Round 5 of the Season brought us to the Second European track on the Calendar, at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Falcon set the early pace in Qualifying with a 1:18.0, which remained the fastest lap of the session until the end when Louis popped in a 1:17.9 to nab Pole from Falcon, Championship leader Michael lined his Ferrari up in 3rd place, while Ash and Theo completed the Top 5.

The front 3 got off the line well, with Louis defending the inside line into Turn 1, Falcon swooped brilliantly round the outside and got the move done, taking the lead of the race. While early problems towards the back of the field signalled a premature end to Malie, Tusz and Joruroo's races. Louis made a mistake defending from Michael on Lap 3, and lost the position to him, however, he avoided an error when Ash made an attack for the final podium position 2 corners later. Louis then made up for his mistake by passing Michael at the same point on the next lap, before taking the lead from Falcon into Turn 10, which cost Falcon 2nd place as well. The Top 3 eventually built a gap to the chasing pack and were jockeying positions between them, until a late move from Falcon sent Louis into a spin and into the pits for repairs. 

This left Michael and Falcon to battle it out in front.and all the Soft runners had pitted by Lap 11, the leading 2 opting for Hard tyres and the 1 stop. In order to make the most out of their strategies, they needed to clear a train of drivers who had started on Hard tyres, in order to break the dirty air and understeer, to give them the best chance of saving their tyres. Every time Michael put a car between himself and Falcon, Falcon evened it out almost immediately, and by Lap 18, both Drivers were clear of the traffic, and were back at the front on Lap 20, with a 5-second gap to the nearest driver. Louis was eager to make up for lost time after his earlier damage and took 3rd from Georgalis, while MrCosta and Johnny were squabbling for P5, however, the battle for 3rd was cut short by Louis spinning out of turn 2 and suffering more damage.

No matter how hard Falcon tried, he could not get the lead from Michael, and at times he was trying too hard, locking up and cutting corners out of impatience. Michael held on to take his 3rd win of the season and also became the first driver to win back to back races this season. Georgalis took the final podium position, while Lakitu and MrCosta completed the Top 5, late mistakes cost Michael's teammate Johnny a chance at 4th, and he finished 7th as a result. Michael now extends his lead of the championship to 35 points, while Ferrari extends their constructors lead to an emphatic 43 points.

Next Week we travel to Monaco, where the Drivers need to be at their best both mentally and physically to achieve a good result, tune in then to see who gets the next say in the title race.  

Round 3 of ERL Season 3 took us to the sweltering deserts of Bahrain. Michael holds the Championship lead coming into this race, but Falcon is hot on his tail. Either one of them could easily win in every single race.

Early on in Qualifying we saw some electric-quick lap times come in, with Falcon posting a 1:28.3 and Michael and Malie slotting in 1:28.5's, as the track rubbered in however, more and more people began to put in competitive lap times. Georgalis and Jake both improved on Falcon's time, before Falcon himself improved to put in a 1:28.156, which saw him take Pole Position by over a tenth, Georgalis and Jake lined up behind. Ashbest impressed to put his Sauber in 4th, while Michael could only manage 5th.

Lap 1 of the Race saw a few people in the midfield encounter some problems, such as a spin from Malie resulting in the retirement of a5 (Erik) and then later on the retirement of Johnny after contact with Zalan while trying to dive into the pits, leaving the Defending Champion without a front-wing at the back of the field. A 4-way battle for the lead was now in progress, with Falcon, Georgalis, Jake and Michael all inseparable on track. Georgalis attempted a number of overtaking lunges on Falcon to try and take the lead from him, but none were successful, one particular move on Lap 4 costing him 2nd place to Jake after he ran too deep. This battle continued, and allowed Ash to catch up, meaning there were 5 cars separated by just 1.5 seconds on track, while Jake nabbed the lead after being side-by-side with Falcon all the way through Sector 1 on Lap 7. 

The first round of stops made it clear who was going for what strategies during the race. Georgalis and Jake fitted Soft tyres on Lap 8/9, meaning they were on a 2-stop, while Falcon, Michael and Ash fitted Mediums, hoping to take those to the end of the race. The Medium pitters knew they needed to at least keep pace with the Soft runners in order to stay a pit-stop ahead. Falcon attempted to attack Georgalis before dropping back a little and coming under pressure from the squabbling pair of Michael and Jake. Michael was eventually stuck behind the Haas of Jake, who was on worn Softs and had minor front-wing damage, and when he pitted on Lap 20, it freed Michael, allowing him to make up his lost ground. Georgalis made his final stop on Lap 21/22, which meant he rejoined in 9th, just ahead of Jake. While Falcon, Michael and Ash battled it out for to the chequered flag. Ashbest overtook Michael into Turn 4 on the final lap, before a mistake spun him into Michael in Turn 8, neither driver lost firther positions but it allowed Falcon to take his Second win of the Season after coming out on top of yet another epic battle. Ash, admitting being at fault for the collision into Turn 8, allowed Michael to pass just before the line, meaning Michael finished 2nd and Maintained the Championship lead by just 3 points. Ash finished 3rd. MrCosta, Croissant, Danny and Malie all finished close to each other on the line as well and took positions 4th through to 7th, with Georgalis and Jake's 2-stops proving costly.

Michael holds a 3 point lead over Falcon in the Drivers, with the Constructors battle intesifying as well, we move to Russia next time for the next chapter in this already tense title battle.

After a 3-way battle for the win in Round 1, we came into China anticipating a very similar scenario. The Top 3 on the grid were separated by just 1 tenth of a second, with Michael taking Pole with a 1:32.141, just pipping Louis and Falcon who qualified 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Michael kept hold of the lead off the line, with Louis holding Second, Jake attacked the Top 3 with some aggressive manouvering on Falcon to take 3rd from him. The front of the field maintained their positions until the first round of pit-stops occurred. Jake and Louis pitted early for soft tyres, making their strategies obvious 2-stops, and the early stops helped them both to leapfrog Michael, who pitted on Lap 10, also for Soft tyres, while Falcon switched to Mediums, in the hope of taking them to the end of the race.

Michael was now battling Jake for second place, 2 laps passed with both drivers virtually inseparable on track. Michael eventually got the better of Jake and hunted down Louis, who was now leading the race. Louis dived into the pits on Lap 20 to fit Supersoft tyres to the end of the race, which gifted Michael the lead of the race again, promoting Hellboy to 2nd, after having started outside the Top 10. Michael held on to his Soft tyres for a full 18 laps, stretching them further than most thought possible to take his first win of the season, taking the Championship Lead in both the Drivers and the Constructors in the process, due to Falcon's 6th place finish after an eventful race for the Australia winner. Louis brought his Renault home in 2nd place, while Hellboy completed the Podium, while Cliffy was unfortunate to DNF due to an incident with Lakitu late on.

Michael currently leads Falcon by 10 points in the Championship after 2 rounds, but with both drivers proving they have winning credentials this season, could on of the come on top in Bahrain?

Last Saturday saw the beginning of Season 3 of ERL at Albert Park in Australia. Immediately there was interest due to the arrival of Rain in Qualifying, meaning the Drivers who focused best stood the best chance of Pole Position. Cliffy came out on Top in Qualifying with a 1:34.166, beating ERL_Falcon by just 0.079 seconds, Louis put his Renault 3rd, while Season 1 Champion Michael qualified 4th. 

The weather improved drastically for the race, meaning everyone was able to start the race on whatever tyres they wanted. Most drivers opted for the Supersoft compound and the comfortable 1-stop, Michael however chose to start on the Ultrasofts, with Louis on the Softs.

Cliffy maintained his lead into Turn 1, with Falcon behind. Michael overtook Louis on the run down to turn 3, which then triggered a collapse through the field for Louis. Dropping to 6th by the end of the first lap, and his eventual retirement a few laps later. Michael made a move on Falcon for 2nd on Lap 4 and made the move stick, allowing him to potentially catch the leading Cliffy on his softer tyres, renewing their infamous rivalry from Season 1. The leading 3 began to pull away from Jake and Hellboy behind throughout the opening stint before Michael dropped off on his wearing US tyres, before pitting on Lap 12 to fit the Supersoft tyres in the hope of going to the end of the race, rejoining in 7th position. Falcon responded and pitted on Lap 13 for Soft tyres, in the hope of undercutting Cliffy for the lead of the race. Which is exactly what happened, Cliffy rejoined in 3rd behind both Falcon and Michael, who then proceeded to engage in a logger-headed battle for the lead, with Michael desperately trying his very best to take the lead from Falcon, but without success.

Due to the leading pair squabbling away, Cliffy was able to catch right back up to them by Lap 23 and a 2-way battle for the lead became a 3-way battle. Cliffy took second from Michael through turns 3 & 4, before setting his eyes firmly on that first place trophy. Cliffy then took the lead of the race from Falcon at the same point on the Final Lap and held on to take the checkered flag. However, 2 time penalties for corner cutting demoted him to 3rd, behind Michael, allowing Falcon to win the first race of Season 3 after a race long battle with Michael and Cliffy. Hopefully this is the sign of a titanic rivalry between the 3 of them for the World Championship, join us on October 7th, 5pm UK time to see how the Chinese Grand Prix unfolds!