Comunicati Stampa - Donnybrook at Donington #1 Goes to Knight

Donnybrook at Donington #1 Goes to Knight

A tremendous back and fourth at the end of today's Rookie Series Week 8 race at Donington Park capped off an entertaining race between Brandon Knight and Nick Wheeler.

Knight ran away on lap 1, taking advantage of early blocking from Niklas Andersson that kept Wheeler off Knight's rear wing for the first couple laps. Andersson made a major mistake on lap 2 and crashed out on lap 3 after overcooking a blocking attempt on American, Brett Bennett. The early DNF will be crushing to the hopes of Andersson in the Rookie standings.

With Andersson out of the picture, Wheeler spent the next 10 laps closing the gap on Knight and sat tight, watching for a weakness in Knight's line, or an inkling of an opportunity to drive through.

A window opened on lap 17 (of 27) when Wheeler found a little extra speed off the final turn and passed Knight just after the line. He started to pull away, but the lead was short-lived for Wheeler as he made a huge error coming off the Old Hairpin turn, sliding wide and letting Knight back into the slipstream. After a strong block, Knight powered past him and drove away to a 4-second+ advantage.

Not to be left by the wayside, Wheeler closed the gap back to inside a second with 3 to go, but mistakes on lap 25 and the penultimate lap 27 cost him the chance to pass again. Reporters were chomping at the bit to talk to the two drivers at the end of the race.

Reporter: "What happened out there?"

Wheeler: "Exactly what I thought would happen, sans Andersson. We put on a spectacular show, and both of us know it. I guarantee no one in the stands, or watching at home was sitting down during the second half of that race. We were all over each other and it was an absolute blast."

Reporter: "Could you see what happened to Andersson?"

Wheeler: "Xavier [Wheeler's lead mechanic] said he drove into Bennett on lap 3. That's all I know. He took a crazy line in the [Caner] Curves on lap 2 and all I saw was daylight to Brandon's machine. I think even if he hadn't crashed, we were driving away."

Reporter: "Do you believe you had the faster car today?"

Wheeler: "Absolutely. I know we had the faster car. Fortunately we were able to punch in the fastest time and limit Brandon to only a gain of 5 points in the standings. But, he was the more consistent driver. I pushed my machine too hard at the wrong times and it cost me the race. I need to tone it down in race 2."

Reporter: "Your aggression on course as of late has been landing you a lot of good results, but at the same time you've been complaining about still needing to be better. Will you change your style?"

Wheeler: "Too many mistakes. I drove that thing to death today. It was on the edge from lap 1. I kept making up for the mistakes only to make another one when we got close. The biggest one [lap 20] was because I was too occupied looking in my mirror trying to see if I'd broken the slipstream with Brandon. I had, and we were driving away until I drove it too deep into Hairpin trying to stay away."

Reporter: "It sounds like beating Brandon means a lot to you. Do you think it's hurting your concentration on course?"

Wheeler: "Beating anyone means a lot to me. The fact that it's Brandon just means I know we're an equal match and that even the slightest advantage I can get on him could be the one that sticks. It was a brilliant race to be a part of, I'm sure it was awesome to watch, and I can't wait for a 2nd chance."

Reporter: "What should we expect from you in race 2?"

Wheeler: "Ha. Ideally we'd take it and run away with it early. But we'll see. Honestly I'm sure we'll get another one of these. Pit strategy plays a big role in the 2nd one though. I've had very strong pit strategies, thanks to Xavier, all season long and I think that plays to my advantage. When it comes down to it, I think it'll be Brandon and I with 10 to go hammering on each other until one of us crosses the line first."

Though the respect between the two drivers seems as strong as ever, the tone has certainly changed since qualifying. Those in the Wheeler camp know Race #2 is a big one as Knight is within striking distance on the standings sheets.