Talbot time in Shanghai!

The 3rd installment in this year EVO F1 season came from Shanghai and will be remembered for some classic racing.

Qualifying began under rare blue skies in the Chinese financial capital as the teams looked to take advantage of near perfect racing conditions. Early out of the blocks was Williams F1 driver Nick Pope with a strong low 1m:38s to hold the provisional pole. That was as good as it got for Pope Jnr however as Sauber F1 driver Bob Jenx put in a fine 1m:37.2s to claim pole ahead of Force India's Ged Talbot. Despite this however all eyes were on early season championship leader James O-M in 3rd with a time on Prime tyres that again underlined the rookies incredible speed.

The lights went out for race start and a good launch from Bob Jenx saw the cars arrive into the demainding first corner in the same order they started. Ged looked to squeeze down the Sauber's inside but a tight defensive lane deprived the Force India of any space and the inevitable touch happened and saw Talbot swap ends spectacularly. Behind them a charging Legion of Boom driver Trigg went off piste only to come back onto turn two and collect Williams driver Nick Pope who lost his front wing in the barrier in a synchronised spin with team mate Evans. Chaos ensued as race officials went crazy with penalties as Rushy's Red Bull was awarded a crazy penalties for illegally overtaking the spinning Talbot and his team mate into turn 5 which resulted in the slowing car being taken out by team mate the Flying eagle. The start's big winner was Sauber driver Dave Bumhole who went from 10th to 3rd in as many corners meaning there were 2 Sauber's in the top 3.

After the exhausting start the race began to settle down. Bob Jenx holding a 4 second advantage into the first pit stop and the split strategies making keeping track of positions became very hard. in 5th Hobson battled with Trigg and Ged began to make his way back through the pack. The races first victim was Nick Pope, who after his first lap lost wing suffered 2 punctures and would eventually retire the car due to technical difficulties. Lower down the field Red Bull team mates Rushy and Eddy treated the crowd to some crazy battling that left Team Supremo Chris Horny biting his finger nails. Mid-field saw Kieran D'A again showpiecing his new found maturity in some intense and quality battling with Ged Talbot.

A key moment arrived when race leader Jenx arrived in the pit for his 3rd and what should have been final pitstop for the Prime tyre. Sauber bosses decision to allow guest star Stevie Wonder to choose the tyres backfired however as the Sauber man was sent out with another set of options and effectively relinquishing any hope of taking a maiden victory. The race seemed to be James O-M's to lose as he now had a healthy lead. Talbot had made his way through the field however and after the final round of pitstops found himself in the lead. O-M began hunting him down a rate of knots... something had to give and that thing turned out to be his tyres as a final lap puncture that would see him finish down the grid and lose grip of the championship lead.

Talbot would take victory by 6 seconds, a fantastic recovery drive considering the first lap. Second would go to Williams' Evans, which owed much to his aggresive driving style but more to the race's final incident as on the long back straight a yellow flag waved due to O-M's puncture was missed by Sauber F1's Bumhole resulting in a costly penalty that would drop him to 4th behind frustrated teammate Bob Jenx.

The fact there was less than 2 seconds between 2nd, 3rd and 4th is encouraging for EVO fans around the globe who can't wait to see more great racing as the season moves on to the deserts of Bahrain... see you there!