Rubens and Mawer had a bit of a get together after the start which delayed them both. Seems like it was a normal lap 1 type incident with a bit of a nudge.
Reflecting on the incident the former Formula 1 star felt his rival missed his braking mark, while admitting he was lucky not to spin his Team BRM entry.
“It’s been quite a thing for everyone as everyone had to learn how to start,” said Barrichello post-race.
“I had a good jump but stayed back a bit and went into the first corner and I knew the cars were close by.
“I tried to give a little bit of space and I think he missed the braking point and he hit my rear wheel. I was lucky not to spin and kept on the grass.
“After that the steering wheel was a little bit to the left so I think it was a bit bent, but I still had a good experience trying to fight the other guys.
“I was a little down on acceleration so we are looking into that but I was getting closer and closer to the fastest lap, my car is not the fastest but it is getting there.
“I’m pretty sure that, because my steering wheel was a little bit to the left, it might have something to do with my straight-line speed. I hope it gets fixed, the team is working on that.”
Meanwhile, experienced Australian single-seater racer, Mawer, felt he had left enough room for the former Ferrari F1 great going into Turn 1.
“I got a good start, so I wanted to make use of that,” said Mawer.
“I was inside Rubens, he must have known I was there. It got tight at the apex and we touched.
“Obviously it was the last thing I wanted. I haven’t actually spoken to Rubens, he’s probably not too happy about it. But there’s going to be plenty more wild moments like that in S5000.
“Look, I’ll have a talk to him. It takes two to tango, I didn’t have any more room on the inside. I couldn’t do much. There might have been a bit more room on the outside.”
The pair will return to action on Sunday morning for the second Qualifying Race, with Barrichello set to start eighth behind Mawer in sixth.
It was quite close up front from what I can tell. (Still in Spain so no live TV) and the two leaders were never that far apart. Only one DNF and that was a mechanical issue.
Results: S5000 Qualifying Race, Sandown
Pos Num Driver Team Car Laps Time
1 23 Tim Macrow MTEC Motorsport S5000 16 17:41.4160
2 24 John Martin AGI Sport S5000 16 17:41.8671
3 31 James Golding Garry Rogers Motorsport S5000 16 17:46.5619
4 83 Matthew Brabham MTEC Motorsport S5000 16 17:48.2286
5 38 Will Brown Eggleston Motorsport S5000 16 17:52.4817
6 8 Alex Davison Team BRM S5000 16 17:53.9244
7 111 Rubens Barrichello Team BRM S5000 16 17:56.5360
8 34 Ricky Capo Modena Engineering S5000 16 18:05.3495
9 27 Barton Mawer Milldun Motorsport S5000 16 18:13.9251
10 33 Tim Berryman Team BRM S5000 16 18:17.1131
11 97 Taylor Cockerton MTEC Motorsport S5000 16 18:27.7924
12 11 Michael Gibson AMC Finance S5000 16 18:39.4766
DNF 22 Tom Alexander AGI Sport S5000 2 2:32.9546
So we have another qualifying race tomorrow followed by a 30 minute main race.