Angel Inostroza earned maximum points for Chile in Round 2 of the 2022 Nations Cup as he overcame changeable weather conditions at Spa-Francorchamps.
In the second round but third race of the 2022 Gran Turismo World Series, Angel Inostroza and Chile claimed victory and three crucial points for the Nations Cup competition.
This time, taking place on the 24-hour Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps circuit, just like the last manufacturers’ event, the field fielded identical street-legal Porsche 911 GT1s – worth a cool nine million in-game credits.
During the short qualifying session, Lucas Bonelli, winner of the opening lap, took pole position for Brazil, just 0.07s ahead of Inostroza, who in turn was just 0.003s ahead of Italy’s resurgent Valerio Gallo.
As the 12-lap race started from a standing start and headed downhill towards Eau Rouge, it was the Chilean who went off the line fastest and took an early lead.
Gallo would go through first on the Kemmel straight but behind a group of cars led by Spaniard Jose Serrano charged into Les Combes. The Spanish and Italian riders flew off the road, Gallo visibly frustrated at being relegated to 10th place while Serrano stayed in fourth place.
The stewards ruled that Adriano Carrazza was at fault and handed out a three-second penalty.
The kerfuffle left Inostroza 1.5 seconds ahead of Bonelli in second place, with Japan’s Kanata Kawakami rounding out the podium in the early stages. The gap to the front would increase to over three seconds by half-time.
Gallo, meanwhile, fought back and fought his way up to seventh at the start of lap three, overtaking Ryota Kokubun at La Source.
With bad weather expected, all drivers started on soft compound slick tyres, but as clouds began to cover the circuit, Serrano and Carrazza made the brave decision to pit for intermediate rubber before it even started to rain would have.
But seconds later the sky opened up. In Gran Turismo 7, there is a handy weather radar and water gauge that drivers can use, which has helped implement various strategies.
At the end of the seventh lap, Bonelli, Kawakami, Baptiste Beauvois, Igor Fraga, Kylian Drumont and Matthew McEwen also made changes on a visibly damp track. However, leaders Inostroza and the recovering Gallo stayed out on slicks.
Those who stayed out longer before switching tire types eventually pitted with just over four laps to go and it proved to be the right decision. Those who had previously visited the pit lane had dropped the order like a stone.
Gallo, on the other hand, had jumped back to second place by finishing later than the rest of his immediate rivals, while Kokubun was in third place.
Tomoaki Yamanaka made the bold decision to select new slick tires. He initially fell behind, but when the rain stopped on the last two laps and a fight ensued between Fraga and Kawakami, the Japanese rider was suddenly the fastest on the track.
On his way through the race he came into contact with several competitors, most of whom were judged fair, apart from a pull on Drumont by Blanchimont, and received a one-second penalty. He still rose to fourth place through the checkered flag.
At the head of the field, however, the top three remained constant.
“The start was pretty perfect,” said Inostroza
“Nobody knew when the rain was going to come… It was a bit of a lottery but I pitted when I had to and it all worked out perfectly.
“Finally I can say that I won a Nations Cup race!”
GRAN TURISMO NATIONS CUP 2022 ROUND 2 RACE RESULTS
- Chile – Angel Inostroza – 12 rounds
- Italy – Valerio Gallo +3,055
- Japan—Ryota Kokubun +3,707
- Japan—Tomoaki Yamanaka +4,829
- Brazil – Lucas Bonelli +8,788
- France – Baptiste Beauvois +9.009
- Brazil – Igor Fraga +9.243
- France – Kylian Drumont +11.341
- Japan—Kanata Kawakami +11.805
- Spain – Jose Serrano +14.838
- New Zealand – Matthew McEwen +18.802
- Brazil – Adriano Carrazza +52.017
