Kartingtom141 has his first IMS win on his fifth start. Four D0 appearances last season had brought twelve points; one mixed-weather race in D2 brought thirty and put Ferrari on top of the opening constructors' standings.
Tom started second and beat rbn by 3.934 seconds, with polesitter Zloober completing the podium. He had finished all four of his previous races without getting higher than ninth. Singapore kept the finish record intact and changed what Ferrari could expect from it.
Four D0 starts: 12 points. One D2 start: 30.
Championship points per start. First four races: Season 7 D0; Singapore: Season 8 D2. Includes awarded bonuses.
Seven of the twenty starters did not finish. Ferrari's other car, kyotonic, reached ninth despite damage, leaving Tom's victory to supply thirty of the team's 35 points.
| Pos | +/− | Team | Driver | Grid | Gap | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | 1 | Ferrari | Kartingtom141FerrariGrid 21 | 2 | Winner | 30 |
| P2 | 3 | Aston Martin | rbnAston MartinGrid 53 | 5 | +3.934s | 23 |
| P3 | 2 | Red Bull | ZlooberRed BullGrid 12 | 1 | +7.225s | 20 |
| P4 | 0 | Cadillac | Lord DabFootCadillacGrid 40 | 4 | +8.334s | 15 |
| P5 | 2 | Williams | jhazztanWilliamsGrid 32 | 3 | +8.859s | 13 |
| P6 | 2 | VCARB | BenArnold07VCARBGrid 82 | 8 | +10.794s | 11 |
| P7 | 1 | Audi | McBeth655AudiGrid 61 | 6 | +11.679s | 9 |
| P8 | 3 | VCARB | ForestalWaif1VCARBGrid 113 | 11 | +14.742s | 7 |
Zloober brings his speed with him
Three D4 podiums had made Zloober interesting. Putting a much harder D2 field behind him in qualifying made him an immediate contender.
His 1:28.209 beat Tom by 0.138 seconds and jhazztan by 0.295. The dark-horses preview had cautioned against carrying those old podiums straight across; pole supplied the first direct test of whether his speed would travel.
“That was the first time doing it wish I could do it again,” he said when the lap drew attention afterwards.
Third brought twenty points including the pole bonus, although rbn had a complaint to go with second. He said Zloober had pushed him wide at the last chicane while they were on hards, causing damage. Zloober recalled rbn forcing him right while they were side by side and said he would review it.
Rbn gained three places to finish second, 3.291 seconds ahead of Zloober. With Martim retiring, he supplied Aston Martin's entire 23-point score and kept the team closest to Ferrari.
Williams lose the reliability they had counted on
Jhazztan's fifth was a useful opening return, only 0.525 seconds behind DabFoot. Pwjones's retirement left Williams with thirteen points and exposed the cost of losing the second car. Last season he finished all fifteen of his D0 and D1 appearances; his first D2 race of this campaign ended without a point.
That was the difference from Ferrari, whose second car had been able to keep scoring. “if there a damage to get, i got it,” was kyotonic's review, but ninth still added five points to Tom's thirty. Williams, our pre-season D2 constructors' pick, leave the opener 22 points behind.
Cadillac's fifteen came entirely from DabFoot in fourth. Nesbi won D3 for VCARB earlier in the day, then finished 13th in the Cadillac without scoring. VCARB instead collected eighteen through Ben Arnold and Forestal in sixth and eighth. Ben was less impressed with his own contribution: “i was so slow on drys, im so flippin washed”.
JD's nine-place gain feels nothing like a recovery
McBeth finished seventh for nine points, with Audi team-mate Online adding one in 12th. For JD, tenth from 19th was worth three points and a request to be demoted.
“only got p10 bc of sc and people dying,” he wrote. Last season he had been fighting Higosh for the D4 title. After Singapore, he was asking to go back down while Zloober was collecting a D2 podium.
From D4 podiums to the Singapore D2 grid
Season 7 D4 podium records beside Singapore’s Season 8 D2 grid positions, finishes and championship points.
Mercedes lost Pooldiver to a different problem. He reported that his throttle had stuck again, this time ending his race. His 1:31.658 was the field's fastest lap, but retirement meant no bonus point. Hacko's eleventh supplied the team's two points, a disappointing start in the division Connor had built his late entry around.
Tom leaves his first D2 race with a win; Zloober leaves with the pole lap. The first round has given Ferrari the stronger result and Red Bull a driver quick enough to contest it.
▶D2
