Photo: Dutch Photo Agency
Very hot conditions again here today at Barcelona, meaning that the very high tyre degredation on this circuit would be even more of an issue for the drivers to manage.
As a result of yesterday's qualifying issues, Calan started the race from P25 on the grid.
Through the opening corners he was caught on the outside and as a result dropped two positions. However with the early life in the tyres quickly gained these back over the opening laps with good decisive moves firstly in turn 2 and then into turn 1.
From here the majority of the race was a long procession of nose to tail racing with two safety car restarts which Calan navigated well. With the layout of the circuit and the wear on the tyres whilst following a car closely in front overtaking was exceptionally difficult.
With 4 laps to go, Calan made a move on Fraga through turn 1 and had all but completed the move when he was squeezed into the curb causing minor contact. His steering was knocked out of alignment, and it was a case of managing this through to the finish which he did to finish in his starting position of P25.
Whilst the cost of qualifying is high here and influenced significantly the result of the race, the positive is how effectively Calan managed his tyres through the race with strong pace at the end. In this Championship the ability to gain this experience is very limited for the first year drivers, so this is very valuable given this is likely to be the most extreme degredation of the season.
Race 2 tomorrow!
Photos: Dutch Photo Agency