Circuito de Navarra

The BMW M2 league racing series opened its season at Circuito de Navarra on Monday with a 13-lap sprint that produced one of the more dramatic finishes the OGRL Old Guy Racing League could have scripted for Round 1. Polesitter Camron Frederick in the #302 held the front through the first 12 laps, building what looked like a commanding position over the field, but a single lead change on the final circuit proved decisive. Ric Wishon in the #074, who had started third, found a way past Frederick in those closing moments to take the win, with the #302 crossing the line second and Alex Bishop's #8 completing the podium after starting from the outside of row one.

The finishing result came with a notable asterisk — Wishon's #074 accumulated 14 incidents across those 13 laps, the highest tally of any driver in the top ten, and among the highest in the entire 14-car field. By contrast, Frederick drove a controlled race with only 5 incidents while leading 12 of the 13 laps, and Bishop kept it clean with just 2 incidents in taking third. Further back, #4 Tanner Williams suffered the most dramatic reversal of the afternoon, falling nine positions from his fifth-place starting spot to 14th at the checkered flag, collecting zero championship points in the process. On the positive end, #66 Jeff Peters and #13 Kenny Craig were the two drivers to complete the race without a single incident.

The hard charger award went to Wishon, who also earned it by virtue of being the race winner, advancing two positions from third to first. The tightest charges through the field came from #12 Rick Mogstad, who moved from eighth on the grid to sixth, and #11 Pernell Hanelt, who advanced from sixth to fifth, with both drivers providing respectable runs through the 14-car field. With clean racing nowhere to be found at the top — only two drivers across all 14 cars finished without any incidents — Navarra proved to be a punishing opener that will have team managers reviewing footage before Round 2.

With one round complete, the standings have Wishon's 32 points at the top of the table, with Frederick three points back at 29 and Bishop a further four behind at 25. The gap between first and fifth — Pernell Hanelt on 21 points — is only 11 points across five drivers, which means the title fight is genuinely wide open heading into the next round. Frederick's 12 laps of race leadership suggest the #302 has the pace to be a front-runner all season, and that alone will keep the pressure on Wishon to defend his points lead.