Zopz won in Japan and cut piastrigoat’s advantage from 15 points to one. Now he heads back to the circuit where his IMS career began, with a chance to beat a driver who helped set his ambitions in the first place.
The two Australians arrive at Monza separated by the smallest of margins: piastrigoat on 118 points, Zopz on 117. Their interviews reveal plenty of mutual respect, but also a clear difference in what they need from the final three rounds.
Zopz wants to show how far he has come. PG needs to stop giving away in the race what he earns in qualifying.
Zopz returns to Monza with a different target
Monza was a promising introduction to IMS for Zopz. On his debut in Season 6, he took a Williams from ninth on the grid to third in D1. He returns in a Red Bull, racing in D0, with his first victory secured at his 15th IMS start.
There is a satisfying progression there: a podium on arrival, a maiden win in Japan, and now a genuine chance of finishing second in the championship. Zopz admits that was not what he expected when the season began.
Truthfully, I never expected to be in this position coming into the season in a grid with drivers way more skilled than me. It's been an up and down season for me with a lot of bad luck along the way, so it's great to finally get a win on my record, it makes those extra hours of practice all worth it.
His modest assessment should not obscure how competitive the comparison with PG has become. Across their nine D0 races this season, Zopz has finished ahead five times. Both have won once. PG has one more podium, but almost nothing left of the cushion he built in Baku.
The driver Zopz admired is now within reach.
PG and I have a great relationship. He was one of the drivers I looked up to last season, and it's a pleasure to share the track with him.
That is not the language of a feud, and this contest does not need one. Finishing ahead of someone you respect can be a more convincing measure of improvement than beating someone you have spent the season dismissing.
PG has the qualifying edge—and knows why it is not enough
Piastrigoat’s diagnosis is blunt.
i think i need to improve my race pace if I want to hold onto 2nd, i have been happy with quali recently but have been falling back in the races, so i'll definitely be working on that for monza
The numbers back him up. PG has started ahead of Zopz in eight of their nine races, yet trails their finishing head-to-head 5–4. From grid to flag, he has lost a net 14 places. Zopz has gained 30.
Those totals do not represent 30 overtakes or explain every setback, but they show how differently the pair have converted their starting positions into results.
| Through S7 R9 | piastrigoat | Zopz |
|---|---|---|
| Championship position | 2nd | 3rd |
| Points | 118 | 117 |
| Wins | 1 | 1 |
| Podiums | 3 | 2 |
| Started ahead of the other | 8 | 1 |
| Finished ahead of the other | 4 | 5 |
| Net positions gained/lost | −14 | +30 |
| Points in the last three rounds | 66 | 52 |
Japan compressed that contrast into one race. PG started on pole and finished fourth; Zopz started alongside him and won. Fourteen points changed hands between them.
For PG, it was another addition to an uncomfortable record: four victories from 16 IMS poles, with 12 opportunities ending without a win. His one-lap speed keeps putting him in position. Too often, the race takes him backwards.
Another pole followed by a slide down the order could hand second place to the driver he has spent most of the season outqualifying.
Baku is PG’s answer to the criticism
Piastrigoat still leads this contest for a reason. In Baku, he converted pole into victory and scored 31 points while Zopz finished fifth. A three-point deficit became a 15-point advantage in one round.
PG has also scored 66 points across Qatar, Baku and Japan, compared with Zopz’s 52. Suzuka brought Zopz the win and the attention, but it would be wrong to describe the last three races as a steady march past an out-of-form rival.
PG has already shown what happens when his race performance matches his qualifying. Zopz’s response in Japan has simply left him much less room to fall short of that standard again.
Nor is second place an exclusively Australian argument. Karl Verghese sits fourth on 106 points, only 11 behind Zopz. Either driver could find that a costly mistake benefits more than the man immediately beside him in the standings.
Respect will not stop Zopz trying to beat him
Monza, Abu Dhabi and Brazil give the pair three more opportunities to settle it. Zopz is not promising an easy victory over PG; his ambition is more personal than that.
Beating him in the championship wouldn't be easy, though it would be a testament to how much I've improved over the past season which means a lot to me.
Returning to Monza gives that ambition a useful reference point. His first IMS appearance ended on the podium. This time, another strong result could put him ahead of a driver he once watched as a benchmark.
For Zopz, beating PG would be proof of progress. For PG, staying ahead now demands more than another quick qualifying lap.
