2014 VGPC Malaysian Grand Prix
 2014 VGPC Malaysian Grand Prix
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The 2014 VGPC Malaysian Grand Prix was a Virtual Grand Prix Championship race that was held at the Sepang International Circuit in Selangor, Malaysia on 21 April 2014. The race was contested over 56 laps and was the second round of the 2014 F1F Virtual Grand Prix Championship.
Will Hoskins won after a race-long battle with polesitter Karl Beckenbauer that culminated only at the final corner, with Hoskins diving up the inside to take the lead and win. Adrien Simon was leading early on, but threw it away after missing his pit box during a stop, although recovered to third after passing Romano Agostino at the final corner on the last lap, denying Fun their first podium.
The race featured a number of incidents in which car's rolled over, including James Harding, who suffered serious injuries as a result of the crash that ruled him out of competing in the remainder of the championship.
Report
Background
Force Australia driver Gerard Alaniz was handed a ten-place grid penalty for the race for causing the turn one incident in the preceding Australian Grand Prix, where he braked too late for the corner and hit Jonas Phipps causing a chain reaction of incidents.
Alaniz was also given a forty-second time penalty to be added to his race time after he blocked, and subsequently caused an incident with, race leader Adrien Simon in Australia.
Practice
Following his win in Australia, Karl Beckenbauer continued his form heading into Malaysia by going quickest in the practice session. Will Hoskins also continued where he left off in Australia by being second quickest while Hugh Dwyer pulled a lap out of the bag for Fun F1 to take the third fastest time. Enrique Ruiz made it two Franklin's in the top four with Adrien Simon rounded out the top five.
Qualifying
Adrien Simon followed up his Australian pole position by setting the initial fastest time but was soon beaten by Franklin's Will Hoskins. Hoskins then held pole position until the dying seconds when a last-gasp lap from Karl Beckenbauer moved him into pole by just over a tenth.
Hoskins' teammate Enrique Ruiz heads row two ahead of Simon while Marcus Thunder and Enzo Domenicalli share row three after setting identical times of 1.41.252. Thunder got fifth by virtue of setting his time first. His teammate and reigning champion Nathaniel Powers had a better session than last time out in Australia by qualifying ninth and Fun also enjoyed a better day with eighth and thirteenth on the grid.
Meanwhile Team 23's woes continued with eleventh and sixteenth, while Peugeot were also brought back down to earth after a strong debut with a disappointing showing of fourteenth and nineteenth. Warrior Racing also suffered, with their two cars setting the slowest two times and were only spared locking out the back row thanks to Gerard Alaniz's ten-place grid penalty which, after he only qualified in twenty-first, puts him last on the grid.
Race
Will Hoskins got a great start passing polesitter Karl Beckenbauer into turn one and just behind them Adrien Simon also passed Enrique Ruiz for third. Beckenbauer didn't sit behind for long however, re-passing Hoskins before the end of the lap, however Hoskins wouldn't take it, and fought back a few laps later. The pair continued to trade places throughout the race, passing each other a number of times.
In the midfield however things were even tighter as Carson Davenport tagged the back of Jean Mattson's car and left the Team 23 machine stranded broadside at turn one. Mattson was then hit by Hugh Dwyer, Jonas Phipps and Lewis Ellington, all of whom couldn't avoid the Team 23 car and required trips to the pits for new front wings.
Back up the front Beckenbauer and Hoskins continued to swap places for the lead but a scary moment occurred when Enzo Domenicalli's brakes failed at turn nine and he collected Ruiz's Franklin F1 car, narrowly avoiding his own teammate Puccio Giodano. Domenicalli was desperately trying to avoid everyone, particularly his teammate right in from of him, but Ruiz was unlucky to be turning the corner as the Scuderia Rossi car flew through.
Slightly further back the three stopping Tumo Kinnumen was fighting his way back through the field on a lower fuel load when Felix Beyer dived up the inside and just caught his rear wheel, launching the Westwood car into the air. Luckily Kinnumen didn't roll completely over but the damage sustained by the landing left the Westwood car out of the race.
A few laps later a similar incident occurred when Michal Kubat attempted to pass his Warrior Racing teammate James Harding into turn seven. The wheels touched and Harding flipped upside down, sliding into the gravel trap on the roll hoop before the car dug into the gravel and barrel rolled seven times.
Back up at the front Hoskins and Beckenbauer continued to swap places but Beckenbauer was blocked by Ellington prior to his first pit stop, losing two seconds to Hoskins. Hoskins pitted two laps later and Simon stormed into the lead, setting fastest lap after fastest lap on the build-up to his own stop. With these quick laps Simon was able to exit the pits comfortably in the lead. Back in fourth however Romano Agostino stole the fastest lap from Simon, and passed Beckenbauer for third as a result, and soon after moving into second past Hoskins.
Agostino then came in for his only stop and Beckenbauer moved past Hoskins to make it a Liverpool 1-2, but further back another roll occurred. Mattson attempted to pass Regi Abott but misjudged it slightly and caught the Peugeot's rear wheel, taking his own front wing off and launching himself into a series of eight rolls. Just a lap later his teammate Elroy Wagner nearly made the same mistake on Marcus Thunder, but was lucky to get away with no damage.
Back at the front Simon pitted from the lead but missed his pit box and as a result had to pit again the next lap, dropping him to fourth. In the midfield Nikolai Milkovich looked strong for another points finish but misjudged a move on Abott and flew over the rear wing, taking his own front wing off but leaving Abott's car undamaged.
Meanwhile up front Beckenbauer and Hoskins continued to switch places, but Beckenbauer lost crucial time when Gerard Alaniz pulled across on him and bounced the Liverpool slightly into the air. Beckenbauer escaped without damage and closed quickly back in on Hoskins and moved back into the lead.
The battle resumed and the pair continued to swap places all the way through to the final corner of the last lap, where Hoskins stole the win from Beckenbauer. Simon performed the same move on Agostino to deny Fun their first ever podium. Giodano took fifth while Nathaniel Powers stole sixth from teammate Thunder on the final lap to secure Downton's first ever double points finish. Wagner, Keith Boston and Abott took the final points places.
Classification
Practice
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Qualifying
- Notes
- ^1 — Gerard Alaniz was given a ten-place grid penalty for causing the turn one accident in the preceding Australian Grand Prix.
Race
- Notes
- ^1 — Gerard Alaniz was given a forty-second time penalty for blocking and causing an accident with Adrien Simon in the Australian Grand Prix.
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings
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Constructors' Championship standings
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
See also
| Previous race: 2014 Australian Grand Prix |
F1F Virtual Grand Prix Championship 2014 season |
Next race: 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix |
Malaysian Grand Prix | Next race: 2015 Malaysian V-Prix |
