Jakebandy8 won D1 at China in the first IMS Mystery Race, starting second and beating Wadz51 and pole-sitter TheMekanic17. The archive recalls wet qualifying and action throughout the field.
The round was genuinely split rather than merely rebranded: D1 raced at China and D2 at Singapore. PerfectPaulie88 won the latter from third, ahead of Jake and Ranga20063239.
China rewards the challenger, not the leader
Jake's D1 win reduced TheMekanic's championship advantage without taking it away. TheMekanic's third place kept him first on 58 points, 18 ahead of Jake on 40.
Wadz rose from fifth to second between them. The podium therefore rearranged all three grid positions: P2 became P1, P5 became P2 and pole became P3.
Singapore moves D2 by a single point
Jake's second place in D2 moved him to 59 points, one ahead of Ranga on 58 after the Aston Martin driver finished third. PerfectPaulie's victory made him the race winner; the two places behind made Jake the new championship leader.
The first Mystery Race did what the name promised without requiring mythology. Two tracks, wet qualifying, two different winners and a one-point title lead were quite enough mystery for one weekend.
