High anticipation for today’s Formula One Gold race was well-justified. Word was Steve Senegal and his ripping-quick Endeavor would be starting from the back after a low-flying penalty; in fact he started from the outside of the first row. This, along with some wide flying by his competitors, kept Endeavor out of the lead for over half the race.
In the meantime Justin Phillipson surprised everyone by jumping into the lead from the second row, and by virtue of low, tight flying kept a charging Vito Wypraechtiger astern for two laps. Meanwhile Wasabi-mounted Elliott Seguin kept watch from on high, orbiting over the nearly globe-trotting Senegal.
Inevitably luck and enthusiasm must yield to physics, and Phillipson ceded the lead to Wypraechtiger who was on an absolute tear. In turn, Endeavor’s unbeatable pace finally triumphed a bare two laps from the end. That left Wypraechtiger in Scarlet Screamer and Seguin in Wasabi to the duel suggested by their nearly identical qualifying speeds. But clearly Wypraechtiger has a ton of motor, not unexpected as he is well-sponsored by the race-savvy Ly-Con engine shop, employs a battery of adjustable mixture and ignition controls and knows how to use them. Instead of falling into a fight for second with Seguin, Wypraechtiger hung surprisingly close to Senegal to the end. Sequin, like the celebrated Jon Sharp of Nemesis fame, continued on his high line, not converting his altitude to speed to take third.
Not content with one of the most exciting F1 races in recent memory, fate is drawing the drama out with a reported protest of Endeavor’s engine, so the final results may yet vary.
