New season blasts off in China

The Shanghai grid rumbled to a record turnout as the new look GMWC 2009B season got underway this weekend. With an even playing field drivers got to grips with the new formula and finally questions are starting to be answered about how the teams and drivers would fare with the new specifications. Rusyn, M-sport and RAC all scored a win during the event with the higher powered cars of SDL, Superoo and reigning team champions Antares off the pace.

However no one team could claim to be truly dominant. Pre season speculation of the league entering a turbo era remains in question however as the Rusyn and M-sport standard engine cars notched up the most victories with the RAC turbo powered car picking up the last sprint win. Where the turbo cars will gain the upper hand on other circuits will remain to be seen as the season progresses however they are sure to come back strong very soon.

The 2009B season opener also welcomed many new rookies to the league and the results saw a highly competitive mid field over the various races. At the sharp end, former champions AJ Weber and Matt Lewis picked up where they left off and rookie Anthony Cochrane impressed up front which saw some exciting 3 way battles. Snapping on their heels were Chris Jones, Tom Castellani and Antares lead driver Celso Jorge.

Results for the event as follows:

Sprint 1

1st Matt Lewis, M-Sport
2nd Celso Jorge, Antares
3rd Chris Jones, RAC

Sprint 2

1st Matt Lewis, M-Sport
2nd Tom Castellani, M-Sport
3rd Chris Jones, RAC

Sprint 3

1st Anthony Cochrane, RAC
2nd Matt Lewis, M-Sport
3rd AJ Weber, Rusyn

Feature

1st AJ Weber, Rusyn
2nd Matt Lewis, M-sport
3rd Anthony Cochrane, RAC

Fastest Qaul lap - AJ Weber 1:43:127
Fastest Race lap - Anthony Cochrane 1:44.118

The GMWC circus now heads to the sandy terrain of Bahrain and the Sakhir GP circuit.