With just 5 points separating Teien from Meunier heading into Brazil, Jarl had chosen to take a new engine for this round; a very unusual choice but one that had paid off for him at Monza and Silverstone, to a lesser extent. The thinking behind it seemed to be that it was worth a couple of tenths in pure lap time, and with the nature of the counter strategy (H-M) as opposed to going (S-H) meant this could easily be one of the only ways that he could get into the championship fight at the final round.
It was not to be.
In qualifying, it was predictably tight at the top. Mlynek took pole by just shy of half a tenth from Jan Granqvist, who, due to multiple DNFs this season, also had a new engine to play with. Tom Stevens was P3, with Loic Meunier P4. Teien would start at the back as a result of his aforementioned choice to take an additional engine.
At the start, it was Stevens who stole the initiative from Granqvist, taking the position around the outside of turn 1, which allowed Meunier to profit heading into turn 4. Moritz Kropp would spin at turn 1 after an ambitious manouvre on the drivers ahead, but it was Teien who was making up the places – he was up 5 positions to P25 at the end of lap 1.
The race continued fairly calmly until lap 14 – Meunier attempted to overtake Stevens into turn 1, and side by side they went all the way until Turn 6. Stevens was not going to let Meunier by easily if he could help it.
It was clear that it would almost certainly be a one-stop race. However, a few drivers tried to make the two-stop work; it was a soft-medium-medium for them and Carlos Martin was one of those drivers, starting on the soft tyre and switching to the medium at the first stop. The expected window was lap 18-22, which would mean 50 laps on the hards. Teien, starting on the hards, had the luxury of switching to the mediums on lap 40.
Alex Lehoux attempted to take his softs a lot longer than the others, pitting on lap 24, having spun trying to defend his position from Jarl Teien, who was now P3. On lap 27 though, the first major drama occured. Meuiner, on fresh rubber, tried to overtake Moritz Kropp into turn 1 but the two stayed side by side. Through turn 2 they went, wheel banging, and the FTR driver (sister team of THR) edged Meunier onto the kerb – Loic then bounced off the kerb and into the side of Moritz. Kropp ended up in the barrier, his race done. Meunier somehow escaped with no damage. However, he lost a few seconds and several positions.
After the race, Loic said “Car was fabulous for Interlagos. Lost touch with the podium when I went too ambitious on Kropp trying a move with a closing gap, but I could gather a fifth place doing my best with what I had left of the car. Having lost too much time with the incident, a two-stop wouldn’t have been possible so it was a long claw back from 19th until Robin smartly stole my spot.”
On lap 32, Fournier and Schlueter came together, the Frenchman inexplicably driving into the back of Schlueter out of turn three, which also resulted in contact with the innocent bystander, Stephane Rouault. All three would be out on the spot. Luck was on Meunier’s side as he weaved his way expertly through the spinning, damaged cars.
Teien though, looked fairly imperious out front, his hards wearing well. He was maintaining a gap to those who had stopped, and was around 3 seconds in front when he finally pitted on lap 45.
On lap 42, Lehoux retired the car, having just set the fastest lap of the race. Lehoux has had seven retirements from the 15 races he’s entered this season, and the vast majority have been simply giving up his position.
After Teien’s pitstop, he emerged in P17, but with 26 laps to go and the gap to the lead around 18 seconds, it was completely on the cards for him to catch towards the end. However, overtaking 16 cars would be a mammoth task, even though some were on a two stop strategy and would soon box. Indeed, Teien’s first on-track overtake was on Falkenhain (in the Red Archer), which moved him up to 11th place. Next was Lalu – Jarl breezed past. Then, Fisher – Jarl soon made light work of him too. P10. Soon he was P11, chasing down Soriano, Wach and Singh. Meunier was 4th, with Pansar sitting behind him in 5th place. Teien made light work of Soriano, to move himself up into 8th place. Next was Tomasz Wach and Sandeep Singh.
At the end of lap 54, Teien made his move. Carlos Martin, who was on a two stop strategy, would close in if the two in front of him held him up.
Wach used a lot of push to pass to defend. Singh was soon closed down, and moved right, and then left as Teien lunged down the inside. Was Teien entitled to space? Did Singh see him? Either way, the two made contact, Singh drove Teien into the wall on the inside, and Jarl made contact with a slightly misaligned piece of barrier. He was out.
It was an uncharacteristic piece of driving – not necessarily deliberate but at the very least extremely clumsy – for the otherwise experienced Indian, who was standing in driving for Epic. It was also one with massive repercussions for the championship: with Jarl out and Meunier in fourth, could he secure the championship here?
Well, no. His tyres had lost a lot of grip from the half spin with Kropp. Towards the end of the race, he slowed, and Pansar slipped by into P4.
Meanwhile at the front, an epic battle was raging. Stevens and Granqvist both attempted to overtake, in vain. Mlynek was driving an exemplary race to secure his second victory of the season, and 5th overall in 78 Superleague races, as Stevens and Granqvist both tried, but failed, to get through.
Post race, Carlos Martin cleared up his two stop – “It was a shame, we wanted to set the C1 but a mistake led us to have the C2 without the undercut advantage. 4 seconds off from the lead is not bad considering how sub optimal this was.”
Meanwhile, FTR driver Sven Schubert was a bit miffed not to get another top 10. “Had a (for me) surprisingly consistent stint on the hards but on the mediums I got stuck behind Soltero and Fisher which I couldn’t overtake so that cost me a top 10.”
The championship is all but over now for THR’s Jarl Teien – he will try his best to clinch victory at Abu Dhabi. For the sake of the league and all participants, let’s hope in a season finale free from controversy, as two incredible drivers go head-to-head fighting for the crown.
