ARA F3 VRS Super Series | Monza Report
Apex Racing Academy’s F3 VRS Super Series roared into life at Monza for round one of the season. Utilising iRacing’s new heat racing format, live action on Apex Racing TV has been frantic.
Round one, at historic Monza, promised to be a thriller with drafting on the Milanese circuits long straights a major strategical factor. Since 1922, Monza has been a staple of grand prix racing and always produces exciting contests.
For qualifying, drivers enjoyed the blissful privacy of the Monza circuit to set their lap times. No traffic, no distractions, no excuses. Championship front runner, David Holland, took pole position with a rapid 1 minute 36.944 second lap. Belgian, Christophe Herbigneaux, joined Holland on the front row. Sam Kuitert qualified third. Top AM class driver was Briton, Aaron Smith, in sixth overall.
As the opening heat race burst into life, David Holland launched his Dallara flawlessly from pole position. However, with the opening chicane being bypassed, Holland lay vulnerable to slipstreaming from Kuitert and Herbigneaux, close behind. Heading into the second chicane, Kuitert ducked out of the draft and pounced immediately, taking the lead. An aggressive move akin to his fellow countryman, Max Verstappen.
With Kuitert, Holland, Barter and Herbigneaux pulling away safely, carnage ensued behind. Most shockingly, at the Parabolica, at the end of lap one. After a collision with a car lying broadside on the circuit, the #47 car of Jay Steffey launched violently into the catch fencing.
As the laps passed by, Kuitert and Holland traded places constantly. Often on multiple occasions per lap. Meanwhile, a couple of seconds further back, tempers flared. Antipodean ace, Hugh Barter, and Christophe Herbigneaux banged wheels on the run to Ascari chicane. Neither driver surrendered and the inevitable collision sent Barter smashing into the wall. Herbigneaux miraculously escaped but dropped down the order, nursing a car now past its best. The Belgian would later be forced to pit for repairs.
Back at the front, Holland and Kuitert carved through lapped traffic recovering from earlier incidents. This trip through the muddle of cars running a lap down was kinder to Holland, allowing him brief respite from the tenacious Kuitert. However, with the track clearing again, the rapid Dutchman reeled in Holland to resume their wheel to wheel battle.
As the final laps approached, Holland and Kuitert remained inseparable. On the penultimate lap, Holland was first to blink. A tiny mistake on the exit of the second Lesmo curve gave Kuitert vital breathing space who scampered to a 1.8 second advantage heading into the final lap. Despite Holland’s best efforts, Kuitert refused to flinch and took victory by 1.4 seconds. Greg Seitz rounded out the podium, profiting from the clash between Barter and Herbigneaux.
AM class drivers occupied the bottom half of the top eight. AM class honours went to Charles Beare in the #27 machine.
Drivers finishing in eleventh and below in the heat race, take the grid accordingly for the feature race. For those finishing in the top 10, their places are inverted. So, the tenth-place finisher in the heat race, starts on pole for the feature.
As a result, early front runner, Christophe Herbigneaux started twelfth. Immediately behind his championship rivals, Holland and Kuitert, who occupied the fifth row. With the order shaken up, patience would be key for the championship contenders to avoid incidents.
As the green flag dropped, Ethan Lampe catapulted off the line in his #95 machine and took the lead into turn one, with Nick Brown and Aaron Smith in hot pursuit. Much like race one, the top three made it through turn one without incident. Those following behind, weren’t so fortunate.
Astonishingly, early pace setters Kuitert, Holland and Herbigneaux all made it through the minefield of carbon fibre strewn across the track, immediately climbing to the fringes of the top five.
At the front, AM drivers Nick Brown and Aaron Smith gave PRO class driver, Ethan Lampe, no courtesy as they swarmed around the #95. First to profit, was Brown, taking the lead at Ascari. However, for all three drivers, their time at the top, was short lived. Charging round Biassono curve, all three men refused to yield. Despite their slight footprint, three Dallara F3 cars didn’t fit and chaos ensued. Brown appeared to be the instigator. Swiping to the right, clipping Lampe’s machine who, in turn, collided with a Smith. Ironically, it was Brown who escaped with an excursion via the gravel. Nevertheless, Brown would have to take his #31 machine to pit lane for repair.
By lap three, Christophe Herbigneaux had crept into the lead amongst the melee. A just reward for his commitment in race one to charge back up the field to twelfth place after taking repair. Herbigneaux’s recovery highlights an emerging theme in the series – never give up and reaching the finish will be rewarded.
As the race reached half distance, Herbigneaux held a commanding four second lead whilst Mitch Greene, Hugh Barter and Sam Kuitert squabbled over 2nd place. Eventually, this trio would fracture with Green dropping back and Kuitert chasing after Herbigneaux in the lead.
On lap fifteen, disaster struck for AM class leader, Joshua Jensen. While leading in convincing fashion, the American ran wide at the Parabolica, causing his Dallara to twitch and flick left into the barrier. A potential race win stripped away, with only five laps to the finish. As a result, Brett Punkari, inherited the AM class lead for Jordan Peugeot. However, with a resurgent Nick Brown on a tear just a handful of seconds behind, Punkari clipped the inside kerb at Ascari and spun. Despite his trip to pit lane, Brown now found himself back in the class lead. A lead he wouldn’t relinquish, winning the class by a significant margin from Brett Punkari.
Back in the PRO class, Christophe Herbigneaux completed his flawless feature race performance with a cruise to victory. Sam Kuitert kept the Belgian honest, closing the gap down slightly in the closing laps but it was to be Herbigneaux’s day. Hugh Barter recovered from his heat race issue to claim the final spot on the podium.
As a result of his near perfect weekend, Sam Kuitert led the championship in the PRO class by ten points from David Holland. In AM, Nick Brown led the championship by seven points from Bryan Vorce.
Next is Laguna Seca in the Californian sun, a completely different challenge for the drivers in Round 2. Check out the race report for round 2 here:
Entries are still being accepted via the link below:
https://www.apexracingleague.com/ara-f3-vrs-super-series-season-1/#SeriesInfo
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