James Scott & Shane Van Gisbergen have won the Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup Bathurst 1000 for 2023 holding off the hard charging TTR duo of Madison Down & Brady Meyers in the dying stages.

Racing got underway at Mount Panorama Bathurst at 9am AEST with pole sitter James Scott leading the field to turn one followed by Andrew Gilliam & Ethan Warren. The field managed to file through the opening sequence of corners without issue, as drivers focused on finding their rhythm early, settling into the opening stint of the race.

Alexander Bird found himself under pressure early, tasked with starting Josh Anderson’s Trans Tasman Racing #51 entry. Bird found himself amongst the thick of the action, sliding to 7th before the beginning of lap 4, then re gaining his composure, before putting up an excellent fight against some highly rated primary drivers.

James Scott would continue to set the pace at the front of the pack, with Andrew Gilliam well and truely in tow, just 1 second from the lead. Ethan Warren continued to bring up the tail of the podium, putting in some solid times in Brady Meyers #22 Trans Tasman Racing commodore.

Down the field, Ric Kuznetsov was making headway early, charging his 9ine 5ive SimSports Commodore through the pack after missing the grid set procedure earlier in the morning. Kuznetsov would go on to make up a staggering 17 positions in the opening 11 laps, in what undoubtedly was one of the great opening Bathurst stints in series history.

Ric Kuznetsov was making headway early

Calm would only remain for a further few laps, with the first Safety Car intervention coming on lap 16 for the stranded car of Michael Healey. Partnering with Richard Hamstead, Healy found himself in trouble at the exit of the dipper, loosing control and firing into the fence as a result. Although still operational, the #28 was wedged in the fence, unable to get out. Drivers would take this first Safety Car period to make the first of their pit stops, many taking this opportunity to complete their first driver swaps of the day also. Winning the race off pit road, James Golding would strap into the #201 Altus Esports entry for the first time, with Brady Meyers & Shane Van Gisbergen both also taking the reins of their respective vehicles.

Green flag racing would resume on lap 20, with Golding leading the field into turn 1. Brady Meyers didn’t waste any time making his dash for the lead, quickly offloading Golding into turn 2, followed by Van Gisbergen who made his way past into 2nd before the completion of the 20th lap of the race.

Drivers again were tasked with finding their rhythm’s as teams headed closer to the middle portion of the race. Meyers lead Van Gisbergen followed by Madison Down, Dylan Rudd, Dylan O’Shea, Ethan Grigg-Gault, Wayne Bourke, Harley Haber, Tom Freer & Josh Anderson who rounded out the top ten after the completion of the 35th lap.

Michael Healey made heavy contact resulting in an early safety car

It wouldn’t take long for the Safety Car to be called upon again, Coby Jones detonating an engine in the chase on lap 40, putting an end to both his & Jordan Ross’ day. Many again took this as an opportunity for a driver change, as team’s began funnelling into the lane for their second unscheduled pit stop of the day. Ethan Warren would jump back into the #22, winning the race out of pit lane ahead of James Scott & Corey Shepherd.

Warren would resume in the lead on lap 42, with Scott & Shepherd behind.

It didn’t take long for Chaos to ensue behind in the mid pack, Joshua Thomas finding himself rotated on the exit of the chase on lap 45, involved in an untimely incident with Alexander Bird in the #51 entry. Bird would be penalised for the infringement, later serving his penalty.

Ethan Warren continued to impress at the front, leading the train of cars as teams started to approach the half way point of the 2023 Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup Bathurst 1000. James Scott continued to sit 2nd with Corey Shepherd in a comfortable 3rd, onboard the championship leading car he was sharing with Madison Down.

Coby Jones blows an engine and the day is over for #143

Corey Macfarlane was also a driver showing signs of form, similar to the form he displayed at Sandown onboard the #19, keeping himself in touch with the lead along with Stablemate Dylan Rudd, both putting on an excellent display for 9ine 5ive SimSports.

Again drivers would see the return of the Logitech G Safety Car on lap 57. This time though, many opted to keep their non primary drivers in the car, with the hope of clearing the 54 lap minimum required. Fuel and tyres for most, it would be Corey Shepherd cycling to the front with an excellent pit stop, jumping from third position. Warren would drop into second followed by Shane Van Gisbergen in 3rd, taking over from James Scott.

Leading the field to green on lap 60, Corey Shepherd would set about maintaining the lead for Madison Down, working well with Ethan Warren behind to stay in front of Van Gisbergen.

Andrew Gilliam meanwhile was back on the move onboard the #201 Altus Australia entry, lifting himself back up through the order, reaching the top 10 by lap 73. Although back on the march, Gilliam would find himself hit with a 15 second penalty moments later, for contact on lap 69 with the Moloney/Mugford entry entering the chase. With work still to do, Gilliam kept his eyes forward, picking off as many cars as he could before having to serve his penalty.

Contact from Andrew Gilliam sees the #29 have a huge moment at the chase

Lap 78 would prove to be critical, with the #269 Synergy Sim Racing Machine of Jamie McKnight bringing out caution number 4 of the day. Many took the chance to dive in for fresh fuel & tyres, with teams forced to keep their drivers in for another stint due to drive time requirements.

Out of sync Glen Postlethwaite would lead the field back to green on lap 80, quickly being swallowed up by both Ethan Warren & Shane Van Gisbergen. The restart wasn’t without drama, Richie Stanaway finding contact with the rear of the #201 Altus Esports entry of James Golding, causing damage to multiple cars in the process. Uncharacteristic for Stanaway, he’d be forced to serve a drive through penalty for the infringement.

Pressure was boiling at the front of the field, with a slight mistake for Ethan Warren opening the door for Van Gisbergen to attack on lap 90. With the gap down to less than a second, spectators were settling in for the epic showdown to come. The move for the lead would come on lap 102, with Van Gisbergen completing the pass on Warren into Griffins Bend. Taking the lead of the race with 59 laps remaining.

Warren responded to this move laps later, filing into the lane to hand his car over to Brady Meyers. Van Gisbergen followed suit on lap 105, followed by Corey Shepherd. A blistering Outlap from Brady Meyers saw the #22 Trans Tasman Racing driver re take the effective lead, with James Scott re joining the circuit in second. Dylan Rudd would sit third after pit lane transitions, followed by Madison Down & Marcello Rivera rounding out the top 5.

Racing intensified at the front on lap 109, James Scott surprising Brady Meyers with a lunge at Griffins Bend, bringing Dylan Rudd back into the fight heading towards the cutting. Brady would hang strong, re establishing track position behind James Scott, setting about continuing the fight for the race lead. Madison Down managed to make a move on Rudd stick a lap later, moving himself into third position behind Meyers.

Meyers again would bid for the lead on lap 112, replicating James Scott’s move from earlier, plunging his #22 Commodore down the inside at Griffins, also allowing Down to slip through into second, displacing Scott on the run to the cutting. Meyers set about building the gap behind, with Down on the other hand choosing to return the favour to Scott, backing the #088 up, saving some fuel in front. This strategy working perfectly, Meyers was able to focus on maintaining his lead, eventually building a gap up to four seconds total.

The lead though wouldn’t eventuate for Meyers, with a late race caution being called on lap 124 with Drivers opting to pit for fuel and tyres. Meyers would win the race off pit road, followed by Trans Tasman Racing stablemate Down, with Scott filing into 3rd position for the restart. Rudd & Grigg-Gault made up the top 5.

James Scott on a charge late in the race

Pushing towards the closing stages, it was clear it would be a shootout between the front 3 cars. Scott chipped away at Meyers, all while dragging Down along for the ride. Closing to the bar of Meyers on lap 144, Scott would throw a high risk move heading into Murray’s corner, diving down the inside of Meyers. Contact was made between the pair, Brady finding himself dislodged at the apex and fed out wide. This allowed Madison Down through to second, beginning his pursuit of the #088 Synergy Sim Racing Commodore.

With final pit stops being made in the closing segments of the race, all three leaders found themselves within a second of one another heading into the final laps of the race, Scott would lead, with Meyers jumping to second after the final stop, followed by Madison Down. It was clear, nobody was willing to back down in their pursuits of Australia’s greatest Sim Race.

Lap 150 provided heart stopping entertainment, Meyers throwing it all on the line in the chase, going for a chance move on race leader James Scott, contact between the pair was made in the chase, Scott finding himself out of control on entry to the braking Zone. Amazingly, Scott was able to re gain control, only to shoot off the circuit and through the grass. Somehow avoiding a massive incident, He was able to rejoin the circuit ahead of Meyers, maintaining the race lead. Down managed to get past Meyers on lap 155, now setting his sights on chasing down a Bathurst 1000 crown.

Heart stopping contact between Meyers and Scott at the chase

James Scott first to the flag after 161 laps

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Synergy Sim Racing’s James Scott has walked away as a provisionalfirst time winner in the Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup after apost race penalty was handed out, shuffling JarradFilsell down the order. 

Qualifying again would be a tightly contested affair, Spa-Francorchamps living up to expectations, proving draft would be the key to a successful qualifying position. Defending champion JarradFilsell would be the driver coming out on top in the15 minute qualifying session, setting a 2:16.593 for pole position with Synergy Sim Racing stablemate James Scott alongside him on the front row, just .043 of a second behind. Brady Meyers continues to impress in qualifying, ending up third alongside Ethan Grigg-Gault. 2022 Spa-Francorchamps pole sitter Marcello Rivera would complete the top five. 

JarradFilsell would make use of pole position, converting it to a perfect launch on the run down to La Source. Brady Meyers would also make a solid start from 3rd, Jumping Synergy Sim Racing’s James Scott, quickly making his presence known, launching his attack on the race lead. Lap 2 would prove to be critical for Brady Meyers & the race result, contact between the pair being made at the end ofKemmel Straight entering Les Combes sending Meyers off the Circuit & well outside the top 20.Filsell would be handed a 15 second penalty for the infringement, failure to serve during racing conditions resulted in the unserved penalty being applied to the post race results, droppingFilsell down towards the back of the top ten.Failing to complete the penalty during racing conditions,Filsell would go in to lodge an appeal against his 15 second infringementpost race, results from the official hearing will be heard on Monday the 15th of May. Until then, the race results from Spa-Francorchamps on the 10th of May will remain provisional. 

Filsell would continue to lead the pack for the time being over Evolution Racing Team’s Ethan Grigg-Gault & James Scott over the opening laps with Josh Anderson & Marcello Rivera continuing to hold places inside the top five. 

Itdidn’t take long for more incidents to unfold further down the field, with a battle between Jamie Dike, Brad Rattew & Tom Freer starting to unfold. All came unstuck on lap 4, Freer careering into the back of Jamie Dike on entryto the final chicane, taking Brad Rattew with him. A 15 second penalty would follow, inflicting more pain on what wasa already difficult night. 

Richard Hamstead also found himself ina difficult situation early, being caught out in an incident at La Source with teammate Madison Down and Pursuit Sim Racing’s Andrew Gilliam. An opportunistic move fromDown, forced Gilliam to open the wheel, pushing the #201 Mustang wide into Hamstead resulting in a spin for the #28 on the exit of turn one. Hamstead would rejoin the race, although with a lot of ground to make up. 

A hot lead pack would continue to be the story of the race,Filsell holding the lead over James Scott who made his way back into 2nd position ahead of Ethan Grigg-Gault. Brady Meyers was continuing to impress, climbing back through the field from outside the top 20 to sit in 15th position after the opening 10 laps, showing he was capable of still producing front running pace although being bottled up in the pack of cars racing for the top ten. 

Drama would strike again on lap 11 in the battle for the top 5, Dylan O’Shea being off loaded on the exit of La Source by Marcello Rivera. Dylan Rudd would also find himself the innocent victim in this incident, finding himself with nowhere to go, collecting his 9ine 5iveSimSports teammate in the process. For Rivera, his night would only get worse from this moment on, with an internet dropoutultimately putting an end to his night. 

Brady Meyers would be the first of the heavy hitters to enter the pit lane on lap 12, hoping to make up ground on the cars still choosing to circulate. Jake Burton would be the next contender to hit the lane on lap 20, producing a solid pit stop which would throw him into contention in the middleportion of the race. 

Leaders JarradFilsell, James Scott & Ethan Grigg-Gault would follow suit on lap 21, all choosing to pit with one another. Burton would split the trio, the undercut along with a lighter fuel load allowing theTrans Tasman Racing driver to place himself perfectly behind SSR cars of Scott &Filsell. 

Grigg-Gaultwouldn’t waste any time though, making the move on Burton on lap 23 for third position, as he set out to chase after James Scott & JarradFilsell before the second Compulsory pit stop. 

The race would remain rather quiet throughout the middleportion of the race, many drivers settling into a rhythm counting down the laps until their final pit stops. 

Moloney’s recovery drive took a hit as he completed his final stop of the night, a mistake on coldtyres in pit exit saw the driver of the #29 TTR Mustang facing the wrong way in pit exit. He would resume the race, slotting himself down in the mid to low teens. 

Ethan Grigg-Gault would make a critical pit stop on lap 31, rejoining the race in prime position to take control of the race. Scott &Filsell would pit one laplater on lap 32 to complete the final of two compulsory pit stops, resuming the race behind Ethan Grigg-Gault, who masterminded an excellent strategy call to promote himself into the lead in the dying laps. 

Filsell still with the impending 15 second time penalty hovering over him, would make light work of catching Grigg-Gault, providing a challenge for the race lead with only a handful of laps to go. The move would eventuate on lap 34, with a bold pass around the outside of the final chicane,re taking control of the race lead. Grigg-Gault put up a strong fight with James Scott only moments later, unfortunately unable to fend off Scott, who made hiswas past entering Les Combes on lap 36. 

Filsell would cross the finish line on lap 39 in the lead, but would drop to 8th position with post race penalty’s applied, leaving James Scott to cross the line for his first victory in the Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup, followed by Ethan Grigg-Gault & Josh Anderson, who put on a clinic of strategy and driving to complete the podium in 3rd position. Jake Burton & Madison Down would complete the provisional top 5, making it 3 Trans Tasman Racing cars inside the top 5.

With provisional results now recorded, freshly of a race win, James Scott also takes command of the Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup championship standings on 540 points, ahead of Jake Burton on 524 points.

3 rounds, 4 races, 4 different winners. It’s fair to say 2023 is creating an excellent spectacle. The championship is tight at the top heading into round 5 set to be held at Road America on the 7th of June. Who will reign supreme? Join us for round 5 to find out!

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As the closing stages of the 2022 Logitech G pro invitational series Bathurst 1000 heated up, Two drivers in particular took the battle to new heights.

Lap 158 was one of the talking points of the race with contact between Brady Meyers & Brodie Kostecki bringing many opinions post race. The final restart commenced on lap 153, leaving 9 laps to get the job done. From the moment green flag racing resumed the battle between Kostecki & Meyers was on!

Everything came unstuck for the SSR and TTR spearheads on the exit of the chase on lap 158, Brady on the offence managed to obtain overlap on the exit of turn 21 which lead to both drivers being side by side for turn 22. Brady on the inside ran door to door with Brodie, slight contact on exit saw Brodie find himself with 2 wheels in the grass.

With this intense battle coming to a head, contact continued to follow with both drivers not willing to give a inch. This allowed TTR’s Madison down to capitalise on the situation along with Ethan Grig-Gault. Madison charged through to take control of second followed by Brady.

What the TTR duo couldn’t see was the out of control Brodie Kostecki who was clashing with ERT’s Grigg-Gault. As both cars neared the braking zone battling to maintain their positions contact was made, firing the #99 SSR/Boost Mobile Racing Commodore through the grass on approach to the final corner. Brodie became a complete passenger spearing directly into the door of Meyers narrowly missing the second placed car of Maddison down.Both cars made the tyre barrier on the  outside of the final corner resulting in severe damage but we’re able to complete all of the 161 laps.

Brady and Brodie will both definitely be ruing the missed opportunity to take a step on the Bathurst podium finding themselves finishing 7th (Brady) and 11th (Brodie) respectively.

With only 2 rounds remaining in the inaugural 2022 Logitech G pro Invitational Series which driver will conquer their rival? Will Brodie strike back with race winning form? Or will Brady show his grit and determination to come out on top? Tune in on the 16th of November for the penultimate round of the championship to see Brady Meyers and Brodie Kostecki resume their battle!

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Logitech G Renews Naming Rights Sponsorship for Pro Invitational Series Supercars Championship. 

"We are excited to continue our partnership with the Pro Invitational Series Supercars Championship," said Dan Hall, Senior Category Manager for Logitech G & ASTRO Gaming Australia/New Zealand. "The championship has quickly become one of the most exciting and competitive online racing series in the world, and we are proud to be a part of it."

The Pro Invitational Series Supercars Championship is set to kick off its third season on March 13th, with the first race taking place at Sebring. The qualifying series to determine the grid is set to take place during January and February. For more information about the championship, visit www.supercarsproinvitational.com.au.

About Logitech G - Logitech G is a leading provider of gaming peripherals, including mice, keyboards, headsets, and racing wheels. The company is committed to creating innovative products that enhance the gaming experience for players of all levels. For more information, visit logitechg.com.

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Venturing back across the shores, Round 8 of the 2023 Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup would be back on home turf, for the 2023 instalment of the Sandown 500.

Not only would Sandown play host to the first endurance race of the season, but it also would see the return of split qualifying to the series. Drivers from 45th to 23rd in series points would be the first to take a bite of the cherry in qualifying, followed by 23rd to 1st in the series standings making their attempts in the final 15 minute session.

Marcello Rivera would be the first to lay down a benchmark in the opening session, with Pursuit Sim Racing’s young gun Jobe Stewart hot on his heels. Times would quickly tumble, with many laying down impressive lap times for the conditions at hand. Luke Rosella would make the most of his session, jumping to the top of the standings with a blistering 1:05.954, the first driver to break the 1:06.0 bracket. Rosella would remain top of the time charts for the remainder of the first segment of qualifying.

James Scott quickly took control in the second segment of qualifying, before 9ine 5ive SimSports Dylan O’Shea sent shockwaves through the paddock jumping clear of Scott to the top of the charts. James Scott would ultimately steal back pole position in the dying stages of qualifying, followed by Dylan O’Shea, Tom Freer & Madison Down completing the first 2 rows of the grid. Jake Burton, Ric Kuznetsov, Luke Rosella, Brady Meyers, Jake Maloney & Ethan Grigg-Gault would round out the top 10 in qualifying.

Many teams elected to start their primary drivers for the first stint of the Sandown 500, apart from a select few. Todd Hayne would be the only co driver elected to start inside the top ten, with Cooper Murray also taking the reigns of the #58 Synergy Sim Racing car further down the order.

Green flag racing got underway little after 8pm, with Dylan O’Shea leading the field to the opening sequence of corners, James Scott would slot into second, with Trans Tasman Racing pair Madison Down & Jake Burton getting the better of Synergy Sim Racing’s Tom Freer, demoting the driver of the #707 Mustang to 5th by the exit of turn 1.

O’Shea, leading the field, would control the the pace over the Opening few laps from James Scott, who was placing the #19 9ine 5ive SimSports Mustang under immense pressure in the early stages. Scott would make his move at the beginning of lap 4 into turn 1, cleanly passing O’Shea to take control of the race.

James Scott takes the lead

Lap 11 would see the first incident of the night, this time between 9ine 5ive SimSports stablemates Todd Hayne and Griffin Gardiner. Hayne, Finding himself off line at the exit of turn 1, would enter the treacherous turn 2-3 complex side by side, offloading the #990 of Griffin Gardiner, who lost multiple spots in the incident. Todd Hayne found himself hit with a 5 second penalty for his actions, with both sides of the garage suffering immensely from the incident. This contact between teammates may of been a sign of what’s to come for both entries, who suffered difficulties from here on out.

James Scott still well in control of the field continued to tick laps off, consistently extending the gap back to Dylan O’Shea who was under pressure from Trans Tasman Racing duo Madison Down & Jake Burton. O’Shea, doing a fantastic job in the early stages, soon found some trouble, with turn 2-3 again claiming another victim. On entry to the chicane, O’Shea would find a wheel on the grass on approach to his turn in maker, sending the #19 into a slide, allowing the duo of Down & Burton to slip through on lap 23. Wrestling the car back under control, O’Shea was able to continue without further incident or damage, slotting himself back into 4th position.

A scary moment for Dylan O'Shea

Lap 29 would see a surprise taker to the pit lane, James Scott electing to make his first pit stop of the night, taking the opportunity to get co driver Shane Van Gisbergen into the car for his first stint of the evening. Jake Maloney also took the opportunity to transit the lane on the same lap, while others elected to continue on for the time being.

Pitstops for both the #088 & #29 set off what became a chain reaction laps later on lap 36 with the front running car of Madison Down making his first journey down the lane. Corey Shepherd would climb into the #77 for his opening stint of the night. Dylan O’Shea & Luke Rosella would follow suit on lap 39, handing their cars over to the co drivers while Jake Burton would continue on until lap 43, pitting and handing the race lead over to Tom Freer, who would also take service one lap later on lap 44.

Once the field was cleansed, it would be Shane Van Gisbergen back in control of the race onboard the #088, followed by Corey Macfarlane (#19), Corey Shepherd (#77), Harley Haber (#55) & Ross Rizzo (#36) rounding out the top five at this stage of the race.

This quickly was thrown into a tailspin only laps later, with the first safety car of the race being called upon on lap 54. With the caution called, the top ten would proceed down pit lane, topping of on fuel to fit their strategy windows. No driver changes we’re taken in this pit stop sequence.

Jobe Stewart would elect to stay out under this safety car period, along with Glen Postlethwaite & Fawzan El Nabi who would promote themselves to the front of the field.

Jobe Stewart of Pursuit Sim Racing would get racing back underway on lap 58, leading the field into turn one. Trouble would strike only moments later behind the #35 of Stewart, with Shane Van Gisbergen & Fawzan El Nabi colliding down at turn 9. A late move from the #088 of Shane Van Gisbergen left El Nabi unaware, turning down making contact on corner entry. As a result, not only would El Nabi receive damage, Van Gisbergen also would find himself facing the wrong way. Gisbergen would be deemed at fault for the incident, with no penalty being issued.

Shane van Gisbergen and Fawzan El-Nabi come to blows

With a lighter fuel load & brilliant race pace, Jobe Stewart continued to lead the field as we got closer to the half way mark of the race, building an impressive lead from the moment the green flag waved after the lap 54 safety car period.

The field was rather calm as teams approached the half way point of proceedings until yet another spanner was thrown into the works on lap 73, with yet another safety car being called. Drivers would again find their way to pit lane to take service, with the majority choosing to keep their co drivers onboard their race cars.

This safety car period would see a number of interesting strategy calls from some of the front running vehicles though, like likes of the #77 & #8 Trans Tasman Racing commodores opting to stay out and claim track position over the competitors behind. Although leading the race, by the numbers at the time the Macfarlane/O’Shea entry would be the effective race leaders sitting comfortably in 6th position for the restart.

Andre Heimgartner would resume proceedings on lap 77 with Corey Shepherd, Ross Rizzo, Lachlan Caple & Beau Albert rounding out the top five. Heimgartner’s lead would be short lived, as a track limits infringement would cause the driver of the #8 Trans Tasman Racing car to serve a slow down penalty only moments later, dropping him down the order.

With Corey Shepherd now in control of the race onboard the #77 machine, Chaos would ensue only laps later in the mid field, with a multi car pileup at the exit of turn 4. A opportunistic move from the #990 of Dylan Rudd on the #143 of Jones/Ross would see the pair entangled on corner exit. This would see both cars rotated creating a bottleneck in the circuit with multiple cars finding themselves involved, pickup up damage for their troubles. The incident would eventually clear, with no safety car being required.

As Shepherd and Rizzo continued to lead the way for TTR, the battle for the effective race lead was well and truely alight. Macfarlane (#19) & Haber (#55) where trading blows scraping over the top 5, Macfarlane would magnate to hold out in this battle, remaining ahead of the Rosella/Haber entry until the #55 elected to transit the lane on lap 93.

Differing strategy decisions were playing into the Sandown 500 at this point, with some teams still required to make 2 pitstops vs cars on 1 stop strategy’s to make it to the 161 lap distance. Corey Shepherd was the first of the 2 stoppers in contention to pit, making his journey to the lane on lap 97 to hand the reigns over to Madison Down. Corey Macfarlane would resume the race lead from this point onwards.

Lap 118 would prove to be the critical point of the race for all the cars featuring on the 1 stop strategy, with the majority pitting on lap 118 to take their final scheduled service. Macfarlane would hand over the #19 9ine 5ive SimSports Mustang to primary driver Dylan O’Shea, with the likes of Fawzan El Nabi doing much the same.

Car #19 hits the lane on lap 118

Many cars would follow suit a lap later, Veld, Stewart, Stovold & Todd Hayne all committing to the lane on lap 119. Luke Rosella would take command of the race at this point, still with a pit stop remaining. For the cars still requiring to stop, a lucky break would occur on lap 128. Luke Mitchinson would find himself stranded at the exit of turn 9 with a blown motor, triggering the third and final safety car of the evening.

Rosella, Anderson & Down would all make their final stops, rejoining the cleansed field towards the back of the top 10.

Racing would resume on lap 132 with little under 30 laps to go. O’Shea would take the green flag followed by Meyers, Stewart, Bourke & Cameron Jones rounding out the top 5.

While O’Shea lead the field down to turn one, a fast thinking Stewart managed to make his move on Brady Meyers into turn 1, promoting himself into the second position.

Luke Rosella would begin his charge from 7th on lap 133. Making easy work of both Tom Freer & Cameron Jones down at turn 9. This would see the #55 of Rosella promoted into the 5th position, setting his eyes on Synergy Teammate Wayne Bourke. Rosella continued his charge on fresh rubber only laps later, moving past Bourke before putting a move on car of Meyers/Jones into turn 1 on lap 138, now setting his sights on the second place car of Jobe Stewart.

Dylan O’Shea meanwhile, was building a comfortable lead over Stewart, who was now under attack from Luke Rosella. Jobe would eventually loose out on second place to Rosella, who now was looking to close down the gap to leader Dylan O’Shea.

Luke Rosella makes a bold move at Turn 4 to take the lead

Wayne Bourke & Ethan Grigg-Gault found themselves entangled in a battle over 7th position, with the likes of Jake Maloney & Josh Anderson close behind. Grigg-Gault would eventually come out on top of this battle with a excellent move on Bourke into turn 1 on lap 150.

A few seconds up the road, the battle for the lead was on, Rosella throwing a dive down the inside of the O’Shea entry at turn 4, contact was made between the pair as they fought over the lead on corner exit. Rosella would find the grip on exit, winning the race off the corner to take the lead of the race with only a handful of laps to go.

From this point forward, Luke Rosella wouldn’t look back, opening up the margin lap on lap, taking himself & teammate Harley Haber to victory for the first im time in his career. A drive to remember for both drivers, who put on a passing clinic to win at Sandown.

Luke Rosella celebrates a maiden victory in style

Dylan O’Shea would cross the line in second after a breakthrough drive for himself and Corey Macfarlane, only to have it cruelly taken away with a post race penalty for passing under safety car conditions. Even with a penalty taking away the result, both drivers can look back and be incredibly proud of their respective performances. Brady Meyers would be promoted into the second position alongside Emily Jones, followed by the Madison Down/Corey Shepherd entry in 3rd. Freer & Stovold would claim 4th position, with Ethan Grigg-Gault & Ian Ford brining home the top 5.

After 3 hours of action packed Racing at Sandown, we’ve crowned new winners and witnessed some of the best driving in the 2023 season to date.

Madison Down now takes command of the championship heading to Bathurst, with James Scott looking to retake the championship lead after a difficult race at Sandown.

Attention now turns to Bathurst on October 1, as drivers prepare to tackle 1000 kilometres of the best circuit Australia has to offer. 

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Probably the weirdest point to take out of round 3 of the Logitech G Pro Invitational Series was the absence of Jake Burton fighting for the win. The Vendaval VRS pilot has become an expected regular at the front of the field, capable of winning races and boxing toe to toe with the best of them, but Burton never really featured all night.

When we say didn’t feature, qualifying 11th and coming home in 13th is nothing to sneeze at. Some drivers would be satisfied to have a night like this, but not Burton. We know he will be seething! Dropping from a close 2nd in the points to 3rd and letting Jarrad Filsell, his arch nemesis bank a whole lot of points on him, we can almost guarantee you won’t see this again from Jake.

Racing at Sydney Motorsport Park prior to the race diluted Jakes practice time. It goes to show how elite the level of competition is when a front runner like Jake slips down through the field if he can’t put in as much practice as the rest. 

Speaking with Jake after the race, he lamented trying what he called a radical new setup direction, low wing to try and make use of the long straights and draft at Red Bull Ring. But it didn’t work out as the tyre degradation increased and left him as a sitting duck in the braking zones.

Next we head to Monza, a similar high speed, high draft track. Maybe Burtons new setup direction will pay off in Italy, tune in to see at 7:30pm, Wednesday the 13th of July.

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We have surpassed the mid point of Pre Qualifying for the 2023 Logitech G Pro Invitational series. Day 2 action has thrown up plenty of surprises, with a number of interesting results upon the conclusion of the second nights sessions around the Hungaroring & Winton circuits.

Simon Chadwick of 9ine 5ive SimSports currently holds down 45th position with a collective time of 3:06.272, a mere two thousands of a second behind Cameron Veacock heading into the final 5 hours of pre qualifying on the 19th of January.

Other names in and around the cutoff feature the likes of David Kirby, Tyler Blackburn, Christopher Ireland, Justin Clayton & Michael Whiting.

One driver who surprisingly featured outside the top 45 at the conclusion of day 2 was Zachary Hanlin. Driving for the well established Altus Esports, The former 24hrs of Daytona winner finds himself in sitting in 53rd with a collective time of 3:06.789.

Speaking with Zachary before the final night of pre qualification, we posed the question regarding securing promotion into the qualification rounds amongst the strong contingent of drivers all with the hopes of securing their place.

“The field is obviously very strong, as you would expect for a competition as great as this. I’ll be trying everything I can to get inside the top 45, but at the end of the day, I’ve probably spent 10 hours in the sim over the last 6 months due to circumstances outside of my control and that has had an effect on my performance. I can definitely put in some decent improvements on both tracks, as to whether or not it will be good enough, well, I hope so! But with this level of competition I’m gonna have to pull a couple out to make it work“ - Zachary Hanlin.

With the backing of world class operation Altus Esports, Zachary will be one to keep a close eye on during the final night of pre qualifying as he tries to secure his place on the qualifying grid.

5 hours remain in the Logitech G Pro Invitational series Pre Qualifying segment, who will stake their claim and secure promotion.

Stay updated with all the latest at: https://supercarsproinvitational.com.au

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For years now, Logitech G has been at the forefront of supporting sim racing in Australia and globally. The highest selling sim racing wheel is the G29, one that has been the cornerstone for thousands of those being introduced to sim racing for the first time.

Alongside the wheel and pedal combo, the hardware that they manufacture, and sell is highly regarded and used by millions who are at work, or at play, and not just on the sim.

Having started its sponsorship journey with the Evolution Racing Team in 2015, they expanded their support to the newly formed Altus eSports in 2018.
This year, in 2022 they are the official naming rights sponsor to what is anticipated to be the most important sim racing series in years, the Logitech G Pro Invitational Series.

They are a name that is linked with success and have been at the forefront in offering affordable products so that anyone can get themselves, or their loved ones on the virtual grid.

Recently we spoke to Australasia’s head of marketing for Logitech G, Dan Hall.

Dan, thanks for joining us, first of all thankyou for all that you, and Logitech G have done for Australian Sim Racing, why do you feel it is important to support sim racing here and overseas?

Motorsport is a huge passion for many Aussies and Kiwis and whilst most of us can only dream about driving a race car, sim racing provides an excellent opportunity to experience the thrill and excitement of driving in the comfort and convenience of your own home. I am super passionate about both real and virtual racing and sharing this experience brings me so much joy.

You yourself are a racer, often seen competing in the Thursday night Vets series. What does being an active participant bring to you?

Let’s not publicly acknowledge the fact it’s an over 40’s race, you’re as young as you feel! I honestly love these types of leagues, it is full of likeminded folk who all have a huge passion for motorsport and get together once a week to rub panels and build their race craft and skills. I feel like I am improving every week and just when I feel like I am on top of the world, someone comes along and sets a faster lap. It is very humbling and that drives me, I love a challenge, I love racing and I love talking to mates. What more could you want!?

We know that you have a loyal following of customers, what is it that keeps bringing people back to the Logitech G brand?

I consider myself extremely lucky to be in the position that I am with Logitech. Logitech is well known for their high quality products and innovation and Logitech G brings all that experience and passion to Gaming accessories. To be market leaders you need to live and breath your brand, products and most importantly, the community. That is the experience we bring to our consumers and it’s this level of loyalty that brings customers back.

The G29 is the highest selling wheel and pedal set in history, why do you think that is?

The G29 is the evolution of an amazing history of simulation products, specifically racing wheels. The Logitech Wingman Formula Force was the first product in Logitech’s history released over 20 years ago and it has evolved from there. Our proven reliability and affordability has served to become the market leader over this time. The G29 is often referred to as the best entry level steering wheel to get yourself into the world of simulation. In fact, there are many drivers out there performing better and beating those with setups ten times the price!

And looking to the future is there anything that Logitech G are planning in the short and long term?

TRUEFORCE is the next evolution in force feedback. TRUEFORCE provides higher fidelity feedback which allows you to feel everything you would in a real race car (engine vibrations, gear changes etc). It provides this much higher level of detail through a new algorithm that communicates directly to the games’ physics engine and utilising the games’ audio. It really is something that you need to experience for yourself, it’s difficult to go back to standard force feedback wheels after trying it!

Logitech G have been associated with teams in Sim Racing for a while, in particular the Evolution Racing Team which races in this series, how do you see that relationship?

Working with our esports teams is critical to our development of our products, not limited to racing wheels but our keyboards, mice and headsets also. We have very close relationships not only with the esports orgs but with the players also. As a pro player, our products are the tools of their trade and to perform the best they need the best. Having this close working relationship allows the players to have a direct line of communication with us and the development team to help us and the player to push the boundaries.

As the naming rights holder and main sponsor of the Logitech G Pro Invitational series, what benefits can you see for your company in having the naming rights, there are a lot of other series that are being run, so why the Logitech G Pro Invitational series in particular?

The obvious benefit is the brand being out on display and gaining visibility but that’s the formal response. The real answer is it’s Logitech G helping grow the community and eracing as a whole. Esports has been such a buzz word over the past few years and many endemic and non-endemic brands want to dabble in esports but very few actually stick around through the good times and the bad to continue to support the industry. The Pro Invitational series is the hard work of a fully committed community of motorsport and sim fans. I am so proud of what they have achieved and I cannot wait for the racing to start!

And finally, as a fan, what are you looking forward to most in the 2022 series?

I am looking forward to a series that follows the format and structure of traditional motorsports. From the pressure of qualifying to the build-up of the race with the commentators and the spectacle of the racing itself. At the end of the day, what matters most is the drivers, series admin and most importantly, the viewers all have a good time and enjoy the racing!

Thanks so much for your time, Dan. We are so grateful for your support of our new series and look forward to moving side by side into what should be a great series ahead.

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The 2023 Qualifying Series is officially under way as 3 nights of Pre Qualification has commenced. Here's how the times stack up so far:

*Note that drivers that have only completed times at one track are awarded a placeholder laptime of 5.00.000 until an official time has been recorded.

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The 2023 Qualifying Series is officially under way as 3 nights of Pre Qualification has commenced. Here's how the times stack up so far with 2 of the 3 nights completed:

*Note that drivers that have only completed times at one track are awarded a placeholder laptime of 5.00.000 until an official time has been recorded.

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After 3 nights of Pre Qualifying and thousands of laps turned, the final results are in the books and the top 45 drivers have been finalised. Here's where everyone stacked up in the end:

*Note that drivers that have only completed times at one track are awarded a placeholder laptime of 5.00.000 until an official time has been recorded.

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It is widely known as the top of the tier in Australasian Sim Racing and the championship that all Supercar sim driver aspire to compete in.

This growth is being recognised, where today, we can proudly announce that we have a new major sponsor join us in partnership to help the series continue its rapid upward trend.

The Gamesmen are a well-recognised brand on the gaming industry. They are Australia’s longest independent video game retailer and the second oldest in the world!

A family owned business that begun in 1982, The Gamesmen has continued to grow where it is now a one stop shop for all gaming products through either online, or their shop in Penshurst, NSW.

The Gamesmen have taken on board the naming rights for our most prestigious event, The Gamesmen Bathurst 1000 is an integral part of the Championship and the cornerstone of the TrueForce Endurance Series.

The Grid Walk has been an amazing success, diving into the minds and tactics of the drivers prior to each round, something that hasn’t been done before but is now being used widely throughout the world. From now, The Gamesmen Gridwalk, will be pushed even harder for the remainder of the rounds.

The Managing Director of the Logitech G Pro Invitational Series, Brenton O’Brien stated:

“This is huge for our series. I know the strong reputation The Gamesmen have with their loyal customers and their service is beyond measure. It is a real coup that we have been able to get such a strong partner as The Gamesmen who have made a very strong commitment to us. They can see that the hard work that we do, and the quality of racing that the drivers and teams produce is leading sim racing in the region.”

Joint owner of The Gamesmen, Daniel Cusumano said:

“We are really excited to be a part of the Pro Invitational Series. Through our strong partnership with the Logitech G brand we have been introduced to the exciting world of Sim Racing. We have been following the series closely for quite a while now and we are proud that we can put our name to such a fantastic series”.

Be sure to support those that support us, for more information on The Gamesmen please head to https://www.gamesmen.com.au

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Logitech G Pro Invitational Series Announces Partnership with OG Gear.

The Logitech G Pro Invitational Series is proud to unveil its latest partnership with OG Gear, an exciting new brand about to hit the world of Sim Racing Apparel. This collaboration marks the beginning of a promising journey, as OG Gear aims to establish its brand presence while bringing innovation and style to the virtual racing community.

As Round 3 of the Logitech G Pro Invitational Series gears up to thrill fans at the renowned Red Bull Ring, viewers will catch the first glimpse of the OG Gear brand prominently featured during race replays in the telecast. As the Logitech G Pro Invitational Series season unfolds, fans can anticipate exciting initiatives and activations as OG Gear enters the scene with a bold vision and ambitious plans to carve out its niche in the competitive world of sim racing apparel.

"As the Logitech G Pro Invitational Series continues to captivate audiences, we are constantly seeking ways to elevate the experience for our fans and participants," said Brenton O'Brien, Co Founder of the Pro invitational Series. "As a new player in the industry, OG Gear brings fresh perspectives and innovative ideas that perfectly complement the high-paced action of the Series. We are excited to embark on this journey together and witness the impact of our collaboration unfold."

Stay tuned for more updates and announcements about the Logitech G Pro Invitational Series at www.supercarsproinvitational.com.au

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The Logitech G Pro Invitational Series is proud to announce that Playseat, a leading racing simulator brand, to the ever-growing list of partners for the remainder of the 2024 season and beyond.

Applying over two decades worth of experience, Playseat provide premium equipment for both casual and professional gamers, including versatile and accessible sim racing seats as well as high end-professional simulators.

The partnership with Playseat further demonstrates our ability to bring you the best action, with the best drivers for our series. 

Beginning in 2005 Playseat has researched and developed the undisputed standard in delivering unrivalled realism. 

The Managing Director Playseat’s ANZ distributor GDE, Phil Bremner says "We have always strived to bring racing to the people and now we can help bring the true Supercar racing experience to everyone in the Australiasia region.Playseat provides gamers with a bespoke, innovative, and realistic racing experience to bring the action a step closer to home.”

Phil further added "We see real value in aligning ourselves to what is the undisputed best sim racing series in the Region.  The professionalism of the drivers and the organisers align with our values, we are really excited to be aligned with such a Championship"

The Managing Director of the Logitech G Pro Invitational Series, Brenton O’Brien stated "To run such an outstanding championship a lot of work needs to be done.  Over the past three years we have shown with our Championship that we are now the leading series in the Region.  The best drivers all line up on our grid and having that fantastic support from highly reputable brands such as Playseat further highlights the strength of our series.  Having Playseat as partners for the remainder of this year, and beyond, is a significant step for us as we continue to go from strength to strength.  We are truly thankful for introducing Playseat to our Championship"

You will see Playseats involvement in every round with the Playseat Pole Position.

For more information on Playseat please head to https://playseat.com/
 

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The Anticipation has been building for the 2023 Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup. Questions became answers on Wednesday night as the strong field of 45 drivers took to the track at Sebring for the Turn In Apparel Sebring sprint.

Qualifying proved to be hotly contested, only .255 of a second separated the top 10 at the conclusion of the 20 minute qualifying session. Madison down continued his form from Practice, putting his Virtual Racing School TTR commodore on pole position for the opening round of the season setting a blistering 2:01.002. James Scott would follow suit, placing the #088 on the front row next to Down. Luke Rosella had a stand out qualifying session to start his season, placing in third on the grid alongside defending series champion Jarrad Filsell & Marcello Rivera who rounded out the top 5.

The flag would drop for 44 laps around the 6 kilometre circuit with Madison Down converting from pole position leading the field into turn 1. Rosella would also have a strong launch, jumping James Scott into the first corner with Scott settling into third ahead of series champion Filsell. Brady Meyers made the most of the start, jumping from eighth to fifth by the time the field reached turn 3.

Meyers would set out and go to work in the early stages. showing intent, the #22 TTR driver would find his way into second position behind TTR stablemate Madison Down by the end of lap three.

The race wouldn’t settle into a rhythm for long, lap seven would mark a turning point early in the race. As Madison & Brady controlled the field working together from the front, Rosella & Rivera were disputing over the third. Side by side through Sunset Bend Marcello found himself on the outside upon corner exit. Both cars fighting tooth and nail, Rosella & Rivera would come together resulting in Rivera finding the outside tyre barrier. Both cars would obtain damage. Filsell would also find himself caught out in this incident, picking up serous aero damage that would hinder him for the remainder of the night.

By lap eleven the ailing car of Jarrad Filsell formed the lead of a battle train that carried all the way from seventh position down the eighteenth on the road. Filsell, continuing to fight on with a wounded car, would manage to put on a solid defensive display keeping the likes of Ethan Grigg-Gault, Dylan Rudd & Jake Maloney at bay. Jarrad would manage to hold off the attacks until lap 15 which saw both Grigg-Gault & Maloney find their way through into Sunset Bend. Jarrad finally loosing out on the battle would make make his first transit of the lane for his opening pit stop.

As the first of the two compulsory pit stops started to be completed for a number of cars another major incident took place on lap 17. Battling for a place inside the top 30, Jordan Ross careered his Watercraft Performance Mustang into the side of 9ine 5ive SimSports driver Bradley Rattew. The incident set off a chain reaction, also seeing Robert Gibbs become involved in the incident picking up heavy damage. For Ross, unfortunately this wouldn’t be the only incident he’s caught in for the night, picking up a range of penalty’s in a race that will one to forget.

Meanwhile, Down would continue to lead the race as pitstops continued to flurry. Building a impressive gap back to stablemate Meyers. James Scott & Andrew Gilliam would make their first trip to the lane on lap on lap 18, being the first of that crucial lead group to make the journey. Down continued to lead until his first stop on lap 21. Pitting last, Down would rejoin the circuit in second position behind Luke Rosella, who pitted as early as lap 12 with a short fuel stop.

The race would remain quiet for the time being, drivers staying line astern ticking off the laps.

The caution would fly for the first time in 2023 on lap 28, Jarrad Filsell finding himself stranded after being involved in yet another accident. A night to forget for the defending champion, he will look to bounce back.

With the caution flying, pit lane would be sparked into action again, with the entirety of the field pitting to serve their second compulsory pit stop of the race.

Madison would win the race out of the lane, re taking the effective lead of the race ahead of Brady Meyers. James Scott slotted into third, followed by Andrew Gilliam & Jake Burton rounding out the top 5. Rosella would find himself sitting in 6th position exiting the lane, contact from teammate Wayne Bourke under safety car ultimately putting a competitive end to Luke Rosella’s night, the driver of the #55 commodore managing a damaged car home for the remainder of the race.

Green flag racing resumed on lap 31, Down converting the restart perfectly. The top five would form a break away pack early, all five drivers creating space back to Ethan Grigg-Gault, Wayne Bourke & Jake Maloney.

The battle between Wayne Bourke, Grigg-Gault & Jake Maloney would come to a head on lap 43. Bourke managing to get alongside the outside of Grigg-Gault heading into Tower Corner. Contact in the middle of the corner saw Bourke run off the road on the exit, Allowing Freer to move into eighth position.

Back at the front, Madison Down would lead the field home to take the victory in the Turn In Race Apparel Sebring Sprint, his second career win in the Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup. Brady Meyers would follow his TTR teammate home with James Scott rounding out the podium. Gilliam would complete a brilliant drive from outside the top ten in 4th, Burton 5th, Maloney 6th, Grigg-Gault 7th, Freer 8th, Rudd 9th with Brenton Hobson rounding out the top 10 for the opening round of the season.

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Round 7 of the Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup took to the streets of Detroit on Wednesday night for two back to back sprint races around the challenging circuit.

Qualifying around the concrete canyon proved to deliver a range of surprising results, mixing the 40 car strong field up and down the order.

In the early stages of the 20 minute all in qualifying session, it would be Synergy Sim Racing’s Jarrad Filsell on top of the time charts early, setting the pace ahead of Trans Tasman Racing’s Brady Meyers. Pursuit Sim Racing’s Andrew Gilliam would later join the party in the 10th minute of qualifying, finding improvements from his first run to jolt nip the order into second place, only a mere .008 away from the current pole time set by Jarrad Filsell.

Qualifying intensified with roughly 5 minutes to go, as drivers started to turn up the wick and deliver punches at the top of the order. Gilliam again would go on to improve, momentarily eclipsing the time of Filsell to sit on provisional pole, before being jumped by Championship leader James Scott only seconds later. It was looking like Scott would hold onto pole position, as drivers had maximised the track conditions at play, until Brady Meyers out of nowhere stole the show with a blistering lap in the dying stages of the session. Meyers time would go unmatched, securing pole position for round 7 of the championship. James Scott hung on to claim second in qualifying, followed by Gilliam, Filsell & Madison Down rounding out the top 5.

James Scott and Andrew Gilliam side by side

Race 1

As race 1 got underway, Brady Meyers would convert from pole position to lead the field through the opening sequence of corners on the run down to turn 3 with James Scott & Andrew Gilliam following behind. Jordan Ross was the only real mover in the lead pack on lap 1, making an early move on Evolution Racing Team’s Ethan Grigg-Gault out of turn 2, promoting himself into the top 6 in the early stages as the lead train looked to settle into a comfortable rhythm.

As Brady Meyers lead the way, it didn’t take long for drama to brew in the mid field, with lap 2 already sparking controversy on the exit of turn 7. The #47 of Kurt Stenberg found himself off line on the exit the corner, making contact with the concrete barrier lining the edge of the circuit. Evolution Racing Team’s Bailey Fridd was left with no escape, making contact with the ailing Trans Tasman Racing car of Stenberg on the run into turn 8. The incident sparked a flurry of chaos, with multiple cars being caught out in the incident.

Back at the front, Meyers continued to lead the field. The top 5 managed to form a breakaway pack ahead of Jordan Ross in 6th, who was being put under immense pressure by Ethan Grigg-Gault. Grigg-Gault made his move into turn 3 on lap 4, shuffling the #143 of Ross back to 7th place. Championship contender Jake Burton was quick to pounce also, as he attacked on the run into turn 4. Slight contact between the two saw the #8 Trans Tasman Racing car out of control through turn 4, ultimately gathering it up with little time loss. For Ross on the other hand, this sequence of racing saw the #143 fall outside the top 10 in this stage of the race.

Kurt Stenberg into the wall and collecting Bailey Fridd

James Scott would be the first driver to file into pit lane for his compulsory pit stop in race 1 on the 13th lap with teammate Jarrad Filsell in tow. Trans Tasman Racing’s Madison Down followed suit, with Josh Anderson, Jake Burton, Jobe Stewart & Jordan Ross all choosing to make their first stops.

Brady Meyers went the alternative route, opting to stay out leading the way ahead of Andrew Gilliam. This stop would prove critical for Meyers on lap 14, who found himself rejoining the circuit right behind James Scott on the run down to the infamous turn 3. Scott would push his luck however into turn 3, moving under brakes in reaction to Meyers attempted pass. The battle continued into turn 4, Meyers coming off second best after contact with the outside wall dropping the #22 of Meyers back down into 4th position. James Scott would later be penalised for his actions, resulting in a 5 second penalty to be served post race.

The winner out of all this though would be Pursuit Racings Andrew Gilliam, who made ground on the leaders in his pit stop. Gilliam promoted himself to second though the scuffle between Scott & Meyers, before applying the blow torch to the back of James Scott in the closing laps. Gilliam ultimately wasn’t under pressure to make the move due to Scott’s unserved 5 second penalty, but produced a pass down at turn 7 to take command of the race on lap 24.

Not looking back, Gilliam would go on to produce his first race win in the Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup, leading home Jarrad Filsell & Madison Down who rounded out the race 1 podium.

Andrew Gilliam en-route to his maiden victory

Race 2

Race 2 saw Andrew Gilliam convert from his pole position grid box, executing the perfect launch to lead the field into turn 1 & 2. As the field filed through, Marcelo Rivera & Brady Meyers made contact on the exit of turn 2, finding the wall & setting off a chain reaction. A number of front running cars found themselves involved in the turmoil, putting an end to their respective nights and bringing out the first caution of the round.

Carnage on the opening lap of Race 2

The Logitech G Aston Martin Safety Car leads the field

This ruling would see those who opted to transit the lane forced to make a second stop over the 28 lap event. Madison Down was a winner from this, vaulting to the lead under caution after making the correct call. This would also see Ethan Grigg-Gault, Josh Anderson, Brady Meyers & Adam Briggs all promoted into the top 5 ahead of the race restart.

Madison Down lead the field back to green flag racing on lap 4, commanding the race on the run through turns 1 & 2. Drivers such as James Scott, Jake Burton & Jarrad Filsell all were advancing their way through the field until turn 7, which saw yet another multi car pileup as a result of contact between Filsell and the turn 7 concrete barrier. Contact with the barrier forced Filsell back across the circuit into the #19 of Dylan O’Shea, with Jake Burton also being a contributor to the incident. This would ultimately put an end to Jake Burton’s night, as well as denting his 2023 championship campaign.

A huge incident involving Filsell, Burton, O'Shea and more

Madison Down meanwhile was out front controlling the pack, withstanding the pressure that Ethan Grigg-Gault was applying the the rear bar of the #77 TTR commodore. Lap 13 would see the safety car called for the second time in race 2, many of the lead cars choosing to transit the line to complete their pit stops for the night. With a cleansed field, Down would again lead the field to green, controlling the pace of the cars behind.

Jarrad Filsell’s night went from bad to worse, again being caught in controversy over a move on Matthew Bowler on lap 15. Filsell was penalised for his conduct with a drive through penalty. Ending what started as a promising night.

A wounded Filsell makes contact with Matt Bowler of ERT

Racing at the front of the field quietly died down in the closing laps, Madison Down taking full control in the back half of the race over Ethan Grigg-Gault ultimately crossing the line on lap 28 to claim the checkered flag for the 2nd time in his 2023 Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup campaign. Ethan Grigg-Gault continues his consistent streak, claiming yet another podium in second, followed by Josh Anderson, securing his first podium of the 2023 season. Jack Boyd would bring home 4th, followed by Briggs, Gilliam, Veld, Scott, Meyers & Thomas Freeman rounding out the top 10 for race 2 of the evening.

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The Logitech G Pro Invitational Series would make its return to Sandown Raceway for the first time since October 2022 for round 3 of the qualifying series.

Qualifying would provide the closest session of the season to date, seeing the top 4 drivers covered by a staggering seven hundredths of a second at the conclusion of the session. In the early stages Brian Borg would take control of provisional pole, with Damien Johnstone close behind in second before Ric Kuznetsov would jump to the top of the standings with twelve minutes remaining.

What ensued after was nothing short of entertaining, Rehan Liyanage coming to the party with an excellent 1:07.125 moving him to provisional pole with little under 5 minutes remaining. Race winner from Hockenheim, Rudd would slot his 9ine 5ive Commodore into second position one thousandth of a second shy of Rehan’s benchmark, with Kuznetsov now siting in a comfortable third position. Remarkably, none of the latter would claim pole position with DPR Racing’s Dylan O’Shea denying Liyanage in the last seconds to claim his first pole position of the series, beating out his competitors by the narrowest of margins.

Although entertaining towards the top of the standings, there were some startling performances. Adam Briggs continued his poor run of qualifying form, finding himself well out of position in 23rd. Although making up for it in the race gaining an impressive eleven positions, Briggs will surely be going back to the drawing board in an attempt to fix his qualifying woes.

As the lights went out ahead of 65 laps around the Springvale circuit, O’Shea would convert his pole position perfectly, leading the field of 36 cars into the first corner. Rattew would make a blinder from the third row of the grid, moving up three positions by the time the pack entered turn 1. Liyanage would be the biggest loser off the start, dropping down to fifth by the time the leaders reached turn 5. Big winner on lap one saw the likes of Bailey Fridd move forward, capitalising off the start gaining an important four positions by the completion of lap one.

It didn’t take long for the lead pack to skip away to a small lead, O’Shea still controlling the field from the 9ine 5ive SimSports trio consisting of Rudd, Kuznetzov & Rattew after the opening laps. Rehan Liyanage found trouble on lap six, making a mistake on the entry of Dandenong Road and subsequently finding himself being turned around by Hayden Veld. For Liyanage, this untimely incident put a damper on what was looking like a extremely positive night. It wouldn’t be all doom and gloom for the Pursuit Sim Racing driver, finding his way back to 11th by the end of the nights proceedings.

Further down the field drama brewed from the outset, Synergy Sim Racing Driver Cameron Veacock again finding himself amongst the incidents, involved in an accident with Craig Shultz on the front straight, resulting in a heavily damaged car and a drive through penalty to boot. This ultimately puts an end to Veacock’s promotion hopes, but with one round remaining provides a excellent opportunity for Cameron to turn the tide.

Andrew Dyson again was showing his ability to drive through the pack, moving up a solid 4 places in the opening ten laps highlighted with extremely committed pass on Trans Tasman Racing’s Josh Muggleton in the esses on lap 10 as he began to make a march for the front of the field.

O’Shea continued to control the race from the front until the first round of pitstops began, Dylan interestingly being the one to find the lane first at the beginning on lap 20. Injecting himself back into traffic, this decision would unfortunately take O’Shea from the effective race lead. The 9ine 5ive trio chose to follow suit at the conclusion of lap 22, Brad Rattew again seeming to be a big winner, impressively jumping his teammates to re join the race ahead of O’Shea and taking control of the lead of the race from lap 23 onwards. An impressive stop form Synergy Sim Racing’s Hayden Veld would see him fill the final place on the podium.

Veld’s fortune would take a drastic turn on lap 28 though, a technical malfunction sending the #053 into the inside barrier at the fastest point of the circuit before spearing back across the track coming to a stop on the outside of turn six. With Veld’s now stricken Synergy Commodore stuck on the circuit, we’d see the first appearance for the Logitech G safety car. With the critical lap number now surpassed the field pile into the smallest pit lane on the calendar to complete the second of their compulsory pit stops. Brad Rattew would retain his lead on the exit of the Pit lane, followed by O’Shea, Rudd, Dyson & Robert Gibbs rounding out the top 5.

Rattew controlled the restart well on lap 32, retaining his lead over O’Shea into turn one. Rudd would apply the pressure behind O’Shea, But the DPR driver was well up to the task of keeping him behind.

Green flag racing was short lived, the safety car again being called upon the beginning of lap 34 with Paul Young being the cause. Already with an ailing car, The #3 BAR commodore gave up the ghost for good on entry to Dandenong road, an unfortunate end resulting in a low points scoring day for the qualifying series hopeful.

After a handful of laps behind the safety car, racing would resume on lap 37, one of the best 28 lap sprints of the season was about to begin.

Brad Rattew would highlight the restart with a contender for one of best restarts of the season, choosing to go early after the Penrite Bridge building a healthy gap before they’d even reached the start finish line.

It didn’t take long for drama to kick off again towards the front of the field, Dandenong Road again being the feature point of another incident. Dyson’s DPR Mustang found itself off the road with a helping hand from Robert Gibbs only to be followed up by a big incident in the braking zone for turn eleven between Damien Johnstone and Josh Muggleton. Although the incident at turn eleven was deemed a racing incident, both Johnstone & Muggleton will be feeling hard done by, going on to have a difficult time in the remainder of the race.

Back at the front of the field, A three car battle was brewing. Rattew had held his nerve and continued to lead form Dylan O’Shea with Rudd behind continuing to make ground on the leader. 

These closing laps were excellent from the top three, Qualifying lap after qualifying lap they traded blows. Kuznetsov would eventually join this train, all fighting to take the lead away from Rattew in the closing stages. O’Shea would attempt a move on lap 59 at turn one but Rattew again would hold strong and retain the lead off the corner with only a handful of laps left to run. O’Shea would take one last crack at Rattew on the beginning of the penultimate lap attempting to get up the inside down the front straight, Rattew was aware to this and moved across leaving no room for O’Shea to sneak through. Rudd took full advantage of this, Making a brilliant move into the turn two chicane clearing O’Shea and taking command of second position with all but a lap and a half to go. Rudd would lock down second position and protect Rattew from an onslaught from the DPR machine.

Rattew would steer the ship home for his first win in the Logitech G Pro invitational Qualifying Series at Sandown, after a few years of difficulty it sure seems Rattew has found his feet in the Supercar again along with a place to call home at 9ine 5ive SimSports. A proud moment for this driver and team, it goes to show the right environment and a positive mindset can make anything possible. For Rattew, we’re seeing the beginnings of what we thought was possible for this talented driver. Rudd would follow his teammate home in second place, followed closely by Dylan O’Shea rounding out the round Sandown podium.

One round remains for the inaugural Logitech G Pro Invitational Qualifying Series, as we head to the home of Australian Motorsports, Bathurst!

This is it, who will take their rightful place on the 2023 Logitech G Pro Invitational Series grid! Game on! Stay up to date with all the latest at https://supercarsproinvitational.com.au

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For the penultimate round of the Logitech G Pro Invitational Series, the teams rolled into Detroit to tackle the Belle Isle concrete jungle. Jarrad Filsell entered the round with a healthy lead in the championship, having to finish only 23rd to wrap up the title. A maximum points haul from the two endurance races had Jarrad in the SSR/Boost Mobile Commodore looking good to take out the inaugural title.

Jarrad would have been forgiven if he rolled around just to secure the title, but that’s not Jarrads style. Pole position would signal his intentions and show that if someone wants to beat him, they have to get near him. Andrew Gilliam locked out the front row aboard his Pursuit Sim Racing Machine, looking comfortable on the bumpy streets of Detroit. Burton locked down a top three in qualifying, and having Burton in with a shot is always a guarantee of a good race. Coby Jones surprised the field by securing fourth on the grid, a season high for the SSR young charger.

Madison Down would round out the top five, the TTR #77 always fighting near the front. Behind, Gardiner, Ryan, Hamstead, Grigg-Gault and Anderson would fill out the top 10, whilst some notable absentees were Brady Meyers, Wayne Bourke and Luke Rosella from 26th.

From the green flag it was the #94 who led them away, Burton immediately taking second from Gilliam. Jones, Down, Hamstead and Gardiner would give chase, whilst Spa pole sitter Marcelo Rivera would run into problems at turn one and drop through the field. As the field settled down, EGG in the ERT Soldier On Commodore was applying the pressure to the SSR #88 of Hobson for P10, whilst further back a missed braking marker for Mitchinson saw his car and the HJR Jinx Shifters Racing entry of Coxhead make heavy damage with the wall, both sustaining terminal damage.

Grigg-Gault would get the move done on Hobson, whilst Kuznetsov would make contact with Ross on lap 10, damaging the #143 and earning Kuznetsov a penalty on his first ever appearance at 9ine 5ive Sim Sports. Back at the front, Filsell had streaked away to a healthy lead, Down had made his way up to fourth and Gilliam was looking rock solid in third positon as we headed for our first round of stops. It was Wayne Bourke from the back of the top 10 that would kick off the first round of stops on lap 18, whilst Burton would be next to fire in on lap 20 whilst locked in an intense battle with Pursuits Gilliam for second, but on lap 21 a safety car brought the entire field in for the stranded Taipan entry of Greg Favelle who had blown his engine on a down change into turn 1.

After the first round of stops, the top 10 was Filsell, Burton, Gilliam, Down, Bourke, Jones, Meyers, Gardiner, Anderson and Hamstead. Bourke’s early stop working out well for the #89, jumping a few positions. From the restart, the top six would get a good jump on the field and pull a small margin to the following. On lap 28, Down would take his TTR Commodore back up into third from Gilliam, a small mistake from the Pursuit driver enough for Down to capitalise, whilst Meyers sustained heavy damage to the #22 and would pit for repairs from eighth.

Dylan Rudd was on a charge, the 9ine 5ive driver continues to impress late this season by making a clean and aggressive pass of Hobson for a position just outside the top 10, whilst a bunch of SSR cars ran together flanked by another 9ine 5ive car of Kuznetsov. Up front again and Filsell had once again shown a clean set of heels and drove away from the field, whilst Burton in second through to Ethan Grigg-Gault in 10th all ran within 5 seconds of each other.

A lap 34 safety car for a stranded TTR car of Leigh Ellis would cleanse the field, with Brad Ryan at the front of the field, taking advantage of early safety cars to get his CPS completed early. Filsell would be right behind off the restart to challenge Ryan for the lead. Ryan got a great restart and caught the field napping, extending an early lead whilst Down would make a move for P2 on lap 38, Filsell immediately fighting back. The tussling allowed Bourke to steal a position from Down, whilst Gilliam made contact with the wall. Luckily he escaped with minimal impact but Burton was back in 14th!

On Lap 41 Filsell would make a clean move into turn 3 for the lead, immediately followed by a controversial move by Bourke on Ryan, sending Ryan into the wall and earning Bourke a Podium killing penalty. Further back, Hamstead and Gardiner made contact, damaging the TTR Mustang on lap 46. The top 10 at this point was Filsell, Down, Bourke (with penalty to come), Jones, Anderson, Gilliam, Grigg-Gault, Gardiner, Hamstead and Burton. Jack Boyd and Dylan Rudd had run close to the top 10 all night, and both were in with a chance to secure a top 10 position by the end of the race, but they would have to fight it out. And Fight it out they did in an epic display of door to door racing.

Harrison made heavy contact with the wall on lap 47, ending the Send it Sim Sports drivers race after a move by HJR’s Brett Loxton ended in unfortunate wheel contact, it was a disappointing end to a promising race for the much improved Harrison. Josh Anderson has had it tough of late, but with ten laps to go he was looking at a solid top four result, which Josh will take after a tough endurance season.

McNamara and Kuznetsov would make contact whilst racing hard for positon with Boyd, ending with both 9ine 5ive cars in the concrete walls, a bitterly disappointing end for both Ric and Shawn who battles tirelessly for the entire race. Further back, Ross and Stenberg made contact, resulting in damage for Stenberg and a post race penalty for Ross, whilst Anderson and Gilliam made a clean move on Bourke to take fourth and fifth respectively.

Jones had started to close in on Down as the race was coming to an end, but ultimately it wasn’t enough. Jones secured his first ever podium in what was a break out performance for the young SSR driver, whilst Madison Down fittingly crossed the line this time behind his long time sparring partner and the new inaugural champion, Jarrad Filsell. The #94 SSR/Boost Mobile Racing driver did it in style, displaying a dominant performance to put the result in no doubt as to who the 2022 champion is.

Positons four to 10 were Anderson, Gilliam, Grigg-Gault, Burton, Gardiner, Hamstead and Rudd who capped off another fantastic result for his team.

Congratulations Jarrad Filsell on becoming our first Logitech G Pro invitational Supercar Champion!

We finish the year off at Phillip Island in just a couple of weeks where TTR, ERT, Pursuit, 9ine 5ive will all be looking to lay a foundation for next season and stop the SSR/Filsell juggernaut.

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Round 2 of the Logitech Pro Invitational Supercar Series took us to Winton Raceway for what was always going to be a difficult and intense battle for bragging rights. Two 32 lap races around the tight and twisty low speed circuit, and a compulsory stop in each. On a track that is almost impossible to get a clean pass done, qualifying and pit stop strategy would make and break the drivers round.

A progressive grid for race two formed from the finishing order of race one, and the option to complete a pit stop without taking tyres to gain track position made this one of the most mentally taxing rounds for drivers to find the optimum strategy.

It was TTR’s Madison Down who nailed a lap right on the death of qualifying to claim his maiden pole position of 2022. Alongside him, SSR Boost Mobile driver Jarrad Filsell was right in the mix, Vendeval’s Jake Burton lined up on the second row, right where he could attack from. The usual suspects, including round one winner Brady Meyers, completed the top 10. ERT’s Marcelo Rivera Stunned the field by lining up third on the grid, only .05 off pole!

When the green flag dropped, it was the Jarrad Filsell show. Car 94 was the class of the field and was able to control the race from the front, bringing home his first race win for 2022 and showing the field a clean pair of heels. Jake Burton was able to find his way past Down and looked the only challenger that could match it with the 94. Lap 3 saw championship leader Brady Meyers run into trouble, damaging the left front of his TTR Commodore, causing him to drop through the field with poor pace, and finishing a dismal 33rd.

Ethan Warren continued to quietly collect points, taking fourth, whilst ERT duo of Marcelo Rivera and Brad Ryan would play the no tyre strategy to come home in fifth and sixth respectively. Hamstead and Moloney came home just in front of the ever consistent Griffin Gardiner with SSR’s Luke Rosella rounding out the top 10.

Further back in the pack it was on for young and old with Kurt Stenberg having to cut turn 2 after being forced off the racing surface, losing valuable time on a track where it’s almost impossible to get it back. Jordan Ross was spun at turn two after contact with Cooldrive’s Josh Anderson, the 36 lucky to escape penalty in an incident that saw Brenton Hobson run right into the side of his team mate, damaging both their chances of a good result.

The pit exit at Winton always provides some nervous moments, and in race one, ERT’s Ethan Grigg Gault made contact with car 143, spinning the SSR car off the track and attracting the wrath of the stewards, penalising Ethan with 20 seconds, dropping him to 30th. Blake Worbys and Greg Favelle would also come together on the exit of turn nine, spinning the 63. Greg also fell afoul of the stewards for his part in the incident, copping a 20 second penalty.

Race two was much of the same right at the very front. This time Burton was able to stay on the back of Filsell enough to apply pressure, but never really looking likely to make a move. It was the same race one podium with Down bringing it home in third, again ahead of quiet achiever Ethan Warren. Jake Moloney capitalising on his pace with better affect in race two brought the 29 Mustang home in fifth with TTR team mate Hamstead closely behind.

Anderson recovered from his lacklustre race one, playing the right tyre strategy to vault up the field to eighth, just behind Marcelo Rivera, who announced himself as a genuine podium contender at Winton. A mid race safety car brought out for stricken Coby Jones at turn four made the entire field play their strategy card, vaulting the likes of Anderson, Ross and Hobson up through the field. Upon the restart, cars that had chosen new tyres were able to attack, Bourke in the SSR commodore was on a charge, forcefully moving his way through car after car, until a last lap move for seventh backfired, earning the 89 a post-race five second penalty, eventually finishing 14th.

The championship race took a steep turn for Brady Meyers, after his shocker of a round dropped him from first to eighth in the points. Jarrad Filsell stamped his authority on the title chase, assuming the lead from Burton and Warren, who continues to stalk the leaders. Anderson recovered from a lowly qualifying position to accumulate enough points to remain fourth and in striking distance.

Attention now turns to Red Bull Ring on the 29th of June in Austria. Red Bull Ring will provide the polar opposite racing to Winton and with long straights and high draft dependency, who will come out on top?

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Wow! What a race! A massive heavyweight tussle at the front with only a few laps to go ascended into an EPIC finish, as SSR Boost Mobile Racings Jarrad Filsell and Vendaval Sim Racing’s Jake Burton traded blows in all out warfare for the win, ultimately allowing a chasing TTR pack led by Brady Meyers to close in and pounce with only meters to go in the race. Brady Meyers would prevail, stamping his claim to the championship and planting himself right at the very pinnacle amongst legends of iRacing Supercar drivers.

TTR stable mate, Josh Anderson also capitalised in the Cooldrive Mustang to make it a team 1-2, an awesome start to the Logitech G Pro Invitational series for TTR.

Filsell went on to scrape over the line in 3rd after looking the class of the field for much of the race, beating home Burton who coughed out of the final corner in the lead, dropping to 4th. A devastating moment as Burton had surely done enough to win the race to that point but the tight fuel strategy delivered a cruel blow as he just limped over the line ahead of Ethan Warren, another TTR machine making it 3 in the top 5.

The top 5 cars finished the race just 0.5 seconds apart after 44 laps of a sweltering Sebring circuit. With no safety cars to close the gaps, it’s an incredible margin for this many cars to finish within.

Further back in the top 10 a bit of door banging and spirited racing mixed some results up, but it was the usual class drivers of Hamstead, Gilliam who was the lead Pursuit driver, Vedaval Sim Racing’s Griffin Gardiner who continues his front running consistency, ERT’s Ethan Grigg Gault who crossed the line in 7th, but a post race penalty for contact that would spin Jordan Ross on the opening lap would lead to a 5 second penalty which classified him in 9th place. Jake Moloney would round out the top 10, making it 5 TTR cars in the top 10.

SSR covered from 11th to 15th on the results, with a mixed bag of what could have been. Filsell claimed a podium and Bourke looked most likely of the other SSR cars to feature deep inside the top 10 until late race redress dropped him to 11th.

Tom Freer produced a stunning Qualifying lap for 7th, as he begins to find consistent pace but the race wouldn’t be so kind. An early slow down and poor strategy call which put him in traffic ruined his chance of a top 10.

Further back in the field, mixed stories of woe, heartbreak and come back drives littered the results. Notably Jordan Ross who looked on track for a top 10 at the start of the race and Brodie Kosteki who set blistering laps in practice and ran an alternate setup. Brodie ran into equipment issues with a pedal malfunction.

WK&P driver, Blake Worboys and 9ine5ive SimSport rising star, Shawn McNamara did an exceptional job finishing inside the top 20, an encouraging result for both teams heading to round 2.

Luke Mitchinson finished in 20th, something RaceOnOz will be happy with and can build on. Luke is one to watch and proved he can get the job done.

For round 2, we move on to Winton Raceway on the 1st of June for what will be another dramatic night of racing.

Missed all the action? Head over and catch the full broadcast replay at the link below:

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