GP4 2006 Offline Championship

The 2006 GP4 Offline Championship was the first official season of the championship. It was contested on Grand Prix 4 which used the F1 2006 mod. The series was hosted by Azrul Zafri aka azschmy. Testing for the championship was uploaded on the 25th September 2015 with the first official qualifying session being uploaded on the 2nd October 2015 and the first official race being uploaded the day after.

The championship was won by Joseph Willows with the title being decided at the final race in Brazil. His rival, Joshua Anderson missed out on the championship by 2 points after leading for most of the season. Kellin Bryce finished 3rd for Renault whilst Will Neller suffered an inconsistent season, finishing a disappointing 4th overall. Jack Boyman was also impressive in his first experience at offline racing. Despite a slow start he battled to an exceptional 5th overall, with Connor Smith, who was unable to match his team mate, recovered to finish a strong 6th. Felix Sonntag was a revelation in the uncompetitive Williams car and became one of only two drivers to win a race in a car that was not as competitive as the McLaren, Renault or Ferrari, eventually finishing 7th in the Championship. In Addition, he was only the German driver, until Florian Völker in 2009, to win a race in the series. The championship had been dominated by drivers from the UK, with 17 out of 18 races won by that nationality. The other nationality being Germany thanks to Felix Sonntag. Jyri Määttä was left frustrated by his car's inconsistency throughout the season, nonetheless he was strong in the Honda and finished a solid 8th overall ahead of his teammate, James Willows, younger brother of eventual champion Joseph Willows, who won in San Marino on his second outing for Honda. Jay Mckenzie impressed on multiple occasions in the powerful Toyota claiming 3 podium finishes on his way to 10th overall, and along with Felix Sonntag was one of the most impressive.

Paige Knight took feminism in her stride to impress as the only female driver on the grid and grabbed a solid podium finish in Monaco on her way to 11th in the championship. She was followed by the youngster Andrew Neller, younger brother of Will Neller, who was unable to match the pace of his teammate Felix Sonntag finishing a lonely 12th. The Malaysian, Azrul Zafri, put in a solid effort in the uncompetitive BMW Sauber to finish 15th overall, whilst George Roke struggled to get to grips with the Red Bull and turned his attention to the following season. Evan Byrne impressively took a Pole Position in his short stint at Red Bull whilst also having his sights turned on next season. Wais Kuba endured a tough season only finishing 20th, even despite missing 8 races. The Midland of Sin Cara finished the season with an impressive retirement free record and even scored championship points for the back marker team, whilst his Teammate Adam Wolf was equally impressive. Despite often fighting at the back, he put in a good shift to miss out on points on a few occasions.

## Mid-Season Changes

* From Round 2 onwards Scott Speed was replaced by Swiss Neel Jani.
* From Round 2 onwards Sakon Yamamoto was replaced by Frenchman Franck Montagny.
* From Round 3 onwards Jenson Button was replaced by Joseph Willows' younger brother James Willows.
* Nick Heidfeld was sacked from BMW Sauber after picking up no points unlike his teammate. He was replaced for the rest of the season by Malaysian and host Azrul Zafri.
* Nico Rosberg was sacked from Williams due to poor performances compared to his team mate. His replacement is Will Neller's younger brother Andrew Neller.
* Jarno Trulli was sacked from Toyota after poor performances with saw him near the back of the field. His replacement was British Woman Paige Knight.
* Anthony Davidson replaced Montagny for his home Grand Prix (Round 8), after the team wants to test the ability of their test driver.
* From Round 9 onwards, Jacques Villeneuve has decided to retire from this championship, the seat has been replaced by Wais Kuba whose ex-driver for Sauber Petronas for GP4 2005 Championship, 2 years ago.
* From Round 10 & 11 onwards, American Scott Speed got the chance to race and replaced Neel Jani.
* With 4 races remaining, Rookie Evan Byrne from Ireland made his debut in this series for RBR Ferrari to replace David Coulthard.

## Races

* Due to a busy commitment by host Azrul Zafri, the series took a long break until the 2nd December when the series came back with practice and qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix in one video with the race coming the following day. It was also announced that Spain and Monaco would take place on the same week.
* From Round 11 onwards, qualifying and the race were combined in a video for the better highlights.

### Bahrain

The first ever official GP4 Offline Championship race was a momentous occasion, but the race was not quite as spectacular. Will Neller claimed pole for Ferrari, but Renault's Joshua Anderson would almost certainly provide stiff competition alongside. Neller held his lead for the opening few laps, however a mistake on lap 6 saw him spin his lead away and hand the advantage to Anderson. The mistake dropped the Ferrari man to 6th, and an eventual 7th. After this, it was plain sailing for Anderson, with his teammate Kellin Bryce crashing out early and the other Ferrari of Connor Smith unable to mount a real challenge. In fact, Smith lost second to the charging McLaren of Joseph Willows in the first and only round of pit stops (these races were run to only 60%). So, not a classic start to the series, but things would liven up in Malaysia.

### Malaysia

The grid in Malaysia was much different to the one in Bahrain. Jyri Määttä took a surprise pole for Honda, ahead of Jack Boyman's McLaren. However, a stunning start from Kellin Bryce in the Renault saw him take the lead, although only for a lap as Määttä quickly and surprisingly retook the lead. Boyman dived into the pits for an unexplained reason, leaving Neller in third from Anderson and Smith. Light rain had started to fall before the start and it showed no sign of abating, and Bryce seemed unable to cope, falling quickly behind Neller, Anderson and an impressive Jenson Button. He then tangled with Smith, who clattered into Willows, ending the McLaren's race and damaging Smith's. This allowed Määttä, Neller and Anderson to escape. It was Neller who had the pace, quickly easing by Määttä and sweeping to a comfortable win. Anderson finished second, after Määttä slid wide, with the Finn taking third ahead of teammate Button, Bryce and Smith, who passed Williams's Felix Sonntag at the very last corner.

### Australia

After the entertainment of Malaysia, the tightness of the Albert Park track was always going to be a slight comedown. It was Anderson on pole, followed by the McLarens of Boyman and Willows, and Bryce. The main storyline of the race was Neller's progress from 5th. He quickly saw off Bryce, but found Willows a much tougher challenge. The two drivers would be the star figures in the series for years to come, and this was an early indication of that. Their battle was ramped up a notch in the mid race round of stops, when Boyman lost out badly and dropped to fifth. Try as he might, Neller simply couldn't get past until the round of pit stops at the end of the race. He quickly gave an insight into his speed when he got right up behind Anderson in no time, but if he couldn't overtake a McLaren on track in over 20 laps, he had no chance of passing a Renault in one. So Anderson made it 2 wins from three, ahead of Neller, Willows, Bryce and Boyman, and now was clear championship favourite.

### San Marino

Qualifying produced a huge shock, with James Willows (brother of Joe at McLaren) taking pole for Honda in only his second race, ahead of the remarkably consistent Anderson, Jo. Willows, Bryce and Määttä, with Neller only 6th, ahead of Boyman and Smith. Unfortunately, the race itself was possibly the worst in OC history, with overtaking essentially impossible at the track and strange car sounds too. The lack of overtaking would mean that the weekend was decided by three things- qualifying, the first lap and the pit stops. Ultimately, the first one was the most important by far, with precious few changes of position. Rain for the second half of the race, Bryce moving by Jo. Willows for third, Smith impressing and Määttä falling apart were the main features of the race, but all was behind James Willows, who took a remarkable win, while Anderson's second meant he was already 13 points ahead of nearest rival Neller.

### Europe

This race marked another major moment in the championship, as it was the first race run to full distance, increasing the championship's credibility. It was Anderson who unsurprisingly took pole, ahead of Määttä, Jo. Willows, George Roke's Red Bull and Ja. Willows, with the Ferraris, Bryce and Boyman having plenty to do. Away from the line the Hondas both made blistering starts, Määttä taking the lead and Ja. Willows slotting into third. However, Määttä simply couldn't live with the pace of the Renault, and Anderson quickly breezed into the distance. With the fight for the lead now hardly a contest, focus now switched to the battle for third, where Ja. Willows was attempting to fend off his brother, Bryce and eventually a charging Neller, making superb progress from 9th on the first lap. It was Bryce who made the progress, capitalising on a mistake from Jo. Willows to overtake the McLaren and finally breaking Ja. Willows's resistance. When the first pit stop phase arrived, errors of communication from Honda and Ferrari led to doublestacking, ruining Ja. Willows's race and would have killed Smith's too, but his race was already gone. The same couldn't be said for his teammate, who stormed past Jo. Willows, Bryce and Määttä in the space of just 10 laps to move into second. But there was no hope of beating Anderson. There was little to be said for the rest of the race, save for Määttä dropping back to fifth behind Bryce and Jo. Willows. So Anderson won easily and now was 15 points clear of Neller. Drastic measures were needed if anyone was to stop him...

### Spain

The next watershed came at Spain, where we saw our first classic, ironically at the usually dull Catalunya. The first indication that this wasn't going to be a normal weekend came in qualifying, where the Ferrari's shook off their qualy woes with a front row lockout, with Neller ahead of Smith, then came Bryce, Määttä, Ja. Willows and unexpectedly, the Williams of Felix Sonntag. The McLarens were only 7th and 9th, while Anderson was way down in 12th. Neller was determined not to let a fifth race slip through his fingers, and duly led away from the scrapping Smith and Bryce, with very little change occurring through the field, save for Anderson making up three places. while the two Toro Rosso's collided. Määttä quickly proved that his race pace rarely matched his qualifying pace, and he soon fell to 10th. The Ferrari's soon pulled away from Bryce, who's pace also fell apart, and he was soon holding up a gaggle of cars for fifth- Ja. Willows and the ever more impressive Sonntag were the ones to break through. The McLaren's, debutant Paige Knight in the Toyota( who was making a highly impressive cameo) and Anderson soon followed them by, and before long Bryce was being passed by Sin Cara's- admittedly superbly driven- Spyker. But Sonntag was the one showing the truly ominous pace. He overtook Ja. Willows with ease, and set about catching the Ferrari's. And he did. He was by Smith on lap 6, Neller on lap 9. This was truly astounding, although the Ferrari's were quickly found out when the charging Jo. Willows quickly gobbled them up too. Ferrari's misery deepened further still soon after when Smith's engine went up in flames. Anderson was also making excellent progress and was soon past Neller into third. It was the other Neller who was impressing now- Andrew Neller, underlining that the Williams wasn't just fast in the hands of Sonntag. Even a clash with Boyman that ended the McLaren man's running and damaged his didn't halt his speed for long. He even followed the excellent Knight past his brother by lap 24 for 5th, though he'd find Knight a tougher challenge. The remaining half of the race understandably settled down, with Sonntag, Jo. Willows and Anderson well in front. A surprising number of drivers made off track excursions- even Sonntag in one particularly hairy moment- but none found them more costly than Jo. Willows, whose two trips to the gravel ended his hopes of fending off Anderson. Määttä won the unofficial award for the most spectacular one, however, doing a 360 degree spin at the last corner in the closing laps. Meanwhile, Andrew Neller capped a glorious day for Williams by passing Knight for fourth. But it all belonged to Felix Sonntag, who took the chequered flag take a remarkable win, by 5 seconds from Anderson (who somehow extended his championship lead again), with Jo. Willows, A. Neller, Knight and the chastened W. Neller- though not half as chastened as Bryce in a lapped 12th.

### Monaco

Ah, Monaco. The jewel in the crown. And McLaren got the jewels when they locked out the front row, with Boyman edging Jo. Willows for pole, with Smith, Ja. Willows, Anderson and Bryce next up, while Neller was only ninth. There was unsurprisingly little change in the order in the early laps, though Ja. Willows got the jump on Smith at the start to take third, while the Renault's swapped places. The first real shock came on lap 7, where Anderson pathetically understeered in the wall at Portiers, a la Senna at Monaco 1988. When the first round of stops came, Boyman's low fuel load was revealed, while Ja. Willows also pitted leaving Jo. Willows in front from Smith and Bryce. These three chased each other round the streets until the race's defining moment occurred on lap 33 of the 78, when Willows clipped the treacherous Rascasse wall, putting him out on the spot. this should have handed the advantage, but at the exact same time as Willows, he ran into the back of Adam Wolf's Spyker while attempting to lap him, putting them both out too. Neel Jani's Toro Rosso also found himself out- and his wrecked car being briefly pushed along by three other cars!Bryce somehow picked his way through the carnage, which meant that it was a straight fight between him and Boyman. But, in the first race where strategy really played a part, Boyman's 3 stop was always going to be ruined by typical Monaco traffic, and so it proved. So Bryce won easily, while it was Knight who took a superb second for Toyota, while Ja. Willows just fended off Boyman and the frustrated Neller- whose brother Andrew would have beaten all three of them had it not been for him crashing out with a few laps left. Finally, Neller managed to cut Anderson's gap in the championship- though he still had a long way to go...

### Britain

A damp and messy qualifying allowed for a few surprises at Silverstone, not least Määttä taking his second pole of the season. Anderson joined him on the front row, with A. Neller surprising again with third, just ahead of his brother and the McLarens, while the winner of the last race, Bryce, languished in 9th. The weather didn't improve on Sunday, and the race was delayed for an hour. When the race finally got underway, Määttä led away, but Anderson constantly battled with him on a thrilling first lap, while a scary shunt saw Roke, Ja. Willows and Knight retire and the culprit Smith's race ruined yet again. The other Ferrari also struggled at the start and dropped to eighth, while Jo. Willows quickly disposed of A. Neller, who simply couldn't stay with the leaders. Meanwhile, Anderson found a way past Määttä on the third lap, and Jo. Willows was also soon by. It soon became clear that Willows was the fastest man on track, and swooped past the Renault on lap 6. The other Renault of Bryce was having better luck and soon set about catching Määttä for third, having got past Boyman with ease. W. Neller and a flying Sonntag soon followed him by. Willows was utterly dominant out front, and Anderson simply couldn't get close. He was even briefly overtaken by Bryce- until his teammate crashed bizarrely on lap 24. Just a lap later Anderson did the exact same thing, in one of the weirdest incidents in the OC. The track was now drying as the first round of the stops arrived, in which Määttä lost out badly, dropping behind W. Neller and the Williamses. Sonntag was proving that Spain wasn't just a flash in the pan, as he passed W. Neller before half distance, although nothing could be done about Willows. Sonntag's move didn't really matter anyway, as Neller did a 'Renault' shortly after. But Sonntag didn't have second sewn up yet, as Jay McKenzie's charging Toyota went past towards the end to take a stunning second place. Not as stunning as Willows though, who managed to lap the entire field on his way to a crushing win. Määttä, Boyman and the recovering Smith( who incurred a grid penalty for Canada after his first lap antics) finished behind the ecstatic podium three, while there was jubilation at Spyker for Sin Cara's P7. But finally, Anderson had proved he was human after all in the last two races, and he now led Willows by 14 points, with Neller just behind.

### Canada

After the chaotic events of the previous three races, Will Neller looked to restore some order with a routine pole. Boyman was alongside, with Jo. Willows third, ahead of Bryce, Sonntag and Wais Kuba, making his return to offline racing with BMW. Anderson was back in 9th, while Smith was way back due to his grid penalty. There were few changes to the order in the opening laps- the main events were Bryce working his way past the two Mclarens, but too late to trouble Neller too much- Määttä crashing out of 6th at the wall of champions (perhaps pre-empting fate), and McKenzie attempting to pick up where he left off at Silverstone by passing Azrul Zafri's BMW for 6th, but only succeeding in wrecking his and Zafri's races. That's not to say there wasn't much action though, with constant battles in the midfield. Up front, Neller eased away from Bryce, with the McLarens left behind as the first round of pit stops arrived. Boyman was the big loser of the pit stop phase, dropping behind Jo. Willows, Sonntag (having another brilliant race) and Knight to sixth( and was soon passed by Ja. Willows and Smith too.) Knight moved past Sonntag for fourth- she was making an excellent impression once more, and was soon by Jo, Willows and on course for a brilliant first podium, although there was nothing she could do about the dominant Neller and Bryce. Meanwhile, Anderson had made no progress and was now fighting off A. Neller for 9th- he couldn't fight him off for long. However, Smith had made much more gains, and was soon in front of Sonntag for P5. As the second round of pit stops got underway, Anderson was finally put out of his misery when his engine went boom. The race had been great entertainment value once more, and it continued when light rain began to fall with 20 laps left. This didn't have a huge effect, and the main eyes were now focussed on the charging Smith's attempts to take a podium from Knight. The Toyota driver put up an excellent defence, but not quite excellent enough to fend off the rampant Ferrari man. But not quite as rampant as his teammate, who swept in to claim the first OC 'grand slam'- pole, the fastest lap and victory. Bryce took second, from Smith, Knight, Ja. Willows and Jo. Willows, while the debrief at Williams must have been awkward, down to A. Neller's crude move to take seventh from his teammate at the end. In the championship stakes, Anderson now led Neller by only 6 points after the championship leader's third non finish in a row, while Jo. Willows remained very much in contention...

### USA

It was Boyman who snatched a late pole from Neller, with Sonntag impressing yet again with P3, followed by Määttä, Bryce and Ja. Willows, while Anderson and Jo. Willows were both hugely disappointing, lining up 8th and 11th respectively. Neller's frustrations continued when he bogged down at the start, and fell to fourth, while Bryce went the opposite way, and stormed into second. His great start wasn't to last though, as Sonntag quickly passed him and he was then punted off by Neller. The Ferrari got away with no problems, but Bryce span off and was collected by Ja. Willows, who had collided with the other Ferrari of Smith in the same fashion. Neller did the same to Sonntag a few laps later for second, but the Williams just stayed out of trouble. Määttä quickly dispatched the Williams too, while, much further back, Anderson and Willows sqaubbled over fifth, but were succeeding only in slowing themselves down. The race was now settling in, which was bad news for Boyman as he had never really looked settled in his lead, and Neller soon completed his surprising recovery by taking over the lead. Things quickly got tougher for him though, as a flying Määttä overtook him for second. Elsewhere, Anderson and Willows's comeback drives weren't going to plan, as Smith unexpectedly demoted them both. The first round of pit stops changed little, and Neller, Määttä, Boyman and Sonntag were all settled in their positions, meaning that the focus for the rest of the race was now almost entirely on Smith, Anderson and Jo. Willows's raging batttle over 5th( though Boyman's podium never looked entirely secure from Sonntag.) Ultimately, Jo. Willows came out on top, followed by Smith and the bitterly frustrated Anderson, who now lost his championship lead to the elated Neller, albeit only by a point...

### France

The OC circus's next destination was France, at the Magny Cours track that hadn't produced much in the way of action in real F1. However, qualifying raised hopes that it would be a competitive race, with the top three of Jo. Willows,( his first pole) W. Neller and Bryce covered by just 0.042 seconds. Anderson, Boyman and Ja. Willows were next, while Smith and Määttä were well down the field. Then the arrival of rain further gave the impression that the race would be entertaining. Willows held his lead at the start, but Neller struggled for traction and Bryce blitzed by for second. Menawhile Ja. Willows quickly went backwards, allowing Sonntag to move up to 6th, and Scott Speed triggered chaos at the back. Jo. Willows quickly set about establishing a gap to Bryce, who seemed his only real threat, with Neller, Anderson and Boyman unable to mount a challenge. The track conditions were the real problem however, with A. Neller and Kuba- the latter taking out a backmarker whne he slid back on the track- both falling foul, and the charging Smith and Boyman nearly coming to blows. The battle for fourth was now the main focus, with Anderson, Boyman and Smith all battling for the position. Three soon became two though, as Anderson lost control and crashed out, seemingly dealing yet another dent in his championship challenge. Out front though, Willows was dominant, and showing off the wet weather skill he'd shown so well in Silverstone once more. However, just as Smith had taken Boyman and Neller for third, the red flag was shown, as the conditions had deteriorated to such an extent that it was almost impossible to race. This wiped out Willows's 12 second advantage over Bryce, and also Bryce's 15 second gap over Smith. It also had the effect of bringing the retired runners back into the race, so Anderson had a reprieve, albeit starting from the back. The 16 laps that had already been run were also deducted from the race distance. The eventual restart further deepened Willows's misery, as Bryce got the jump on him off the line, while the Ferraris swopped again. The restart was also disastrous for Sonntag, the Red Bulls and Smith, as George Roke triggered a chain reaction accident that accounted for Sonntag and gave the others damage. This chaos promoted McKenzie into fifth, again showing his talent on a damp track. It soon became evident that Willows was no longer anywhere near as fast as he was before, and Neller quickly slipped by. Tonio Liuzzi in the Toro Rosso had made remarkable progress, but a spin from sixth dropped him back down the order. Meanwhile, there were tensions at McLaren as Boyman dived past Willows to take third, but slowed Willows's momentum and McKenzie needed no second invitation to pass the miserable polesitter. It was soon rendered irrelevant anyway as Willows span off the following lap and fell to the tail of the field, though he did well to avoid the wall. Things weren't getting any better for McLaren as Boyman dropped behind McKenzie after a quick spin. With no other real competition, the race was now a straight fight between Bryce and Neller, and the Ferrari was on the back of the Renault with 40 laps still to run. However, catching was one thing, passing another on the hugely narrow track. Ferrari's best hope of overhauling Bryce probably therefore lay in the pit stops, so it was a surprise to see them both pit at the same time. Things could have gone much worse for them though, as Neller nearly ran into his teammate while trying to lap him! Smith crashed out shortly after. He wasn't the only one frustrated- Anderson soon found himself being lapped by the top two, and getting stuck behind Franck Montagny for 10th wouldn't have helped his mood either. The fight at the front was seriously heating up with 20 laps left, as McKenzie remarkably joined in Bryce and Neller's thrilling duel for a few laps with traffic, and although he soon dropped back a bit, it was still a superb display. The fight at the front was reminscent of Alonso and Schumacher's two thrilling Imola duels. The Renault driver won both those, but that was looking unlikely with 8 laps left, as Neller briefly inched ahead, but Bryce just held his lead, and did so for the reamining laps in a superb defensive display. McKenzie finished third, just three seconds behind, with Boyman, A. Neller and Knight far behind. Anderson eventually ended up seventh, dropping 8 points behind, while Jo. Willows lost even more ground with a lapped 14th, surely pondering what could have been...

### Germany

The big story going into round 12 was the choice of venue. The new Hockenheim track had suffered a considerable amount of bugs- meaning the race would be held at the old layout. Joshua Anderson seemed to revel in this, taking a supreme pole position by over a second from Ja. Willows, who was himself half a second quicker than surprise package Kuba in the BMW. Jo. Willows, Smith and Määttä were next, while Bryce and W. Neller had to settle for the fourth row. The first corner didn't see too much in the way of action, but the rest of the first lap saw plenty of shuffling, with Kuba understandably struggling to maintain his grid slot, and dropped back. With the mixed up grid, Anderson had a dream opportunity to make big gains in the championship, but that was going up in smoke as early as the second lap, when Ja. Willows swept by to take a surprise lead. Anderson sought to regroup, but on lap 5 he slid wide and fell to fourth behind Jo. Willows and remarkably, Bryce, who had carved his way through from ninth on lap one to a podium place. That soon became second when he looked to kill a Willows 1-2. By lap 7 he was in the lead, and that was pretty much that. His breeze into first was overshadowed though, when a miserably subdued Boyman had a bizarre and terrifying accident, when he ran into the gravel for the second time of the afternoon, and flipped over while rejoining the track. Still, at least he'd had something to wake him up, unlike Neller, who was trailing around in a turgid eighth. His teammate was having a rather better time of it though, sweeping past Anderson and Jo. Willows. The first round of stops now came round, and Ja. Willows stayed out far longer than everyone else- in one of the first cases of strategic variation in the championship, he had committed to the one stop along with Anderson and Neller. The Honda strategy worked fine for Willows, but not for Määttä, who was held up in the pits, damaging his chance of a good points finish. This wasn't the only intriguing variation- rain now arrived, and finally ended Neller's difficult day, as he slid into the wall with 15 laps left. The rain didn't affect Bryce though, who swept home to claim back to back wins and vault himself into having a real shot at the title. Ja. Willows's fuel strategy seemed to have paid dividends when he was a comfortable second on the last lap (albeit 30 seconds behind Bryce), but then he came to a juddering half with just half a lap left. Out of fuel. So Anderson made it a Renault 1-2, his early lack of pace explained by his one stop, with Smith completing the podium. Jo. Willows took fourth, with his brother having to take solace in a well earned fifth, while both BMW's took some rare points. So Anderson and Neller were now level on points, with Bryce and Jo. Willows making it a certainity that there were now four drivers in the hunt. No one else had a chance.

### Hungary

It was with some trepidation that the championship headed to Budapest, for the twisty nature of the circuit would make following the pattern of the previous thrilling races harder. Qualfiying provided plenty of interest however, with a late rain shower helping mix up the grid. But it was Bryce who took a comfortable pole, his first, ahead of BMW's Azrul Zafri, making a surprise appearance on the front row. Anderson, W. Neller, the other BMW of Kuba and Knight were next, while the McLarens and especially the Hondas were left with a lot of work to do. But more heavy rain at the start would doubtless give them hope. Meanwhile, Renault had effectively claimed a 1-2 on the grid, with no one expecting Zafri to hold out for long. And sure enough, he didn't. although he did allow W. Neller and Knight by too, which ensured the Renault's wouldn't have a huge advantage. Elsewhere, first corner shenanigans destroyed Roke's Red Bull in a big accident. Up at the front, it was Anderson now setting the pace, and it was an extraordinay pace. Having quickly dispatched Bryce, he pulled out a 9 second lead in the first 4 and a half laps- by lap 9 it was 18 seconds. From that point on, it was evident that only an issue for the rampant Renault would allow this to be a 'race'. Attention now switched to Neller and Knight's battle over third. Neller was clearly struggling for pace and despite a good defence, he eventually had to cede the place. Jo. Willows and McKenzie also wasted little time in overtaking the gripless Ferrari. Knight was having a stunning race, and on lap 13 went for a move on Bryce. But she found him a different competitor to Neller, contact was made and they both span around. Knight only dropped to fourth, but Bryce was left waiting for a long time, before eventually rejoining the action in 13th. It wasn't all bad for Toyota though- in the ensuing scramble, McKenzie took Willows and was now in second- from 12th at the start! Clearly Kuba didn't notice the Knight-Bryce incident, because a few laps later he attempted the same move on Neller for P5. The result was predictable and Neller was the big loser, dropping well down the field. Boyman now ran fifth behind the extraodinary Anderson, McKenzie, Jo. Willows and Knight. Anderson now pitted, but his lead was so big that he still rejoined easily in the lead. His teammate was having a much worse time of it though. He had a small right to be angry about the Knight incident, but a desperate lunge on Coulthard's Red Bull for tenth was all his own doing. By lap 18 the pit stops were well underway, but Neller was more pre occupied with Takuma Sato's Super Aguri, who in fact briefly overtook him in a cheeky move. Jo. Willows was also in trouble, spinning while trying to overtake Zafri, but he carried on without too much harm done. Elsewhere, tensions at Renault were heightened when Anderson lapped Bryce, but without much cooperation. McKenzie was now the man taking on a starring role once more, pulling clear of Jo. Willows and looking likely to go one better than he did in Britain and France, while Sonntag was also yet again making the most of his Williams, wresting fourth from Knight. The weather now started to cause interest mid race, with Boyman and Kuba switching unexpectedly to inters, despite there still being a lot of standing water. However, the gamble didn't backfire, with most making the switch too when they pitted. The remaining 20 laps were mainly focussed on the exciting duel between Willows and Sonntag for third. When the third round of stops arrived with 10 to go, tyre choice was varied, with inters and wets being the decision teams had to make. It didn't have much of an effect on the final result though, with Anderson managing to lap the whole field on his way to a magical victory. McKenzie was second for a superb third podium, with Jo. Willows fending off Sonntag for third. A. Neller made a brilliant comeback from losing his rear wing on the first lap melee, taking fifth from Knight at the end. But his brother was at the other end of the scale, finishing 13th and 3 whole laps down, making his lapping of Anderson in France seem quite irrelevant. Anderson now led Neller by 10 points, with Bryce and Jo. Willows still in with a faint chance...

## **Drivers Championship**

Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers using the following structure:

* These drivers retired from the race but because they were classified within 90% race distance, they were still classified as finishing.
* Bold text means that driver took pole in that round.
* Italic text means that driver set the fastest lap.
* Gold coloured background means that the driver won that race.
* Silver coloured background means that the driver finished 2nd in that race.
* Bronze coloured background means that the driver finished 3rd in that race.
* Green coloured background means that the driver finished in the points in that race.
* Blue coloured background means that the driver finished outside the points in that race.
* Purple coloured background means that the driver retired from that race.
* Black coloured background with white text means that the driver was disqualified from that race.
* White coloured background means that the driver did not attend, did not start or didn't join the series in those races.