Grouwels comes back as Simoncic claims win

Roger Grouwels wins after a third-place start in Race 1 of Coppa Shell at Spa-Francorchamps, while Simoncic takes top honours in the Am category and shortens the distance from class leader “Alex Fox”.

At the first corner, multiple contact between the frontrunners saw polesitter Ernst-Albert Berg forced to exit the stage, leaving the leader of the general standings, Roger Grouwels the chance to take the lead, having started in third position. Behind came Ernst Kirchmayr and Christian Kinch who had got off to a flying start. Fourth Fons Scheltema ahead of James Weiland. In sixth position was Michael Simoncic, first in the Am class, followed by "Alex Fox", Willem Van Der Vorm, "Boris Gideon" and Guy Fawe.

During the sixth lap, Weiland, in an attempt to overtake Kinch, conceded the position to Scheltema. The Dutch driver, however, ran wide at Les Combes in the later stages, handing the place back to the American. Weiland began to pressure, determined to come away with a noteworthy result and on the ninth lap overhauled Kinch to claim third spot and, shortly after, pulled off a spectacular manoeuvre round the outside of the Bus Stop to overtake Ernst Kirchmayr too.

The Austrian, however, was clearly struggling with his tyres and, while on lap ten, after dropping two more positions, lost control of the car, crashing violently into the barriers at the exit from Eau Rouge. There were no consequences for the driver except in the championship standings. The position of the stationary car and the repair work to the barriers triggered a Safety Car intervention, which would, however, remain at the head of the group until the chequered flag, effectively freezing the positions and delivering a fifth 2020 victory to Roger Grouwels. Second place went to James Weiland while Christian Kinch took the lowest step of the podium. Fourth Fons Scheltema and fifth Guy Fawe, who produced an excellent comeback performance, having started from the rear of the grid. The win sees Grouwels consolidate his leadership in the general rankings with 128 points, edging away from Scheltema on 98.

The triumph in the Am class went to Micheal Simoncic, sixth overall, ahead of “Alex Fox” and Willem Van Der Vorm. Fourth was “Boris Gideon” and fifth, Matthias Moser. In the general standings, Simonic consolidates second position on 87 points, reducing the distance from the leader “Alex Fox”, who is still able to count on a 32-point advantage.