BARDS BREAKS THE CURSE AS HIS TEAMMATE RANKS UP WITH THE CROWN IN BAKU!

Rankupwithme may have arrived in Baku as the reigning champion-elect, but it was Bards who finally had the moment he had been chasing for five seasons. After a dramatic final two laps, Bards took his maiden A1881 victory, beating his teammate Rankupwithme in a Williams one-two, while Keon continued his extraordinary run with yet another podium. With the WDC and WCC already decided, the fight for the remaining championship medals now goes down to the season finale at Madring...


Rankup backed up his championship credentials with a stunning pole, but Baku's Safety Cars turned the race into something of a lottery. An early intervention on Lap 5 shuffled the strategies before another Safety Car on Lap 21 left the field with barely two racing laps to settle everything. Bards had positioned himself perfectly and, with the Williams duo running flat-out towards the flag, launched the decisive attack down the final straight. After five seasons of near misses, there was no mistake this time.

Bards:“So this is what it feels like to win in A1881 !!! Get in I'm well happy 5 seasons I've been waiting for this and feels good that the effort putting into this has finally paid off. But also happy for my teammate who has been pretty much unstoppable all season long. And who has also pushed me to be better as I was determined to beat him at least once. So congrats champ well deserved 👏

Race wise probably the track I managed to practice the least this season and I think that's showed through out the race. Did a quick practice before the race and kept locking up so I didn't feel much confidence on the hards in the first stint and quickly fell behind.

But after the first sc new I had to go long for a 1 stop. It was always going to be a 2nd or 3rd so just got lucky with the late Sc. Pushed as hard as I could as managed to get Rank on the last straight with maybe slightly lower wings helping with that.

All in all a solid Williams season chuffed with our overall performances this season and how some of the races have been mighty close matching each other's pace race after race 💪”

For Bards, the victory finally ends the running joke of “Almost Bards”. There have been podiums, near misses and dramatic ways of losing potential wins, but this time the Williams driver was the one standing on the top step. On the other hand, Rankupwithme has emerged as the new champion of A1881, the first Czech driver to be crowned in 24 seasons and by far the most hardworking and committed one of all time, never missing a practice and giving the best he can in every race week. His dominance will be tested with the CAS punishment and his stubbornness will be tested even further in a slower car next season.

Keon was once again there to collect the remaining podium place, continuing what has become a remarkable second half of his season. Even with repeated force-feedback issues and having to pause multiple times to restore it, he held off Yeshurrun to take another P3. Yeshurrun finished fourth after an incident ahead of him, but still leaves Baku in a strong position for the championship's final medal fight.

Energetic completed a solid P5 for Mercedes, with rothNz recovering to sixth. Atisthrottle continued his impressive form in the Cadillac to finish seventh, while TrenchGhost once again showed encouraging pace, taking eighth and strengthening his case for a full-time seat next season.

Rollie had perhaps the most entertainingly painful race of the day, repeatedly falling victim to exactly the same mistakes as the cars he was following. He eventually came home ninth, while Mrbenchod recovered P10. Sir Ibbo and Crunchypancake completed the classified finishers, with ToxxicElijah taking P13 after spending time running deep in the field. Sir Ibbo's late push into the season with showing more elbows than he ever did in his career is remarkable, and helping McLaren for their pursuit of P3 in WCC as well.

Justin finally appeared to have the pace to fight at the sharp end, only for Baku's walls to remind him who was in charge. His crash at Turn 3 ended what could have been his best opportunity of the season.

NaeDangerDavid, HaggisNT, Scaparro and Luca all retired. Scaparro's race was particularly frustrating after a promising qualifying, with debris causing a puncture after the Safety Car and an eventual crash on the way back to the pits.

The championship is now settled at the top: Rankupwithme is the A1881 Season 24 World Champion, while Williams have completed the WCC as well. But Madring still has plenty to decide, with Bards, Yeshurrun and Rollie separated by 30 points in the battle for the remaining WDC podium places.

And finally, the newly crowned champion had this to say after a season obsessed with the crown:

“It means everything. You spend the whole season chasing that crown, thinking about it every weekend without ever really letting yourself believe it’s already yours. Every lap, every mistake, every fight, every tenth — all of it is about getting a little closer.

And then you cross the line and suddenly it’s real.

The crown is mine. But what makes it even more special is who I got to share this season with.

Bards has been there all year. Pushing me, matching me, forcing me to find more. There were so many weekends where I knew that if I gave him even the smallest opening, he would take it. And beyond the rivalry, I genuinely loved having him as my teammate and as my friend. That made this season so much more fun, so much more meaningful, and I’m honestly excited that this isn’t the end of it. I want more seasons like this with him.

So for his first win to come like this — last lap, tyres dying, both of us flat out, drag race to the line, separated by a tenth — I couldn’t ask for a more poetic ending.

When I crossed the line, I wasn’t angry. I was applauding him.

He got his first victory.

And I got my crown.

That’s beautiful.

This crown means more because I didn’t win it alone. I won it with someone beside me all season who made me earn it, someone I respect, someone I’m proud to call my teammate, and someone I’m even happier to call my friend.

What a season, Champions together and the drivers Champ and so today on the podium i just saw something poetic....

Bards beside me finally on the top step and the crown in my hands.”

You can find Ironghost's classic commentary in the below link:
https://www.youtube.com/live/BF2nYGyXCa0?si=EnmNXr1oV0j0X22b&t=4248

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