BMW Sim Racing Team will be hoping to go a step further in Season 2, but they'll have to qualify for the playoffs first. Fordzilla were the whipping boys of Season 1 in the V10 R-League, so would have to improve to take anything from this matchup.
Let's see how these two teams got on against each other in Round 1!
Sensational Silverstone
BMW Sim Racing Team: Kevin Siggy, Felix Quirmbach & Michael Romanidis
Fordzilla: Emre Cihan, Shaun Arnold & Pablo Lopez
For the first time in the V10 R-League, the glorious cars headed to Silverstone. Kevin Siggy started on pole for BMW and maintained his lead into Turn 1. Pablo Lopez got alongside into Village and made a diving move for P1 into The Loop.
Contact was made, Siggy went wide and Lopez took the lead. The stewards though, would definitely want a word with the Fordzilla man. Siggy closed up fast, but when Lopez dived into the pits for the first driver change, the battle was now against the clock.
Siggy's extra lap allowed him to open up a clear gap ahead of Emre Cihan after the first driver changes. The final stops would produce a surprise though, as Shaun Arnold's Fordzilla emerged ahead of Felix Quirmbach.
Quirmbach gave it his all, but he couldn't catch the experienced Arnold. However, the stewards would take away Fordzilla's victory thanks to a time penalty for Lopez's contact.
More drama in Village
Five laps for the team race would give Fordzilla the chance to level the battle. They'd have a lot to overcome though, as BMW locked-out the front row. Cihan looked to change that though, and put a brilliant move on Michael Romanidis for second in Abbey.
Romanidis hung in there and regained his place before contact between he and Cihan sent the Greek wide and spun round the Turk. Romanidis re-joined the circuit but had yet more contact with Cihan with both the former and Arnold flying off circuit.
BMW were in the driving seat for now with Siggy leading the race. Romanidis v Cihan was descending into a real grudge match as the pair tangled again into Vale.
Siggy was in a class of his own out front, but couldn't get too comfortable, as Quirmbach spun on Lap 2 and dropped to P5 after he let Romanidis through. The stewards decided to take no action against Cihan nor Romanidis, so BMW won the team race to go 2-0 up.
Mega Mugello
The beautiful Mugello circuit in the Tuscan mountains played host to the second round of races. In the relay race, Cihan started from pole but Romanidis got a run on him around the outside into Turn 1. There was yet more drama though, as the pair made contact and Romanidis was spun around.
Siggy tried his best to close the gap, but Cihan and then Lopez held Fordzilla's advantage at five seconds. Arnold took the wheel for Fordzilla's last lap and he continued to maintain the gap.
Arnold saw the chequered flag first and no action from the stewards meant Fordzilla were on the board in Season 2!
BMW return to form
BMW locked out the front row again, but a long run into the first braking zone would give Fordzilla a chance to get in between. It was a thoroughly professional job by BMW though, as Romanidis led from Siggy.
It wasn't all straightforward for BMW though, as Quirmbach spun later on Lap 1 and fell ten seconds adrift of the pack. Cihan stayed within a second of Siggy, but as we saw in Williams v JAESA earlier in the week, passing is difficult in Mugello.
A BMW 1-2 was a fine return to form for the German team, as they took the tie 3-1 overall. Fordzilla though, will be encouraged by scoring a point against one of the most consistent outfits on the V10 R-League grid.
Kevin Siggy was full of praise for his team after their victory:
"Looking at Michael's pace, and the commitment he has, he's doing an amazing job... It's all about the team, there's no ego involved, I want the team to win." Siggy explained to Rachel Stringer.
In the Group B standings, BMW move to second place behind Williams, while Fordzilla are third ahead JAESA Suzuki.
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