Round 11 - Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)

ACE SERIES

1996/97 Pole Position:	1:38.489 (Oliver Roberts)
1996/97 Race Time:	1h19m01.191 (Oliver Roberts)
Race Distance:	44 laps

Qualifying

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Points
1.	Michal Janak	Digitech	1:37.562		20
2.	Oliver Roberts	Digitech	1:38.280	+0.718	16
3.	Steffen Diener	Roadrunner	1:38.740	+1.178	14
4.	Marco Saupe	M&T-SPEED	1:38.843	+1.281	12
5.	Jan Svehlik	Bolgani	1:38.925	+1.363	10
6.	Markus Kruggel	Wild 13	1:39.085	+1.238	8
7.	Mirko Patzenbein	Enigma Racing	1:39.193	+1.631	6
8.	Ignacio Garcia	Curb Crawlers	1:39.236	+1.674	5
9.	Alan Strang	Team Ecosse	1:39.274	+1.712	4
10.	Reinhold Schatzer	Rocketship	1:39.339	+1.777	3
11.	Rafal Ziarnik	Yapamotox	1:39.449	+1.887	2
12.	Eik Hoffmann	Red Diana	1:39.694	+2.132	1
13.	Nuno Maltez	Rocketship	1:39.733	+2.171
14.	Axel Bruns	Wild 13	1:40.100	+2.538
15.	Anthony Long	P76 Racing	1:40.487	+2.925
16.	James Luscombe	V-Tec F1	1:40.529	+2.967
17.	Fernando Alvarez	PROJECT AR	1:40.970	+3.408
18.	Hendrik Mehl	Crash Heads	1:41.342	+3.780
19.	Martin Devine	Enigma Racing	1:42.073	+4.511
20.	Jonathan Stead	Slipstream	1:42.310	+4.748
21.	Scott Dryden	Team Ecosse	1:42.899	+5.337
22.	Argyris Maistralis	Crash Heads	1:43.578	+6.016

Spa saw a triumph of current points leader Michal Janak in every respect. Not only did he win the race and was the fastest driver throughout the whole GP, he also dominated the field in an impressive manner and nobody even came close to him. Only during the first 10 laps of the race, Janak was actually chased, namely by Jan Svehlik and Reinhold Schatzer. While Marco Saupe achieved another podium finish, Markus Kruggel repeated his third place from last season. Luckiest driver of the race, however, was certainly Axel Bruns who crashed out at the last chicane in lap 44 but whose car kept rolling and crossed the finish line eventually. Newcomer Fernando Alvarez from Project AR finished in his first championship race, making an promising entry to the IAF1GPC.

By an unusual 8th race position, Oliver Roberts' gap to team mate Michal grew by 41 points, making it very hard for the two-time champion to achieve his third title in a row.

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Points
1.	Michal Janak	Digitech	1h18m41.422		180
2.	Marco Saupe	M&T SPEED	1h19m45.262	+1:03.840	170
3.	Markus Kruggel	Wild 13	1h19m49.177	+1:07.755	165
4.	Jan Svehlik	Bolgani	1h20m09.312	+1:27.890	160
5.	Mirko Patzenbein	Enigma Racing	1h20m11.129	+1:29.707	155
6.	Steffen Diener	Roadrunner	1h20m17.485	+1:36.063	151
7.	Alan Strang	Team Ecosse	1h20m27.039	+1:45.617	147
8.	Oliver Roberts	Digitech	1h20m27.555	+1:46.133	143
9.	Nuno Maltez	Rocketship	1h20m36.059	+1:54.637	139
10.	Axel Bruns	Wild 13	1h20m39.576	+1:58.154	135
11.	Eik Hoffmann	Red Diana	1h21m05.146	+2:23.724	132
12.	James Luscombe	V-Tec F1	1h21m12.033	+2:30.611	129
13.	Hendrik Mehl	Crash Heads	1h22m04.398	+3:22.976	126
14.	Ignacio Garcia	Curb Crawlers	1h22m20.370	+3:38.948	123
15.	Fernando Alvarez	PROJECT AR	1h22m39.801	+3:58.379	120
16.	Anthony Long	P76 Racing	38 laps	(86.4%)	101
17.	Scott Dryden	Team Ecosse	32 laps	(72.7%)	82
18.	Reinhold Schatzer	Rocketship	27 laps	(61.4%)	68
19.	Rafal Ziarnik	Yapamotox	22 laps	(50.0%)	54
20.	Martin Devine	Enigma Racing	18 laps	(40.1%)	42
21.	Thomas Bodlien	M&T-Speed	12 laps	(27.3%)	27
22.	Jonathan Stead	Slipstream	11 laps	(25.0%)	24
23.	Argyris Maistralis	Crash Heads	5 laps	(11.4%)	10

New Lap Record: 1:41.475 - Michal Janak (Digitech)

Race Statistics

Pos	Car	Driver	Fastest Lap		LL/TL	Pitstops		Avg. Grip	Tyre Usage
Pos	Car	Driver	Time	Lap #	LL/TL	Stops	Avg. Length	Avg. Grip	A	B	C	D
1.	2	M.Janak	1:41.475	42	40/44	3	0:15.612	91			44
2.	45	M.Saupe	1:42.169	38	0/44	3	0:17.240	91			44
3.	7	M.Kruggel	1:41.937	41	0/44	5	-:--.---	92			12	36
4.	21	J.Svehlik	1:43.358	42	3/44	3	0:25.623	91			44
5.	40	M.Patzenbein	1:43.629	36	0/44	2	0:16.951	89			44
6.	36	S.Diener	1:41.914	39	0/44	4	0:18.022	91				44
7.	5	A.Strang	1:43.810	43	0/44	3	0:14.480	91			44
8.	1	O.Roberts	1:43.336	39	0/44	3	0:19.598	91			44
9.	13	N.Maltez	1:43.394	43	0/44	3	0:29.589	91			44
10.	8	A.Bruns	1:42.796	43	0/44	4	0:16.902	92			11	33
11.	29	E.Hoffmann	1:44.301	40	0/44	3	0:19.645	91			44
12.	25	J.Luscombe	1:44.879	38	0/44	2	0:18.984	89			44
13.	16	H.Mehl	1:45.873	42	0/44	3	0:17.922	91			35	9
14.	24	I.G.Cuadrado	1:42.324	44	0/44	3	0:31.021	89		24	16	4
15.	48	F.Alvarez	1:48.120	26	0/44	1	0:18.644	86			44
16.	20	A.Long	1:44.997	38	0/38	3	0:33.578	90			30	8
17.	6	S.Dryden	1:47.248	28	0/32	2	0:20.778	91			32
18.	14	R.Schatzer	1:47.474	18	1/27	1	0:13.759	90			27
19.	31	R.Ziarnik	1:47.818	19	0/22	1	0:34.722	91			22
20.	39	M.Devine	1:48.629	14	0/18	2	-:--.---	92			18
21.	43	T.Bodlien	1:51.753	9	0/12	0		91			12
22.	37	J.Stead	1:51.295	7	0/11	0		91			11
23.	15	A.Maistralis	1:52.468	5	0/ 5	0		93				5

Action Replays

Ignacio Garcia Cuadrado (Curb Crawlers):
"Three CC was in front of me , near Bus Stop. I knew something would happen, so I brake a little earlier ... Hahah !. .. The second (of the three) spun, so the third crashed with him ... And I had to brake with Violence to not crash the complete car ... I had luck, only a slight touch, and the race continued."
Oliver Roberts (Digitech):
"The last 14 laps was a nightmare - too many spins, which I don't want to talk about very much. Most involved the CCs - my lap 40 collision and spin can be seen in the replay."
Jan Svehlik (Bolgani):
"Oh my god, what a race! MANY CC's to overtake, and dangerous chicanes. I am lucky to have this race behind me. In my replay is a overtaking situation."

Download the replays (31K)

Last modified: Tuesday 05 May 1998 - 22:53