: Friday, December 11, 2020
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