After months of preparation, the race is run and the teams pack up and head off for their next destination. But lets take a moment and digest what we've seen at Bathurst.
Sure Apex and Razorback scored heat wins, Andrew Steppat starts off with the points lead and ran phenominal lap times in comparison to the rest of the field, etc. etc. But while its easy to just fixate on what happens at the front, taking a look further back can start to give you a glimpse of what future and fun is in store for the FRL.
For the first time in FRL history, we have four rookies going for the title in this season. Matthew Smith, while having raced in a few FRL events, is participating in his first full season of racing. His first heat looked sketchy as he settled into the event, laying down a fastest lap of 2:17.711. However, he would better his fastest lap by over a full second in the 2nd heat - a lap fully 6 tenths faster than his closest rookie opponent, Nicholas Hargrove. Despite only being able to flirt with 2:17 lap times, Nicholas is a true freshman in the FRL and shows promise for being able to hold his own. Making his (full event) driver debut at one of the toughest tracks and being able to finish inside the top ten in both heats speaks to talent with room to improve.
Owen and Tom Henderson both show promise as excellent drivers as well. While Owen would be sidelined with connection issues, his brother Tom managed to start the first race before getting kicked off later and would start at the front for the second heat. The young driver would easily lead his first lap from the drop of the green flag. He would eventually be passed by the veterans, but with an impressive 6th place finish, he hints at the talent that is coming up in the series.
Drew Dilbeck finds himself in an odd situation with the FRL, not quite a rookie in the series, not quite a veteran either. But any doubts as to his talents as a driver can be put to rest. He would end up having an abyssmal first heat at Bathurst. Several mis-queues on the track would have him wind up in 9th place at the end of that first heat. But with the reverse grid start for the 2nd, he would take advantage of the nearly wide open road in front of him. He had to fight hard to get around Tom Henderson, and he would be passed by a couple of veteran drivers, but in the end would finish P4 in the second heat. An impressive finish and showing continued improvement from last seasons FEC debut.
Allen Ruff had a rough (pun intended) weekend of racing. On Thursday night he showed up with virtually no seat time and a new tune to get settled into. That lack of preparation showed on the track as he only just managed a sub-three minute qualifying time. However, come Sunday night, he'd show marked improvement. The first heat was a wash and connection failure would score him a DNF. But in the second heat, he would turn a 2:17.246, which could have put him right in the thick of the field. What will a little seat time and track prep do for this driver? We'll have to see.
Now lets look a little closer at the points battles that we are going to see play out this season. The individual driver points are something we are all familiar with and taking a look around, there looks to be potential for some heated points battles to come. With Season 5 we've also seen the rise of multi-car teams become a bigger factor. So, with that in mind, team scoring will be kept. Teams scoring doesn't reward the size of the team as it merely takes the points scored by a teams top two drivers and applies them to the overall score. That said, Apex takes away a huge point lead from Bathurst and starts their campaign off right.
Privateer's can also compare their progress against peers as well. Paul Maestri scored big in this segment and no doubt hopes to build on it in the events to come.
Finally, looking at the rookie points battle, Nicholas Hargrove demonstrates that while fast lap times are nice, the fastest single lap does not always put you first across the line.
His 7.5 average placement on the night netted him the 7th position overall and 6 points. Taking an early led over his peers in a battle we will all eagerly watch as it develops.
That's all from Bathurst. Most of the teams and equipment are already long gone and will be getting ready for the Race of United Arab Emirates at the famed Yas Marina circuit.
