After a chaotic race one, THR's Chris Butcher managed to overtake pole sitter Tom Stevens to win both his and THR's first ever Grand Prix United race. Race two saw Nocturne's Moritz Kropp win his first race of his career, after starting fourth on the grid. 29 drivers were ready for qualifying in Spielberg, with the only missing car being the #33 of Beyond Esports. Several drivers returned for a stand-in drive in the series. Tyler Manning would replace Sotiris Kontogouris at Team Yearone, and 2020 European F3 champion Menno Klont would fill in for Alexandre Peroche at Buttler-Pal Motorsport. Toby Davis would make his debut by replacing an ill Luke Maguire at THR, and Bradley Sellars, Chris Gristwood, Ryan Mazumder and Chris Gitsov would also make their debut in the league. Due to the nature of the track, it promised to be an extremely close qualifying, and it definitely delivered. The top ten ended up within half a second of each other, with the top 20 only being separated by just over nine tenths. It was familiarity up top, as Tom Stevens secured his second pole of the season for Nocturne. THR's Chris Butcher was only 0.034 seconds behind him in p2, with Daniel Brewer securing p3 for STAX Racing. The top 10 would be completed by Moritz Kropp, Lewis Bickers , Sven Geelhoed, Kenneth Singleton, Chris Gitsov, Guyon Branten and Alex Lehoux. Once again, THR, Nocturne and STAX Racing where the teams to beat in qualifying.
When lights went out for race 1, it was Tom Stevens who immediately had a good start. Approaching turn 1, there was a bit of contact between Moritz Kropp in third and Lewis Bickers in fourth. Luckily, it would mean no big consequences for the two as they managed to continue without any major damage.
Going into turn 3, it was Toby Davis who tapped the rear of Moritz Kropp. Kropp would be sent spinning, and with the field being so close to each other, he ended up colliding with Guyon Branten in seventh place. Both drivers would lose a couple of positions, before having to avoid a major accident ahead. Toby Davis, Stan Vlietstra, Chris Gitsov, Loïc Meunier and Massimiliano Ribolli collided, which caused multiple cars to go sideways and collect other cars in the process.
It would mean the end of the race for Gijs Sonneveld, Chris Gitsov and Menno Klont. Kenneth Singleton, Chris Gristwood, Dean Vella and Nikos Anastasopoulos would lose their front wing in the process and had to pit for a replacement.
After a chaotic lap 1, things seemed to settle down a bit for the drivers. Tom Stevens remained in first place, with Chris Butcher right behind him in second. Daniel Brewer, who recovered from a three place grid penalty, already found himself in third after the first lap of the race.
This order wouldn't stay the same for long. Butcher, who had been putting pressure on his Nocturne rival, managed to successfully pass Stevens in lap five. The top three would stay close together for the remainder of the race, but it wasn't enough for Stevens to regain the lead of the race.
After 14 laps of racing, Chris Butcher crossed the line in first place to secure his first win in Grand Prix United. Tom Stevens would finish in second, with Daniel Brewer in third. The top ten would be completed by Sven Geelhoed, Lewis Bickers, Peter Vagapov, Loïc Meunier, Alex Lehoux, Mortiz Kropp and Toby Davis.
Tensions were high for race two, as SimApex RT debutant Bradley Sellars was the one to secure pole position by finishing 12th in race one. After an initial good launch, he managed to stay ahead of THR's Toby Davis, who overtook Aleksander Rogoza off the line to take second place.
Entering the fourth corner, Davis gained yet another place, but this time, it was for the lead of the race. With a clean overtake on the inside, Davis now found himself leading a race in only his second race in the series. However, this wouldn't last for long. Moritz Kropp, who seemingly had the best pace out of the top four, managed to climb his way up from fourth to second in six laps.
By lap 8, he would be leading the race after a clean overtaking on Davis. Unfortunately, drama occurred two corners later, as an accident would happen between Davis and Rogoza in the braking zone of turn three. Both drivers spun out, which gifted Sellars and Meunier second and third respectively. Tom Stevens and Daniel Brewer would now be completing the top five and put heavy pressure on the two cars ahead.
Up front it was Moritz Kropp who managed to run away with the lead of the race. Stevens eventually managed to catch Sellars for second and secured the Nocturne 1-2, with Sellars securing his first podium and points scoring position by finishing third in only his second race in the league. Daniel Brewer would finish in fourth, with race one winner Chris Butcher in fifth. The top ten would be completed by Loïc Meunier, Lewis Bickers, Peter Vagapov, Aleksander Rogoza and Massimiliano Ribolli.
Tom Stevens leads the drivers' championship with 60 points, ahead of Chris Butcher with 51 points and Daniel Brewer with 43 points. In the teams' standings it is Nocturne who leads with 95 points, ahead of a tied second place between THR and STAX Racing, who both secured 73 points. The next round will be at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on the 3rd of January.
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