Mehinovic00 won the first IMS D1 race from pole at Brazil, ahead of TheMekanic17 and SomaticCoast375. The top three looks orderly on paper; the remembered route to it was anything but tidy.
The founding grid encountered a wet opening lap on dry tyres, heavy penalties and a field containing many drivers in their first league race. IMS did not ease itself into existence. It arrived sideways, figuratively and quite possibly otherwise.
Pole position survives the disorder
Mehinovic converted first on the grid into 26 points. TheMekanic held second from second, while SomaticCoast advanced from sixth to third. At the sharp end, the founding race rewarded the drivers who could preserve position or recover without becoming part of the wider mess.
The opening D1 standings therefore mirrored the top two: Mehinovic led on 26, eight clear of TheMekanic. Mercedes and Red Bull were level on constructor points despite the individual result separating their lead drivers.
A second race establishes a second rivalry
In D2, jakebandy8 also won from pole. Ranga20063239 finished second from second and Lasrgamer06 rose from fourth to third, placing Jake seven points clear of Ranga after the opener.
Brazil left IMS with its first winners, its first championship tables and no illusion that league racing would be orderly. The archive begins with a classification; the story begins with everyone discovering what the classification would cost.
