As if the inaugural season of the Crown Racing Series couldn’t be any more dramatic, the season finale delivered an ending to remember.
Three drivers came into the weekend with a shot at the title, but only one could claim the crown, and with a chasing pack of drivers all with nothing to lose, the stakes were high.
But even the brightest minds in Hollywood couldn’t have predicted how the title would be decided. Balazs Erdelyi, 20 points behind points leader Nicolai Pedersen and chasing ground after crashing in the wet, made the crucial overtake on the last lap of the season to snatch the crown by one point.
But how did the season finale turn into a race for the ages?
Race Analysis
Strategy Corner
As if the atmosphere around the CRS grid couldn’t be any more intense, Interlagos threw up another surprise: the weather went south with rain threatening before the race. This left drivers with a headache and a dilemma about when to pit and how to approach the opening stint.
Adding to the challenge would be a dry first stint, while the middle section of the race would see heavy rain, making the track ultra-slippery for drivers who had to time their pit stops perfectly.
Erdelyi’s date with destiny
With 20 points to make up, Erdélyi needed to finish inside the top seven and get the three points on offer for the fastest lap if he wanted a chance of taking the crown. Starting from third, Erdelyi made a timid start, dropping to fifth before jumping back to fourth briefly at the expense of Dani Neo, only for the Spaniard to retake the position on Lap 7.
Erdelyi ran comfortably in the top five until Lap 18, when a decision to stay out on slicks proved disastrous as he hit the wall at Turn 7, leaving him with a wrecked car and outside the top eight.
Needing to rally, Erdelyi quickly picked up ground, setting the fastest lap of the race before latching onto the back of sixth-place Kodi Cosford. On the last lap, Erdelyi muscled his way past the Scotsman at Juncao to take sixth and secure the points he needed to clinch the title.
Bozga’s happy ending
A season of missed opportunities and lost wins had a happy ending for David Bozga, who was a popular winner in Brazil.
Hunting for redemption after losing a dominant victory in Monza through a pitlane infringement, Bozga was in red-hot form in Brazil, qualifying second before he and Witvoet set a blistering pace in the opening stint. Eventually, Bozga made his move on Lap 7, diving up the inside of Luciano Witvoet on the approach to Senna S and set about building a small lead before his pitstop on Lap 17.
But Bozga wouldn’t be out of the lead for long as Witvoet pitted from the lead on Lap 18, allowing the Belgian in conditions where he has shown dominant pace in the past to win by over 20 seconds.
Witvoet picks up another rostrum
The pre-season favourite might not have enjoyed the easiest of campaigns, but a strong second place in the finale will come as some crumb of comfort.
After missing Monza due to personal circumstances, Witvoet had a strong start to his weekend in Brazil, taking pole position by less than a tenth from Bozga. With the Benelux pair building up a lead of over two seconds on third-place Gregory Hovesen, Witvoet and Bozga remained in position until the Belgian took the lead at the beginning of Lap 7.
While Bozga’s pace out front was too strong to mount a challenge for the lead, Witvoet ran a steady race in second to clinch Ferrari’s first 1-2 finish of the year.
Neg heads to the rostrum
After a year of what ifs and races compromised by misfortune, Neg ended his season with an unexpected trip to the rostrum,
Prior to Brazil, Neg had finished in the top 10 just once at Daytona, and the Romanian didn’t have the easiest start to the weekend, qualifying a lowly 10th. Neg had a dreadful opening lap, losing the rear of the Mustang on the exit of the Senna S, dropping him to last.
The key to Neg’s race was a well-timed stop for wets on Lap 17, helping him vault back into the top 10, and by Lap 24 he was running fourth, where he stayed until the chequered flag. However, with Neo picking a post-race penalty, Neg’s day was made even sweeter as he was promoted to the podium.
Neo misses out
Despite showing flashes of speed, particularly a surprise pole position at Spa, Neo hasn’t had the luck to challenge for the podium, and that was the case in Interlagos, where a first podium evaporated.
Following a dismal Monza, where a messy race saw him only manage 15th, Neo hoped to end his season on a high. From fourth, the Spaniard was locked in a tight battle for third with Hovesen, and the pair who clashed in Italy showed there was no love lost between them by trading paint lap after lap.
Neo then lost momentum after hitting the wall at Turn 8 on Lap 6, dropping him to fifth and triggering a swift pitstop for wets. The gamble seemed to have paid off as Neo recovered to third on the road, only to drop a position in the final classification after being penalised for an off-track overtake on Lap 7.
Woodrow bookends his campaign with a top five
One of the most inexperienced drivers on the grid, Ryan Woodrow has produced several solid performances throughout the season, and Brazil was no exception.
Hot off the back of his third top-six finish of the year at Monza, Woodrow had a difficult start in Brazil, dropping two positions by the end of the opening lap. It left the American with plenty of ground to make up, but by Lap 11, he had dispatched Cosford and Alexander Paulick to move back into seventh before the pitstop window.
That became sixth when he went around the outside of Cosford at the Senna S on Lap 22, and with Hovesen hitting trouble, he moved up to fifth. While Neo and Neg couldn’t be caught, Woodrow held on to seal his second top five of the year.
Driver Quotes
"While driving I knew when I was in P5 I would have had the championshi had. But I didn't know how much points P6 gets..."
"Finally I have a good result to show!"
Paddock Pass
De Vos and Pedersen fail to start
Before the weekend got underway, championship leader Pedersen wouldn’t start in Brazil due to scheduling clashes. That opened the door to Erdelyi and Youp De Vos with the pair in range to overhaul Pedersen’s 20-point lead.
But after qualifying, only Erdelyi could dethrone Pedersen as de Vos failed to take part in qualifying through unforeseen circumstances and therefore wouldn’t race, ending his slim title hopes.
Hovesen’s season ends with a whimper
Misfortunes come in threes. After losing victory at Spa and a frustrating Monza, derailed by several on-track incidents, Hovesen had a dismal Brazil, ending his season with a whimper.
No longer in title contention, Hovesen was still expected to play a part in the title race, and after gaining a spot at the start, he pushed Neo hard in their battle for third.
However, any chance of Hovesen taking a second win came to an end when he tried to brave it out on slicks while the track was wet, causing him to tumble down the order and go three laps down. Tenth at the flag was a miserable end to what should have been a great year for the passionate Canadian.