Masse Takes Mexico Opener After Porcu's Fall from the Lead
Florian Masse won the first round of the Championship at MEX - F1 1970 - R1 - Mexico, assuming command when Simone Porcu's promising race unravelled at half-distance. Willphaizer and FMG completed a closely contested podium.
A lead lost at Espiral
The new Championship began with a full field of 25 Formula RSS 1970 V8 cars and a race whose early order offered little permanence. FMG had started from pole, but by the end of the opening lap Simone Porcu was in front, with the pole-sitter third. Porcu retained the advantage through the opening exchanges, while Florian Masse, FMG and Willphaizer formed a compact leading group from lap 3 to lap 17.
It was Porcu's race to lose until the thirteenth lap. An incident at Espiral dropped him from first to twentieth, and Masse emerged as the new leader. Thereafter the Frenchman made the position his own, completing all 36 laps to win the Championship opener. Porcu's final classification of twelfth gave scant indication of the authority with which he had controlled the first third of the afternoon.
The podium contest
Behind the changing leader, FMG and Willphaizer remained central figures in the front-running contest. Along with Masse, they had run within five seconds of one another for fifteen successive laps in the early and middle portions of the race, a sufficiently close formation to ensure that Porcu's misfortune did not make the result a foregone conclusion.
Willphaizer brought his car home second, three points behind Masse in the first table of the season. FMG, who had begun from pole and was still second late in the race, slipped to third on lap 27 after incidents at Espiral. He nevertheless reached the flag to preserve a podium which reflected his pace over the greater part of the distance. Drik Crozet was fourth and David Czemmel fifth, both completing the full 36 laps.
Sirén's long return
Kasperi Sirén supplied the afternoon's most striking recovery. He had been second at the end of lap 2, only to fall to twenty-fourth on lap 3 following an incident at Peraltada. From there he worked steadily back through the field, and his eventual sixth place was a considerable return from a position which might easily have ended his afternoon.
The Finn's speed was beyond question. His 1:41.305 was the fastest lap of the race, only a little over five-hundredths quicker than Masse's best effort. That combination of the fastest lap and a sixteenth-place-to-sixth recovery lent particular substance to Sirén's points haul, even if the first result of a long Championship can settle nothing by itself.
Progress through the field
Fabien Lauzet also made a substantial advance, rising from seventeenth on the grid to finish seventh. Stefano Bucci was eighth and Stefano Robert Rebessi ninth, while Davide Ricciardi completed the top ten after a late contest with Rebessi that changed order several times. Rebessi reclaimed ninth on the final lap.
Czemmel's fifth position had been earned amid an earlier, sustained contest with Andrew. The pair exchanged the advantage more than once in the first dozen laps, before Andrew later lost ground after incidents on lap 27. Czemmel thus joined the leading six as one of the men to have completed the full distance.
Masse leaves MEX - F1 1970 - R1 - Mexico with 40 points and the first Championship lead, Willphaizer on 37 and FMG on 34. It is only the opening entry in a six-race campaign, but the afternoon established a useful first impression: the front of the field is closely matched, and a moment's disorder can alter the complexion of a race completely.