The start of yesterday’s race was chaotic with Arjun Maini coming in too hot to the turn 6 chicane ramming into the side of Lucas Auer.
He has today received a 5 place grid penalty for that incident and qualified 3rd but will now start 8th moving Lawson up to 3rd after his 4th place qualification.
Kelvin Van der Linde has once again claimed pole position becoming the first driver this season to clinch pole twice in a single race weekend. That meant he gained 3 points and moved him into the lead of the championship just 3 points ahead of Lawson.
Kelvin did well to qualify 1st but will start the race with the full 25kg of success ballast which could hinder his chances at a second win. Lawson however, will race from 3rd without any added weight.
After qualifying 3rd Lawson said:
“Thanks to Arjun for gifting us that extra place. It’s unfortunate for him but is crucial for us to grab any points where we can.”
How do you feel about starting from 3rd again?:
“Being on the inside of turn one is actually not ideal because you end up on the off line heading in and its easier for those to eye up an overtake from behind.”
“… Kelvin obviously has the ballast so we will do what we can to get that win. We will be pushing very hard and already this weekend we’ve been doing the best we can under the circumstances.”
“They’ve[ABT Sportsline] definitely got some speed that cant be explained I don’t think anyone has got 2 poles in a row in a weekend before so credit to them. But hopefully this race we can bring the fight to them and grab those much needed points.”
Here are how the drivers qualified (with Arjun Maini dropping 5 places):
Featured image source: twitter.com/liamlawson30