How many times did we witness a double win by Aenore Rose in More Female Racers Season 5? The answer to the rhetorical question is ‘3 times out of 5’ and judging by the inaugural round of Season 6 we might be going down that road once again. But the competition will be fierce and the championship is going to give us some surprises for sure. MFR is officially back, as the first green flag dropped at Zolder last Monday 3rd April.
Aenore Rose picks up right where she left off
The first round of More Female Racers Season 6 is in the books and Aenore Rose already made things clear. Pro racers will have to beat her in order to be crowned champions. Rose’s title defence started on the front foot by claiming a pole position and a double win in the opening round, but, let’s rewind the tape and start from the beginning.
After setting the tone in qualifying, Rose looked in control of the newly adopted Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo during the race as well. Following a clean start, the reigning champion was able to build a solid gap right off the bat, setting a strong series of fastest laps. At the end of the first 30 minutes of racing of the season, she took the chequered flag in P1, ahead of Victoria Thomson and Alexa Gates.
With rivals showcasing some potential pace-wise, Rose understood that having track position would have been crucial. And that’s why she perfectly covered the inside line coming into turn 1. A smart decision, that allowed her to keep the lead and fend off Thomson and Gates. The other two contenders for the win ended up fighting each other and making it easier for Aenore Rose to claim the full points for round 1 at the end of race 2.
Thomson and Gates swap places on the podium
Victoria Thomson and Alexa Gates are now tied in second in the overall standings, as they collected the same amount of points. In the first race of the evening things immediately got heated while the two were fighting for P2. A slight tap in the back in the early stages of the race resulted in a loss of time and positions for Thomson and a 10 seconds time penalty for Gates.
The Race Control decision basically handed back the position to Thomson at the chequered flag. In fact, Gates finished second on track but was demoted to P3 as they were separated by less than 10 seconds. The occasion to get revenge immediately came up at the start of Race 2.
The defensive manoeuvre by Rose forced Thomson to take a wider line in turn 1. The latter lost momentum coming out of the corner and Gates took advantage of the situation claiming P2. Thomson kept things close throughout the entire race and in the final 5 minutes tried her best to regain the lost position, but Gates was superb in keeping her at bay.
Mills and Floding take one win each in AM class
With Silver class no longer existing in Season 6, the AM class gains even more traction and attention. This class is designed to put Sim Racing newcomers in the same standings and allow them to develop by racing against opponents with similar skill levels.
After the first round, the two names that stand out are Taylor Mills and Emma Floding. In Race 1, Mills looked more like a Pro in disguise, fighting in that group with Ruby Acosta. In the final chicane, they touched, putting Mills’ lead at risk for a while. Luckily for her, the gap to the others was big enough to secure her first win of the season ahead of Olivia Hayward and Eris Aphelion.
In Race 2, another contact by Mills turned out to be extremely costly for her. Mills got tangled up with Esmeralda van der Naald, losing the lead in the final stages of the race. Emma Floding benefited from the mistake and claimed her first win in MFR.
Mills can find some comfort by looking at the class standings, though, as thanks to the second place in Race 2 she is now leading. Hayward claimed her second podium of the evening by keeping Leah Nudle behind and claiming P3.
Next stop: Silverstone
You have voted for it and you will have it. Silverstone won the public track poll and it will be our race venue for Round 2. More Female Racers does not have an already established calendar, as the next track is always picked with a live poll during the YouTube broadcasting on the SimGrid YouTube channel. The new season has just started and we cannot wait for more.
