The sound of yodeling in the alpine air was briefly replaced by the resplendent noise of racing engines as the FRL makes it’s 7th stop at the Festival Racecourse in scenic Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland.
Qualifying went well for driver Ethan Maestri as he scored his first pole of the season and led the field of 10 cars around to set the grid for Heat 1. But a good qualifying effort was poorly managed as the green flag waved and Ethan was passed on the line by several drivers at the start. Andrew Steppat took the lead into Turn 1 and would not look back as the rest of the field spread out and settled into a relatively clean race. Bryan Dean and Travis Billingsley would vie for P2 early, but Bryan made a brash move into the esses toward the end of the first lap. Both the #808 Audi and the #18 Volvo tried to occupy the same space and the inevitable result was both cars careening through the most dangerous part of the track. Bryan slid hard but recovered, Travis did not have room to begin with and would bounce off the railing. He would suffer no damage, but his precarious position on the track meant having to let the rest of the field pass before he could get underway again.
Ethan Maestri was able to capitalize on the altercation in front of him and close the gap on Bryan, leading to several laps of exciting nose-to-tail action at 130+ mph! Ethan would peel off on lap 5 starting a long cycle of pit stops for most of the field. Drew Dilbeck, Matthew Smith, and Tony Tyree would spend the first half of the race running very close together, fighting hard for P6. Drew Dilbeck would lead a good bit of the heat before sliding out in Turn 4. Matthew and Tony would pass cleanly, but Ethan would have to check up hard to avoid a larger collision. As pit stops cycled, Travis Billingsley was able to advance up the leaderboard once more due to his Volvo’s exceptional fuel mileage. Andrew would hold to the top spot, but Travis advanced up to P2 briefly before getting passed by Bryan and Ethan once more.
While the top spot was never really in jeopardy, P2 was hotly contested. It looked as though Ethan would just not be able to slide by Bryan, until the penultimate lap, Bryan slid out wide in Turn 7 opening the door for Ethan to pass and take P2. Paul Maestri would ride out the race quietly in P5. Matthew Smith would win-out in the battle for P6, with Drew Dilbeck and Tony Tyree finishing P7 & 8 respectively. Nicholas Hargrove would run lap times comparable to those in front of him, but could not close the gap and ends up in P9. Newcomer Nate Turner makes his second start for this event and places P10.
Heat 2 would have a far more interesting start as several drivers had to make wild evasions to avoid other cars. This lead to a tight group of 5 cars at the front coming out of Turn 1. The stragglers left behind had to extricate themselves from a tight furball that began
with Andrew Steppat trying to shoot the gap between Matthew Smith and Bryan Dean. Instead of slipping toward the front, Andrew’s BMW would get pinballed between the #12 Mercedes and #808 Audi. Others would swing wide to avoid the fracas, stringing out the back end of the field. As the group headed around Turn 3 and down the long hill toward Turn 4, Bryan would catch up to Nicholas Hargrove, but created a dangerous situation as he spun Hargrove’s #5 Toyota. The Avensis careened off one wall and shot across the track to slam heavily into the outside barrier, effectively ending Nicholas’ run. Apex teammates Travis Billingsley and Tony Tyree were closest to the action and narrowly avoided a similar bad fate. Bryan escaped unscathed by the altercation and would begin his move toward the front with Ethan Maestri closely in tow.
Paul Maestri would hold down P1 for a couple of laps before pulling the #86 Coca-Cola Audi S3 to the side and letting Bryan and Ethan pass and continue their battle for the lead. On the next lap, Ethan would pull ahead around Turn 1 but Bryan was right there at his door. Around Turns 2 & 3 they ran with Bryan edging Ethan for the lead, Ethan had the momentum into the straight heading to Turn 4 but had to check up to keep from getting into the #808 Audi, allowing Bryan to pass for the lead again. Finally after several laps, Ethan would come in for the early pit. Once the pits had cycled through, Bryan and Ethan found themselves once more nose-to-tail with Travis Billingsley just in front of them. Closing on the #18 Volvo in the esses, Ethan would start to check up to give the slower Apex car some room but would instead get hit from behind by Bryan. With his car pushed low into the corner and no where to maneuver, Ethan tapped Travis’ rear bumper causing suspension and brake damage to his #85 Audi, hobbling his car and allowing Bryan and Travis to get away. A few laps later, Bryan would again make a bold move to try and pass Travis going into the esses but hit Travis bumper and did nearly identical damage to his car as Ethan had. Both would pit again, leaving Andrew Steppat to lead unchallenged, and giving him his 6th heat win this season. Travis Billingsley would stay out the entire heat and secured P2. Paul Maestri benefited from keeping his nose clean and brought his #86 home in P3.
Once again, Drew, Matthew and Tony would run close together for this heat at times too. Swapping positions, sliding and passing. But in the end, they all wound up in the same finishing positions as the previous race, Mathew in P6, Drew with P7 and Tony in P8. Nicholas Hargrove suffered terrible damage in his tangle with Bryan Dean. The damage left him stranded on the track for much of the heat. Nate Turner took advantage of Nicholas’ misfortune and brings his Toyota home in P9.
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