F1 Pro Series - “Tonzilla” strikes again with another win in Spielberg

The second round of the F1 Pro Series 2019 has taken place at London’s GFinity Arena and the three races that made up the round confirmed that David “Tonzilla” Tonizza is one of the most on-form sim drivers in this early part of the season. The Ferrari Driver Academy Esports Team’s Italian driver has actually secured his third win in six races to lead the championship.

Montreal. The first race took place at Montreal’s Gilles Villeneuve Circuit and the two FDA Esports Team drivers struggled a bit in qualifying, with Tonizza 11th and Amos Laurito 17th. The start was in the dry, but after just three laps, the virtual skies in Canada clouded over as rain fell. The first to pit for intermediate tyres was Laurito, who at the end of the run of pit stops was lying ninth. “Tonzilla” stayed out on slicks, pulling off some breath-taking passing moves in almost impossible conditions, but eventually had to stop to change tyres. The stop did not go to plan and David lost a lot of time but made up ground once back on track. The weather got worse and Laurito came in for full wets. However, it turned out to be the wrong choice and it dropped him to the back of the pack and he finished 19th. “Tonzilla” however played a waiting game and worked his way all the way up to eighth at the flag.

Spielberg. The second race saw the sim drivers tackling the Spielberg track and Tonizza was back on form, taking pole in qualifying. Things went less well for Laurito, who qualified 18th. When the lights went out, David got off ahead of Frederik Rasmussen in the Red Bull and maintained a narrow lead for the early stages. In the meantime, further back, Amos produced several passing moves. The race leader managed to perfectly manage the ERS, keeping his pursuers at bay, even though they were always right on his gearbox. However, none of them could get by the FDA Esports Team driver, even when DRS was available. To avoid pit lane traffic, David made his stop on lap 5 of 18, producing a very effective undercut, which saw him make up plenty of ground over his rivals. From then on, he looked after his tyres and managed his lead, even though his pursuers, especially Rasmussen, closed right up as expected. For “Tonzilla” this was his third win in as many races. Laurito, slowed by traffic, crossed the line in 16th place.

Silverstone. The third round saw the cars and sim drivers head for Silverstone, where David showed true class in taking pole position yet again. Gianfranco Giglioli took the place of Amos Laurito and qualified 18th. At the start, the driver of the 46 car kept the lead, but on lap 3 he had to deal with being overtaken by Rasmussen. Two laps later, “Tonzilla” tried to do something about it by pitting early, but traffic in the pit lane cost him valuable time. The Italian rejoined ninth and then fought his way up to fourth at the flag. However, after the race, he was given a 3 second penalty, which demoted him to fifth. The race was won by Kiefer in the Racing Point ahead of Rasmussen. Giglioli crossed the line in 17th spot. Currently, David Tonizza lead the championship with a clear advantage on 104 points to Rasmussen’s 92.