A reduced field of 9 starters practiced for round 5 of season 21 at the historic Le Mans circuit. At the end of a hectic qualifying session Leon lined up on pole with a fast lap of 2:58.105, Craig L lined up 2nd just 5 hundreths behind, Göran 3rd, a series of technical issues preventing him from showing the pace he had shown in earlier practice sessions. There was some discussion before the flag fell as to the best settings to run with most choosing to run varying degrees of wing and sacrifice some straight line speed. Göran was the only one to take the no wing option but saw speeds of nearly 255mph along the Mulsanne straight.

At the drop of the green flag Leon made the most of P1 to lead the field to Dunlop curve, Sean was fast away passing Göran and slotting into 3rd position. As Göran moved across to drop in behind Sean, he and Dan tangled with only Uwe lucky enough to avoid the carnage that followed. Along Mulsanne straight Sean used a good tow to pass Craig L for second, however under braking for Mulsanne corner first Leon and then Sean ran wide to straddle the sand banking. This allowed Craig L and Uwe to inherit first and second. Leon rejoined the track in 3rd. Sean wasn't so lucky ending up 9th before he could rejoin. In the run to Maison Blanche the Judson brothers tangled after running most of the opening lap nose to tail, allowing David who had explored the escape road at Mulsanne corner, and a recovering Sean past. Sean was then unlucky enough to lose a motor just before the start finish line giving away the positions again.

At the end of lap 2 the order was Craig L, Uwe, Leon, Craig B and Göran. Göran drafted past Craig B along Mulsanne straight hitting 245mph in the process. Things settled for the next couple of laps until Craig L outbraked himself at Tetre Rouge allowing Uwe to pass and inherit the lead. He rejoined 2nd with Leon not far behind in 3rd. On lap 5 Craig L used the draft to pass Uwe along Mulsanne straight, and Leon lapping faster than the two front runners joined the battle as they braked for Mulsanne corner. On the run to Indianapolis Uwe dropped a wheel off under brakes and hit the wall dropping back to 3rd behind Leon and within striking distance of Goran. A further mistake by Uwe at Maison Blanche saw Göran pass into 3rd and a series of retirements due to technical issues decimated the field during lap 5 with David, Matt, and Craig B dropping out.

On Lap 6 Leon set what would be the fastest lap of the race a 2:57.69 using the draft along the Mulsanne straight to begin to reel the gap to Craig L in. At the start of lap 7 Craig L brushed the wall at the entry to Dunlop curve spinning and collecting the hapless Leon in the process. Leon managed to rejoin in P1 but Göran was not far behind and along the Mulsanne straight Göran used his superior top speed to draft past Leon into the lead. Leon glued himself to the back of Göran's car for the remainder of the lap. At the exit of Dunlop curve Göran brushed the wall slightly and he and Leon touched wheels, Leon continued unscathed but Göran wasn't so lucky sustaining suspension damage. This then allowed Craig L back into 2nd position with Göran rejoining in 3rd. The remaining laps ran down without further incident. Leon used his superior pace to pull away and take the victory by 3.5 seconds from Craig, with Göran taking the final podium position in 3rd.

Round 6 sees the series head to Thornham and a change from high speed track to a circuit offering a more technical challenge and the promise of close racing. Championship wise things remain tight. Leon's second win of the season and the first repeat winner allows him to move up to 2nd in a tie with Göran, with Craig just 13 points in front. See you all there.

Round 4 found the AUSGPL series regulars at the Daytona International Speedway, with full throttle and holding on tight for the ride the order of the day. During mid week practice Göran Jonsson had been the pace setter both in practice and come race time. At the end of qualifying it was no surprise to see him in P1 with a very fast 39.126 second lap. Mike Holland lined up alongside and the first 6 in the field were covered by just 1 second. Being able to find someone to draft with and time your run just right was the key.

At the drop of the flag the field duly lined up single file for the rolling start, at the green Göran quickly established himself as the one to beat, easing out a lead over Leon and Mike at the end of the back straightaway they inadvertantly touched wheels and both spun into the wall, the field picking its way through without anyone else getting caught out.For the next few laps Craig L started to hunt down Goran a tenth or two each lap, however on lap 8 Göran made a small error not allowing enough room when passing a slower car and then spun into the wall on the front stretch. He rejoined in 7th quickly passing Daniel and Simon to join David, Craig B, and Uwe who were having a great battle for 2nd - 4th.

By lap 15 Göran had caught up with the battle for 2nd and then duly passed them with superior exit speed and utilising the draft along the straights which allowed him to drop them out of his slipstream. This left David, Craig B and Uwe to continue their great battle for 3rd, Rolf having dropped back after tagging the wall on the exit of Turn 4 (Calamity Corner).

On lap 25 the complexion of the race changed again when Craig L and Simon tangled on the run down to T1 in an incident where racing forces were more at play than driver error. By the time that Craig had recovered Göran was past and away into a lead he would never forfeit. Craig rejoined in the great battle that David, Craig B and Uwe were involved. Picking them off one by one and then pulling away leaving them to duel for P3. On lap 29 this changed when Craig B got a great run on David on the low side and passed him, however David and Uwe then touched with both spinning leaving Craig B comfortably in 3rd.

The final laps wound down alittle less hectically than the start of the race the the main highlight being the great battle for 4-6th between Uwe, Mike & Sean, with them finishing in this order. Göran sets himself up to the the AUSGPL oval master taking his 2nd win on an oval, Craig L was second and took FL honours with a 39.178 second lap, drive of the race  went to Craig B in 3rd who avoided all the carnage around him and ran his own race without incident after starting in P9.

Championship wise things remain tight with 20 points seperating the first 6 drivers, Round 5 sees the series head to the historic Le-Mans circuit for 11 laps around this fast and daunting course. See you all there.

Round 3 found the AUSGPL series at the fast Hockenheim circuit with the opportunityy to really open up the throttle along the long straights. At the end of a hectic qualifying session we found Uwe on pole with Leon lined up alongside with just .1 of a second between them. Row 2 consisted of Sean and David, the first 4 on the grid covered by just a second. Rows 3 to 4 also covered by a second.

Race start saw a fast get away by both Leon and Sean however, they locked wheels as they approached with spectacular results with Sean being launched high into the air. The Ost Kurve saw David lose 2 spots as he ran out of road and used the escape road rejoining 4th. He however reclaimed 3rd at the start of Lap 2 with a great move into the Nord Kurve. A further spin on lap 3 at the Ost Kurve dropped David back to 4th as Craig B passed him as he rejoined.

Uwe then suffered dramas at the exit of the Ost Kurve ending up with a box full of Nuetrals which allowed Mike to slip past into the race lead. By the time he had sorted it out he had dropped back to 5th. Meanwhile, up front, Mike and David were having a great battle for the lead, with David using the draft to draw alongside but unable to complete the pass with Craig B holding a watching brief in 3rd. Mike and David's battle was resolved in Mike's favour when on lap 6 David spun while challenging under brakes at the entry to the Stadium section.  With the pressure off, Mike then spun at the following Sachs Kurve allowing Craig B into the lead Mike rejoining in 4th behind a recovering Uwe.

Racing luck was not with Craig B however as he lost an engine almost immediately as he started lap 7 allowing David to inherit the lead with Uwe now 2nd and Mike 3rd. David and Uwe immediately started a battle for the top spot until Uwe spun at the exit of the Ost Kurve on lap 9 allowing Craig L past into second. For the next 4 laps Craig L and Uwe tried all they could to eat into the 3.5 second lead that David had making some small inroads. On lap 13 David arrived at the Stadium section and overcooked it spinning and dropping down to 3rd in the process.

Uwe wasted no time in making his intentions known drafting by Craig L on the run to the Ost Kurve with Craig drafting back past on the run to the Stadium section and prevailing in P1 with the inside line. Lap 15 saw the same thing, this time though a superior exit from the Ost Kurve allowing Uwe to maintain the lead. Meanwhile a quick spin by Mike at Sachs Kurve allowed David to close, setting the stage for an exciting battle to the line.

A messy exit from the Nord Kurve allowed Uwe to gap Craig L and David passed Mike for 3rd when he ran out of road at the Stadium. On lap 18 Uwe spun at the entry to the Stadium section allowing Craig L back into the lead, he made no mistakes from there to take the victory. Uwe recovered to finish second from a fast closing David who took FL honours on the final lap with a 1:39.18. Mike and Sean rounded out the top 5. Other good battles were had further down the field with Craig B and Leon enjoying close racing and Simon and Daniel who spent nearly half the race together.

All in all a great race with no less than 6 lead changes. Next week sees us visit Daytona Intl Speedway which presents a whole new series of challenges for the drivers including the first AUSGPL rolling start. Racing is bound to be fast and furious, with all drivers hoping they aren't nearby if the Big One occurs. Mechanics charged this week with trying to keep tyres at temperatures that will allow them to see out the complete race distance. See you all there

At the end of qualifying at Virginia the battle for pole had been resolved in Leon's favour with a 1:38.151 as both he and Sean traded fast laps around the fast but tricky Virginia circuit. The second row consisted of Göran and Uwe ensuring the guys in front would need to be on their game come race start. 12 drivers qualified for the race with 4 seconds covering the field.

At the drop of the flag Sean got the better jump to be alongside Leon into the Horseshoe they negotiated this side by side until Leon won out and led into Nascar Bend. Further back in the field both David and Uwe spun independantly without hitting anyone when putting wheels on the grass into Horseshoe bend under brakes. The complexion of the race was set at T2 Nascar Bend, Leon got the break that he needed when Sean locked his rear brakes on cold tyres and spun. Most to the pack then became involved in various incidents as they tried to avoid each other. The only person to avoid this mess was Craig B who inherited P2 and a big buffer back to the pursuing pack. Craig L and Simon were the first to get underway and there were some great scraps amongst the field for the remainder of the race with plenty of passing as drivers recovered from their T2 woes.

Sean and Uwe were showed their superior pace catching and passing Simon and Darrin and then easily chasing down Craig L both lapping several seconds faster. Sean secured the final podium position passing him with a superior entry speed to the Snake curves and Uwe following a couple of corners later with a fast exit from Oak Tree to draft past on the way up to the Roller Coaster. Arguably both of them put in the drives of the race coming back from last on lap 1 to finish 3rd and 4th. Meanwhile upfront apart from a quick spin at Horseshoe Bend Leon comfortably took the win with Craig B also untroubled in second.

Most drivers were positive about how much fun the race had been and Virginia could become a regular feature on the AUSGPL calendar. Teams now pack the transporters and head to Hockenheim where the draft is sure to come into play. With the mechanical woes of the first round now looking to be resolved, the crews will be working hard to make the cars as aerodynamically efficient as possible. See you all there!!

At the end of qualifying Göran had firmly stated that he was the man to beat on home soil setting a fast 1:25.126 to take pole, Mike lined up in P2 nearly 4 tenths of a second slower. A total of 12 drivers qualified with positions 3 to 9 seperated by just a second.

It was a hectic start to the race at the drop of the green. Göran got a good jump and led into T1, an incident in T1 between Leon, Sean, & David dropped them well down the order. On the exit of Atlas, Craig and Daniel also tangled while trying to negotiate it side by side, this let the front 3 get away from the pursuing pack. Lap 2 however changed the complexion of the race as Goran and Mike tangled at Gislaved allowing Darrin to inherit the lead and a smooth driving Simon to pick up 2nd. Mike, like a gentleman, waited until Göran had rejoined in P6 and himself in P12, both were to put in strong recovery drives by race end.

Simon, Craig, & Dan all spent time in second but spins or engine failures dropped them back down the order. Simon had a good battle with Dan, Göran and David before losing an engine on Lap 7 costing him any chance of a strong finish. Dan later spun at Opel allowing Göran & David past. Once through into 2nd though Göran made sure he made no mistakes using his superior pace to keep 2nd till race end.

After a very hectic first half of the race things settled somewhat in the second half of the race. Darrin made no mistakes and was never troubled winning by 40 seconds, Göran took second. The battle for 3rd ended in Craig's favour as David spun at Hansen allowing him through, and Dan suffered mechanical issues on the penultimate lap giving up 4th to Mike who completed a great comeback drive from last. Fast lap was taken by Sean with a quick 1:25.75

The championship heads to Virginia next week, a similar track to Anderstorp with some tricky technical turns and 2 long straights. Engine reliability looks to be the key this season with several competitors suffering expensive blowups in Sweden keeping the mechanics busy.