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The second stage of the 2020 Manufacturer Series got underway on July 4th.

One of the stage's most notable performers was Honda's Gallo (Williams_BRacer), who entered every single race, pitting his wits against all comers and really growing in sharpness as a result. This goes to show how important it is that drivers continue to race against their regional rivals, even if they aren't able to pick up huge numbers of points in the process.
Gallo's best performance was on the Fuji Speedway in Round 18, where both his offensive and defensive driving on the final lap were nothing short of fantastic.

Mercedes-Benz's Beauvois (Wong_Baguette_F1), on the other hand, picked his battles carefully, but still earned enough points in rounds 11, 12, 14 and 15 to ensure he was at the top of the pile going into the final race.
Subaru's Hizal (TRL_MH16), who had won the first stage, did not appear in any of the races from Round 14 onwards, and was therefore unable to defend his crown.

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The final race of Stage 2 took place on the Nürburgring's 24h layout, and featured Gr. 3 cars.

Gallo took pole position, with Aston Martin's Moysov (VQS_Nick) in second place and Toyota's Kevelham (HRG_RK23) in third. The stage leader Beauvois had to settle for fourth place on the grid. The leading pack had all opted to start on medium tyres, and soon built up a lead over the rest of the cars in the race.

On the first lap, Kevelham took advantage of Gallo's slipstream on the Döttinger Höhe straight, overtaking him and taking the lead heading into the home straight. Kevelham then managed to pick up the pace even further, building up a lead over his nearest rival. It seemed that he was keen to ensure that no one would be able to give him a taste of his own medicine on the Döttinger Höhe straight by using his own slipstream to overtake. The second placed Gallo had some tricks up his sleeve, however, and opted not to try and match Kevelham's pace in the early stages, preferring to conserve fuel instead.

On the final lap, all the leading pack took a pit stop at the same time. Kevelham's earlier pace-setting had used up a lot of fuel, meaning that his pit stop took a long time, and he dropped down to fourth.

Gallo was in the lead going into the Nordschleife, with Moysov, Beauvois and Kevelham hot on his heels, but he was soon able to build up a lead over the chasing pack.

As Gallo pulled away, the battle for second place intensified. Beauvois overtook Moysov on the approach to the Aremberg Corner, but Moysov is not the kind to give up easily, as anyone who's seen his performances for the eSports Team VANQUISH can attest.
The Döttinger Höhe straight is 2km long, meaning that drivers who wish to use a rival's slipstream in order to overtake them must pick their moment carefully. If they go too soon, they give the other driver enough time to use their slipstream to overtake them right back.
Alternatively, a driver could use their rival's slipstream to close the gap, then leave the stream only to rejoin it at the perfect moment, and this is what Moysov did. Beauvois did his best to shake him off, but his efforts were unsuccessful, and Moysov was able to move into second place.

The fierce battle for second was making life nice and easy for Gallo, who was able to pull off a perfect pole-to-win victory. Among those who were visibly impressed by this magnificent performance was Honda's Sugimori (s-shohei_), one of the Asia region's top drivers.

Despite Gallo's performance in the final race, however, Mercedes-Benz's Beauvois had racked up enough points in previous rounds to emerge as the overall winner of Stage 2. It would be wrong to call this a dominant victory, however, and things are likely to be tighter still in future stages.

Rank	Driver	DR	SR	Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Rd. 11	Rd. 12	Rd. 13	Rd. 14	Rd. 15	Rd. 16	Rd. 17	Rd. 18	Rd. 19	Rd. 20	Total
1	Mercedes-Benz Wong_Baguette_F1	S	S	353	368	417	252	382	383	419	-	397	387	313	388	-	411	-	469	-	-	-	434	2150
2	Subaru TRL_MH16	S	S	365	365	433	-	-	-	453	379	-	436	-	-	-	394	-	-	-	-	-	-	2095
3	Honda Williams_BRacer	S	S	346	325	385	232	219	162	369	363	0	404	386	336	383	357	403	294	291	397	358	469	2059
4	Lamborghini SpideeR_3A	S	S	120	360	401	-	350	353	0	-	183	420	377	291	159	223	387	451	-	380	-	-	2039
5	Toyota HRG_RK23	S	S	335	168	366	346	-	292	436	313	-	372	370	-	285	-	-	-	-	-	-	416	1960
6	BMW Williams_Coque14	S	S	301	311	-	288	383	266	352	376	378	371	314	363	383	373	-	434	312	318	268	312	1954
7	Ford TRL_ADAM18	S	S	-	350	365	-	-	368	371	383	381	355	-	-	340	389	377	399	-	-	-	224	1929
8	Renault Sport PR1_JOSETE	S	S	361	276	257	378	207	0	402	335	248	95	353	356	386	188	373	355	268	-	-	192	1900
9	Aston Martin VQS_Nick	S	S	182	0	-	-	-	340	-	-	323	341	272	257	-	-	370	364	189	364	-	451	1890
10	Citroën BFR_DevilSoul	A+	S	-	-	-	-	-	-	361	315	352	-	392	0	403	315	0	370	357	99	-	-	1883