Charlie Bebb was in the spotlight at FP1 as he dominated practice and sprint race – but did he?
WTEC 2021. The first practice session at Road Atlanta saw the fbl community slowly getting to know the track and pick up pace. With one exception: Charlie Bebb (Cambrian Sim Racing) was way ahead of the field from the beginning – about a second clear of his competitors throughout the first half of FP1. And in the sprint race he crossed the finish line 10 seconds ahead of Francesco Cuscino on P2.
So everything is set for the race on sunday? Not if you take a closer look. The end of FP1 saw five drivers in the 1:16s. Thomas Renders (Den Kaap) just 0.15 seconds behind Bebb, followed by Cuscino, Joost Simkens (Den Kaap) and Nicholas Allen (Cambrian Sim Racing). Furthermore, taking a look on long run pace, Bebb’s average lap time after 31 laps was at 1:19.226 – placing him even behind Nihad Gluscic who didn’t make it to the 1:16s.
And that leads us to the second insight made in FP1: There’s no room for error on the fast and tight track at Atlanta. Thomas Renders got to the back of the field after going 3-wide through turn 1 with Cuscino and Gluscic. Kapeller (Gulf) got off track as he chose a different line through T1 and couldn’t position his Radical for the next blind corner anymore.
So while not everything is set for a win of Bebb at Road Atlanta, everything is set for an exciting third round of the WTEC 2021. Not at least with Cascardo (Marlboro), Brumby (Gulf) and Wynn (Red Bull) getting on track again this sunday. But just one more thing for them to know: In race mode Bebb averaged at 1:17.6.