After a action packed round in Sebring, Florida, The Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup returns to Australia for the Watercraft Performance Centre Phillip Island Super Sprint set to be held on the 19th of April.

The 4.5 Kilometre precinct is located in Victoria, roughly two hours south of Melbourne. It is one of the premier racing circuits in Australia, notably known for its presence on the Moto GP calendar.

This week, Sebring podium finisher & Synergy Sim Racing stalwart James Scott, takes us through his key points of interest around the Phillip Island circuit ahead of the Watercraft Performance Centre Phillip Island super sprint.

1. Tyre degradation

With Phillip Island known for its extreme tyre wear, it will be imperative to ensure your car is well balanced for the entire race so you don't fall back through the pack late in the race.

2. Qualifying

With there being 2 sprint races, there is a greater emphasis on securing a good qualifying position for both races as passing can prove difficult at Phillip Island.

3. Strategy

With tyre degradation quite high, that comes with the undercut becoming very powerful. Ensuring that you time your pitstop correctly to gain time on your competitors will be crucial but pit to early and you could leave yourself exposed on old tyres in the later stages of the races.

4. Lap 1 Miller Corner

With Phillip Islans being a fast and flowing circuit and high speed, it can lead to a chaotic first few laps of the race at the 2 slowest corners on the track being miller corner and MG. Whilst you can't win the race at either of these corners in the first few laps, you can certainly lose it.

5. Draft

Phillip Island has in recent times become a very draft dependent circuit with it being easy to keep up with the cars in front even if your outright pace is slightly off your competitors. Whilst the draft is very powerful, it doesn't always lead to easy overtaking as the aero wash behind other cars can affect your exits onto the straights. Being authoritive and precise with your passes is key.

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Hockenheim marks the sixth destination on the 2022 Supercars Pro Invitational calendar and is also the last stop for the series before commencing the Enduro Cup. Subsequently it is a critical opportunity for drivers to score points and we talked to TTR / Team Cooldrive Racing driver Josh Anderson about some of the key factors for succeeding at one of the most historic venues of the season.

Driver Finesse:

Hockenheim is an interesting circuit and to win a race there, I think there a several key factors that you must consider. It's a track that is extremely technical and requires the driver to finesse the car to be fast around here, both on one lap and over a longer run. 

Aero:

Like many of the Grand Prix circuits on the iRacing platform, the long radius corners require the driver to utilise the downforce that the car generates. It is often beneficial to run a bit of extra wing here in race trim to help look after the rear tyres in those corners.

Braking:

Braking is also a critical element that must be mastered in order to win at Hockenheim.
Both hairpins requires you to be aggressive on the initial application, and then very precise trail braking so you don’t pinch the unloaded front tyre. Precision is critical as even a variance of 5% can turn a good lap into a poor one with a lockup.

Turn 1:

Sector 1 consists of the fast turn 1 heading into a short straight and an acute right handed into a fast left hander leading onto the back straight. At turn 1, the V8 you can take a bit of the inside kerb to help rotate the car, as there is a nasty off track on the exit.

Throttle Control:

Turn 2-3 require the driver to slow the car down efficiently, with smooth throttle control critical to hold the slide on the direction change exiting Turn 2. This is a very important sector of the lap and one that’s critical to get right in order to do a fast lap time.

All in all, Hockenheim is a difficult track, but one that is satisfying when you put it together. I’m looking forward to racing there in the Logitech G Supercar Pro Invitational series.

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The Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup will head back to Europe as we turn the corner for the run home in the 2023 championship. On the 19th of July, we go racing for round 6 of the Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup at Red Bull Ring.

Having featured on the calendar in 2022, Red Bull Ring makes a return in 2023 with drivers set to tackle the 10 corner 4.318km circuit on the 19th of July for 60 laps of close quarters racing.

Originally founded as Österreichring, it was built as a replacement for the Zeltweg Airfield Circuit in 1969. Situated in the Styrian Mountains, The Österreichring Circuit visually was one of the most spectacular & challenging circuits for drivers, providing fast flowing sweeping corners, consisting of elevation changes throughout the lap.

Österreichring would host the Austrian Gran Prix from 1970 through to 1987, before being shorted, rebuilt & re named to the A1-Ring, hosting the Austrian Grand Prix from 1997 to 2003.

When Formula One outgrew the Österreichring circuit, plans where drawn up to extend the layout. Multiple Parts of the circuit, including the pit lane section & main grandstand, were demolished. Construction work was eventually halted & the circuit remained unusable for several years before it was purchased by Red Bull's Dietrich Mateschitz, rebuilt and reopened on 15 May 2011 before re establishing itself on the Formula One calendar in 2014.

2022 Red Bull Ring Broadcast Replay

With V8 thunder set to light up the Red Bull Ring virtually for a second consecutive year, all eyes will be fixed on the championship battle that has evolved over the course of the 2023 Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup.

Trans Tasman Racing’s Jake Burton is the man drivers are chasing, currently leading the championship after an entertaining victory at the Watkins Glen Sprint. Burton’s emphatic victory sees him 24 points in the clear of James Scott heading into the 6th round of the championship.

For James Scott, a strategy blunder for Synergy Sim Racing at Watkins Glen saw the driver of the #088 Commodore forced to salvage a top 10 result after dominating the early stages of the race. With this in mind, Synergy Sim Racing & James Scott will look for a mistake free race with hopes of standing on the top step at the conclusion of the 60 lap event.

It won’t come easy for either driver though, as you can never discount Madison Down. Only 38 points back, Down has been on the claw back since a difficult round or Phillip Island, which saw the Trans Tasman Racing stalwart off the circuit through turn 12, ending what looked like a positive night for the #77 Commodore. Now back on track with strong results, Madison will definitely be looking to make a dent in the points deficit at the Red Bull Ring.

Although these 3 drivers are leading the title fight, it’s hard to discount Jarrad Filsell. A season of what could of been, Filsell has nothing to loose for the remainder of the championship, a podium in 2022 at this very event firmly putting him in the conversation for top honours in 2023.

It’s fair to note a number of drivers who are showing a turn of speed at the currently, drivers such as Bradley Rattew, Thomas Freeman & Dylan Rudd all showing they have the potential to get amongst the action at the front of the field.

Another talking point is the form of Jordan Ross. The SSR driver suffering from difficulties throughout his 2023 campaign to date. Ross will look to turn things around at Red Bull Ring, the same circuit he scored his only podium in the 2022 championship.

Jordan Ross will be looking to return to form at Red Bull Ring

It’s fair to say, July 19 will provide another action packed round of racing as drivers search for results as the season begins to take shape.

Who will come out on top at Red Bull Ring? Will it be Jake Burton? James Scott? Or will the likes of Madison Down or Jarrad Filsell deliver a blow to the championship fight?

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I know I probably say and sound like it every single time, but, this next race has got some real potential to it.

A couple of key points heading into Watkins were kerb changes and the new damage model. They’re both still here, relevant, and everywhere you look in sim racing at the moment, however, the big kicker is the team shuffling.

When you rewind back to the start of the year, the thought I kept coming to was “this isn’t done yet”.

Someone’s dealt out a new hand in the driver shuffle and it's going to take another few months to settle down and resolve itself again.

Well, enough about that we’re off to Elkhart Lake in Wisconsin!

You only have to look back to the tail end of last year to see how this place really changed the outcome of the championship. Great rulebook and strategy awareness of the Trans Tasman Racing outfit hammered home a super strong result that put Madison Down into a nearly unassailable position. There was so much more drama that bubbled under the surface on that night, and it led to the formation of the Lobs Esports drivers that now are driving out of their skins.

Trans Tasman Racing mastered the strategy here in 2023

Road America as a venue though has been so critical to deciding championships over the long history of Australian V8 Supercar Sim Racing. Historically it plays host to our Grand Final and is thought of by the drivers with the same amount of significance.

The best part about this circuit is the fact you cannot have a car that is great in all areas. You’re either going to run a bit more wing and stability and look for long run speed, as well as consistency through the carousel and the kink and lose that little bit of an edge in a straight line, or you are going to trim the car right out and look for the straight line edge yet again.

If you look at the difference in our biggest teams and the way they approach their car setups, there’s some divergent takes on best balance. Lobs Esports have tended to take the “go fast and pass em on the straights” approach, Trans Tasman are phenomenal in the high downforce sections, and Synergy Sim Racing handle the bumps and mechanical grip sections really well. Keep all those tips in mind as you watch the progression.

This race has a bit of overtaking, a large amount of strategy, a little bit of safety car potential to just change something somewhere. One of the better parts of the Formula 1 race from over the weekend was the change to bring gravel and consequences back into play, well Road America only has run off room in two places, and not a lot of room for error anywhere else. Touch the grass at the kink on the back straight and all of a sudden it's just about keeping the car out of the fence.

Lobs Esports drivers were very quick in qualifying last year, Filsell took pole by two tenths of a second on a very cold track. Grip was super high for both qualifying and the start, and similar conditions are on the cards for this year. I expect the track to be a touch higher to start and continue to climb throughout the race. Drivers who have a good cold track car and are going to potentially struggle to hold onto their tires and striking a balance is going to be key.

I’m going to predict that the New Damage Model’s effects haven’t settled as yet and everyone is still adjusting, bringing the Safety Car into play. Fuel burn is going to be right around a 23 lap tank, and with saving could see this extended to 25 at the most, further than that and you are really going to struggle for the lap time and to hold position.

Expect tire fall off and wear to be around one second for every 10 laps, and another key point in the strategy game is if we end up with a long run to the end of your race the Safety Car chance drops off as everyone moves into conservation mode and stops racing as hard.

Zachary Rattray-White now leads the way for Vermillion Esports

Form guide suggests again to pick a Lobs driver to win, but I think this is going to be a lot closer than people think. Timing of the strategy and the smartest heads in the room could be a bigger factor, and this race comes down to having a fast car and the best race brains to match!

I’m also a bit worried about the Evolution Racing Team driver Ethan Grigg-Gault. If this was a game of tennis he’d have lost the match by now just on his amount of unforced errors. Its extremely out of character for him and I just wonder if something else isn’t going on. He’s now got two DNF’s combined with a finish with a damaged car back at Sebring. He sits 19th in points and still in contention for an automatic qualifying spot for next year, but I don’t think he can get away with another error of his own making. For me he’s just got to take points this week, and probably every week to the end of the championship, but Ethan’s also not the kind of driver to just have a quiet finish if he can have a win instead.

Righto, Voodoo magic time! We’ve cursed people just about every race this series and this could be another one.

Well who did we curse this time? Who are your predictions for Road America?

Feel free to hit me up on social media or discord, I want to hear from our fans!!!

See you all Wednesday night!

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by Scott Rankin

How it all stacks up leading into Round 1. Who is in the best form and who might be capable of a surprise upset result on the bumpy streets of Sebring.

Leading into the first round of a new championship there are always a lot of unknowns to contend with. But thankfully, the grid of drivers who are set to tackle the streets of Sebring in only a couple of weeks time have largely been active throughout various other leagues and competitions which allows us to get a pretty good form guide coming in.

Jarrad Filsell #94

Madison Down #77

Ethan Grigg Gault #177

Andrew Gilliam #201

Josh Anderson #36

Brodie Kostecki #99

Jackson Souslin-Harlow #15

Jake Burton #8

Richard Hamstead #28

Wayne Bourke #89

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Located North of Braselton, Georgia, sits the exciting 4.088 kilometre circuit of Road Atlanta, which will play host to the 2023 Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup season finale for the first time.

Opened in 1970, the 12 corner precinct has played host to a number of national categories, including the Nascar Xfiniity Series, Can-Am & SCCA runoffs with series like IMSA & Trans Am America racing their in more recent times.

As we cross the pond to finish 2023, we can not think of a better setting to crown our champion.

The picture is simple, Madison Down of Trans Tasman Racing leads the overall championship, with a 67 point lead over Synergy Sim Racing’s James Scott. With An excellent season to date, Down has put together a consistency masterclass, giving himself the advantage heading into Road Atlanta. For Scott, he will be hoping to put his best foot forward in the final round of the 2023 season, with the hopes he can claw back the deficit on Wednesday night.

Don’t forget about Brady Meyers either, only 136 points away from the championship lead. He well and truely can still be in contention at the conclusion of this championship to steal the crown.

45 of the best Australian Drivers will be faced with a gruelling 43 lap event consisting of 2 compulsory pit stops to be served over the race distance. With plenty of action still to come to round out 2023, who do you think will steal the crown?

Can Madison Down hang on and convert his epic championship campaign into a title? Or can James Scott pull off the great escape and win the championship? Or will the dark horse Brady Meyers shock the system and run away with the chocolates?

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The Logitech G Supercars Pro Invitational Series officially kicked into gear for 2023 last night as the first official practice sessions ahead of the Qualifying Series got under way.

Over 70 cars took to the track as preparation for drivers and teams has well and truly begun with the Qualifying Series for this year looming. The Pre Qualifying process is slated to happen this week where almost 100 cars will be narrowed down to just 45 who will take part in the Qualifying Series itself which is set to take place throughout February. 

Sessions last night spanned across both the Hungaroring and Winton circuits which are the tracks that are both scheduled to set the stage for the Pre Qualification process this week. With so many teams and drivers taking the opportunity to set lap times it gives everyone an early form guide and interesting insight into what to expect late in the week. 

The initial impression is that the field will extremely competitive with the top 30 cars at Hungaroring covered by under 1.5 seconds and less 1 second separating the top 20 at Winton. 

It was no surprise to see some familiar names amongst those leading the way early on with returning Pro Invitational Series drivers from last season like Ric Kuznetsov, Dylan Rudd and Sebastian Flock in the mix. 

Also evident was the intent of some familiar teams like Evolution Racing Team who also had Robert Gibbs and Matthew Bowler factoring at the pointy end of the timesheets. 

The depth of the competition is compelling and other teams are also well represented with Jobe Stewart (Pursuit Sim Racing), Josh Muggleton (Trans Tasman Racing), Thomas Freeman (Fishy Motorsport) and Adam Briggs (Synergy Sim Racing) all setting fast times last night.

Other names to watch out for include the likes of Rehan Liyanage (Phoenix Racing), Shawn McNamara (9INE5IVE SimSport), Andrew Dyson (Simrigs.com DPR) and Zachary Hanlin (Altus Esports) who also set times but may holding their cards close to their chest at this early stage. 

With a number of the most anticipated names registered not in attendance last night we know that the competition will only get tougher as the Qualification process gets under way later this week. 

With entries now closed you can see the full list of nominated drivers here:

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2025. A year that is about change, shiny new cars and an influx of new drivers. Over the last 3 years Qualifying has set us up to get into the season, but we’ve gone into the Q-Series generally knowing who to keep our eyes on and where the pace is going to come from.

Not this year.

Pace was absolutely rapid over the 3 nights of qualifying and it would be Synergy Sim Racing’s Brenton Hobson who would land the first blows on the overall timesheet.

Hobson would take the fastest lap for Barber Motorsports Park on night 1 with a 1.24.749, but the Zolder times would be led by the new kid on the V8 Block Kody Deith of Eclipse Simsports.

Deith and the Eclipse Simsports team will be worth keeping an eye on across the entirety of the season, and barring any issues in the short Qualifying season, will be among my top picks to make the Pro Series.

Night 2 of Pre-Qualifying would see not only the pace improve, but a big shakeup at the front of the standings.

Brenton Hobson set the early pace on Night 1

Only one driver would better the times from the first night of Pre-Qualifying from Zolder, Matthew Bowler from Evolution Racing Team would set the new benchmark of 1.30.684, but Kody Deiths mark of a 1.30.735 from the previous night would stand as the 2nd best time.

However, Barber Motorsports Park would be where the real action would pickup. The previous best would be “Eclipsed” (and yes, prepare for me to use that pun liberally this year) by nearly 3 tenths of a second. 6 total drivers would also improve on Hobson’s marker, and with all 6 coming from different teams. Dylan Birse (Eclipse Simsports), Emily Jones (Trans Tasman Racing), Matthew Bowler (Evolution Racing Team), Andrew Dyson (DPR Racing), Greg Favelle (Xcelerate Sim Racing) and Dylan Perera (Synergy Sim Racing) would put their times down ahead of Hobson’s.

This would move the Eclipse Simsport duo of Dylan Birse and Kody Deith to the top of the pile heading into the final night of action, and sitting more than comfortably enough to relax and begin focus on the Qualifying series if they chose.

Andrew Dyson was among the cars showing good speed in Pre Qualifying

I think it's quite critical at this point in time to mention how important to the health of the car and the series to have 6 teams able to put times to the top of Pre-Qualifying. In years gone by we’ve seen the same teams and drivers dominate. If one driver of a team is doing well, they’ve got their setup locked in and the rest of the team will follow. The new package appears to be leaning towards a more driver centric car, at least in qualifying trim!

Final night of qualifying would not see the electric times from the previous night from Barber.

Fastest from Barber on the final night of qualifying would be Emily Jones who would improve fractionally on her night 2 time. Setting a 1.24.516 she would be 5 hundredths faster than Damon Woods final time.

Zolder appeared to be where the focus was placed. Matthew Bowler’s time of 1.30.684 would be bettered by two drivers from the Eclipse Simsports crew. Dylan Birse would lay down the fastest lap across all 3 nights to top the sessions with a 1.30.483, but Damon Woods would be only 9 thousandths of a second behind with a 1.30.492.

The Eclipse Simsports trio of Dylan Birse, Damon Woods and Kody Deith would clinch the top 3 spots from Pre-Qualifying and show the electric pace that has seen them be targeted for high level drives in the world of multiclass and open wheel racing.

Eclipse Simsports claimed the top 3 spots in Pre Qualifying

Emily Jones would stand up to place herself strongly in contention for a main game drive. After being one of the most reliable co-drivers on the grid over the last few seasons, Trans Tasman Racing are likely going to be looking for new talent to be in a supporting role come endurance time.

With a podium to his name in 2024, Jobe Stewart would be the best placed of the Supercars and Super2 entries in 19th, with Andre Heimgartner (30th) and Richie Stanaway (38th) both managing to make the cut. Stanaway has spent a lot of time enjoying the Gen3 on iRacing and was offering a lot of open lobbies to drivers during the week the cars launched back in December. This just goes to show how intense and compact the sim racing field has become.

Well with the overall times across the field of 45 being 1.3 seconds, and the gap from 11th to 45th being 0.6 seconds its very clear we have our closest qualifying field ever.

Hayden Veld made big gains on Night 3 to secure his spot in the Qualifying Series

With February comes the Qualifying series. 4 short weeks, 4 opportunities to book an automatic ticket into the big dance. We saw last year that one mistake was enough to eliminate a driver and shuffle them back down the order.

Will anyone among the 45 get desperate in a pursuit for glory? Can you afford to miss the Qualifying Series?

Racing kicks off from February 5th and the track that farewelled the Gen 2 from official series racing.
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is fast, flowing and requires discipline. The grass and the fence come up way too quick should you get in deep!

See you all in a few weeks!

Check out the full results from Pre Qualifying by clicking the botton below:

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by Scott Rankin

Round 7 of the 2023 Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup takes us back to the USA for another thrilling ride around the Belle Isle park circuit.

The temporary street circuit, built on the Detroit River, Belle Isle, has hosted numerous racing series since opening for the first time in 1992. Series such as the IMSA sportscar championship & Indycar series have regularly featured on the 2.35 mile, 13-turn circuit through the years.

located on the picturesque island minutes from downtown Detroit, The digital replica created by iRacing of the 2.35 mile ( 3.782km) racing precinct highlights the surrounding landscape, most notably turns 9 through 10, featuring the all famous James Scott Memorial Fountain.

The racing surface at Belle Isle has a relatively unique layout, featuring a smooth concrete surface, along with new and old asphalt making up the 13 turn precinct. The multiple surface types challenges drivers as they discover where they can push the limits, push to hard & it’s easy to find one of the many concrete barriers that line the circuit.

Multiple surface types challenges drivers

Returning to Belle Isle for the first time since November 2022, drivers are set to tackle the 2.35 mile ( 3.782km) circuit on Wednesday the 9th of August for 2 x 28 lap sprint races featuring a compulsory pit stop in each race.

The grid will be determined by a 20 minute qualifying session, with progressive grids setting the grid for the second race of the evening.

Join us on the Australian Sim Racing Group YouTube channel from 7:30pm on the 9th of August to catch all the action from Round 7 of the Motorsports Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup at Belle Isle. Who will reign supreme?

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As we near the conclusion of the 2023 Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup, teams and drivers are set to journey to Road America for the penultimate round of the championship.

Road America is a 6.515km circuit opened in September of 1955. The circuit consists of 14 high & low speed corners, providing the ultimate driving challenge for the Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup drivers.

One of the only permanent racing precincts retaining its original 14 corner configuration, Road America features many elevation changes, including the famous corner on the back stretch known as “the kink”.

Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup Drivers will tackle Road America for the first time in series history on the 25th of October with a 43 lap sprint race deciding the round winner. Qualifying will commence from 8pm AEST for a 20 minute qualification session setting the grid for the main event. Drivers are also expected to complete 2 compulsory pit stops over the 43 lap race distance.

Madison Down is your championship leader heading into Road America, 7 points clear of Synergy Sim Racing Driver James Scott, who will look to continue his strong form after his Bathurst 1000 win alongside Shane Van Gisbergen a month ago.

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As we near the halfway point of the 2023 Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup, teams and drivers are set to journey to Road America for the first of back to back rounds set to be held in the United States.

Road America is a 6.515km circuit opened in September of 1955. The circuit consists of 14 high & low speed corners, providing the ultimate driving challenge for the Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup drivers.

One of the only permanent racing precincts retaining its original 14 corner configuration, Road America features many elevation changes, including the famous corner on the back stretch known as “the kink”.

Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup Drivers will tackle Road America for the first time in series history on the 7th of June in a 43 lap sprint race deciding the round winner. Qualifying will commence from 8pm AEST for a 20 minute qualification session setting the grid for the main event. Drivers are also expected to complete 2 compulsory pit stops over the 43 lap race distance.

James Scott is the championship leader heading into Road America, a career first race win at Spa-Francorchamps in round 3 setting the driver of the #088 Synergy Sim Racing Commodore up as a favourite to continue his winning ways at Road America.

Jake Burton sits only 16 points away from the championship lead, with Trans Tasman Racing stablemate Madison Down also hot on his heels in the race for the championship.

Jake Burton sits only 16 points away from the championship lead, with Trans Tasman Racing stablemate Madison Down also hot on his heels in the race for the championship.

Tune in on the 7th of June on the Australian Sim Racing Group YouTube channel as Australia’s best battle it out for supremacy in the 2023 Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup from Road America.
 
Full race details and Round 4 information can be found on the Road America Event Info page below:

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We said after Sebring that no one can recall a year that's started this way ever. I get a certain feeling deep in the pit of my stomach at the moment when I hear people mentioning the word’s “Race Control”, “Steward” and “penalty” currently and it's not why you might think.

Who can ever forget famous sporting moments that have ended in the hands of the officials? I think of the Aussie Cricket Team on the Ashes tour burning through reviews to dismiss a rampant Ben Stokes, only to have no reviews left when they had an opportunity. On field umpiring throughout the NRL season is an easy topic to get your footy fans talking. Then there’s the VAR and its both over and under usage in Premier League football in England.

There’s even the Lowndes v Murphy incident from Winton in 2003. Neil Crompton openly voiced his displeasure in the penalty given to Murphy. An interesting, iconic and important point in motor racing at the time.

Phillip Island brought up another race that ended in its own points of drama. Penalties to Brady Meyers and Jake Burton took away from what was a battle on track that saw Jarred Filsell handed race victory on the night, before that was overturned later in the week. There’s a lot that wasn’t seen by the viewer, nor the commentators on the night (yeah I got this one wrong). The angles we saw on broadcast didn’t tell the entire picture, nor did they show the relevant pieces of information to the stewards that lead to the penalties. That's commentary, that’s life, and I wanted to pass on a sincere apology for leading you all astray.

Jake Burton picked up the Round 2 victory

As someone who has done an appreciable amount of stewarding within the sim racing platform over the last 4 years the educational discussions that go on about stewarding are amazing. Last week I sat down with Peter Baxter and Mike Koroleff and we went over Rule sets, Stewarding Process and Procedures and a fair chunk more. The most important part of that discussion was the growth of the rules, context to why certain rulings have come about and the level of changes they have gone through to arrive at their current iteration. Its been immense, there’s a lot of minor changes to cover off holes done over such a long time that we are now at a level of the rules that are very consistent, reasonable to drive to and give us a high product of racing.

If you have 2 hours its an amazing chat and I rate it as the best discussion I’ve had about the sport ever. 

But Scott, if that's the case how come we have ended up in a situation where we’ve seen race impacting penalties at the finish 2/2 rounds this season?

If you find yourself asking something close to this question at this point then that's awesome. You’re a fan, you’re passionate and you care about a good outcome for the sport that supports an extremely high level of racing with a good product to the viewer.

The reason we’ve landed in this position is because we’re in a sport governed by millimetres across hundreds of kilometres. The Sebring accident was a mixture of a small amount of netcode meets the slightest amount of mistakes. It was a line ball incident.

The aftermath of the huge accident at the season opener in Sebring

Phillip Island was much the same. Meyers made contact in the entry of the corner when space wasn’t required to be left. Burton got further through the corner and the rulings changed from entry space to apex and exit. Rules change slightly at this point.

The racing was so close and hotly contested that contact was made. Mild contact that ran Filsell wide in both cases, but not enough to be off the track. Meyer’s wasn’t entitled to the room, hence a 5s penalty for not being far enough up at turn in. Burton was entitled to room and it was a line ball incident.

If this was NRL we’d be debating if there was downward controlled pressure on the ball. Was there a blade of white line grass touching the ball in the in-goal area. How long do you want to review it for?

If this was cricket, its easy, it was 100% an Umpire’s Call on the “struck in front of the stumps” and the “going on to hit stumps” sections of the DRS review. What was the call on field as its going to have to go to that. The entire cricketing world has opinions on the Umpire’s Call decision, but thats for another day and a different sporting world.

In the meantime I’ll be over here trying to come up with my best siren impression and see if I can get a few referee’s tricked into calling the game before the end.

COME ON REF, HE WAS HOLDING HIM SIR. THAT’S A CARD SURELY!!! IN THE BIN!!!

Whoops… Uh yeah… See you Wednesday night, hopefully this time the toes remain on the right side of the line!

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By Scott Rankin

After the excitement of the opening round at Sebring the Logotech G Pro Invitational Series heads to Benalla in North Eastern Victoria where the teams will line up on the grid at Winton Raceway.

Winton has a rich history with Supercars, recently holding the latest round of the Recpo Supercars Series. The 12 turn, three kilometer layout will be the most difficult track of the season to make passes, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be action. A new track to the iRacing service, this will be the first major test of the circuit where the leading 40 drivers in Australia will tackle the challenge head on.

Round one race winner, Brady Meyers only led the Sebring race for about 100 metres, but it was the most important 100 metres of the series so far. From the 44-lap thriller at Sebring, we this time have two 32 lap sprint races ahead, both with a compulsory pitstop.

The shorter lap time and tighter layout makes the timing of the pitstop even more vital. The undercut is significant here for track position. Do it too early, and you will be held up in the pack, stop too late, and you could drop positions to those that may have stayed out of traffic. Tyre life is crucial. They should hang in there in weather that is expected to be a cool, but mostly sunny 18 degrees.

It is a track where qualifying is king, and who would be better prepared to qualify at the front than Boost Mobile Racings Jarrad Fillsell. Pole winner in race one, Jarrad and Jake Burton were the class of the field. However through their tight battling they allowed the TTR cars back into the fight where they were able to capitalise on the fuel drama of Burton and late mistake by the number 94.

But do you want to lead? Do you want to be the pioneer where the pack stays with you and pits first to get the undercut, does the leader take that risk or does he react to what the chasing pack are doing.

Also watch for Madison Down, a non starter in race one due to technical reasons, Madison will be keen to establish himself in the series by maxmising every race from here on to somehow get himself back into the championship.

There are so many drivers in this field that have raced here in their race cars, notably Madison, Jake and Jackson Sousin Harlow have had real life experience in a Supercar in testing whilst ERT’s Ethan Grigg Gault had recent success with a dominant win in his Hyundai Excel in a strong field last month. As recent as the past weekend, Josh Anderson was heavily involved in the Aussie Racing cars series.

And of course, Brodie Kosteki fresh of his run in the Erebus Motorsport ZB.

What about the local driver, Blake Worboys. Our driver of the day winner from Round one used to live just up the Hume Highway from the track where he has been many times.

Could there be a winner from elsewhere? Could there a surprise on the podium?

One thing we know, the pressure will be intense, and the action will come thick and fast.

A safety car will be a real chance here. Remarkably, after 44 laps of no safety car racing the top five finished within half a second of each other. Whilst it is unlikely to happen again, you can be sure that the winning margin will be close.

Who will come out on top, who will assert their dominance, who will be the winner of the Winton Super Sprints?

Be here from 7:40 AEST on the 1st of June to get front row seats in what is already the most exciting championship in the country.

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When you think of winter getaways, the end of the Spanish Spring is always worth a shout. Sand, surf, sun and Supercars, it's a match made in heaven. Well, unless you’re a tire, in that case, hot temperatures and racing is not something you appreciate.

Track temperatures from the Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto were into the mid 50’s, something that is becoming a new challenge with the iRacing weather system update. Whilst we may not have rain in the Supercar as yet, we have a wider variety of weather conditions and that is providing a new challenge. When you head to a new circuit for the series, trepidation is always common up and down the field, but throw in the weather and confidence of the drivers was not high.

Qualifying would create a couple of notes that are worth keeping track of as the season progresses.

1. Good luck stopping Lobs Esports. 12 rounds in the season, 4 down and they’ve claimed 4 pole positions. Could we see all 12? You’ve got Bathurst in there and that could be the one that doesn’t go their way. Are we seeing the next Hybrid era Mercedes? Do we have our own Max Verstappen? Even better, we’ve got 2 of them! Can you imagine if Dylan Rudd continues his progress and we end up with 3?!?!
   
   
2. Evolution Racing Team (ERT) are looking more consistent than they have of late. Ethan Grigg-Gault has been a mainstay inside that top 5 for as long as I have been around, but Marcello Rivera has been in and out. He looks back, he looks quick again and that motivates those around them. Keep an eye on another name from ERT to push forwards later on in the year.
   
   
3. Vermillion Motorsports are doing much the same as ERT of late. The bigger concern for their rivals is that the team is larger and all of them are improving. The pace is coming from this team, if they keep this trajectory imagine the results from the final few rounds. I’m going to go on record and say I was critical of this partnership and change in its early stages. I was wrong, and I love being wrong when it creates a tasty prospect like this!!!

Lobs Esports continue to dominate qualifying with 4 from 4 so far this season

Another pole position for Jarrad Filsell to show outright pace, but there’s so much strength in the team at the moment that they locked out the front three spots in qualifying.

Marcello Rivera showed enough one lap speed to make it onto the second row, followed by Andrew Gilliam, Ethan Grigg-Gault, Zach Rattray-White, Griffin Gardner, Ric Kuznetsov and then the first of the Trans Tasman Racing (TTR) cars with Brady Meyers rounding out the top 10.

Race

The biggest issue in racing is surviving lap one and hanging onto your position, and for both Jarrad Filsell and Dylan Rudd they wouldn’t stay where they started on the run to turn one.

Rivera got the jump on Jarrad Filsell, but that would be reversed early. Rivera consciously made a decision to look after the tires and not fight too hard. For Rivera the focus was on trying to get the podium at the end of the night and fighting with Filsell would compromise the stint more than it would help.

Lots of wheelspin for Dylan Rudd took him off the podium and deposited him behind a very fast-starting Madison Down. Down would jump 5 spots on the opening lap from 11th on the grid to 6th. Whilst Rudd would lose 4 spots from 3rd to 7th. This would be the key battle in the opening stanza of this race that probably saw Down wear his tires off the car too aggressively in his defence and struggle for the bulk of the first stint. It would take until the hairpin on lap 13 for Dylan Rudd to get by, but he’d lost so much time to the pack ahead and would spend the rest of the night trying to recover.

Dylan Rudd and Madison Down fighting hard

Once one car got past Madison Down, the rest of them would queue up for their opportunity. Griffin Gardiner would fire by on lap 14, then it would be Ric Kuznetsov and Brady Meyers on Lap 16.

As the drivers got to the end of their first stints the tire fall off to fastest laps was in the realm of 3 seconds per lap. The undercut was key and strategies up and down the field diverged massively.

The big one that I still do not understand was Madison Down falling through the field like a rock at the back end of the first stint elected to stay out. Before cars started passing him on lap 13 he was 6th. He came to the lane at the end of Lap 26 and resurfaced in 26th position. A loss of 20 spots in 13 laps just didn't make sense. The bog standard TTR strategy of run long in the opening stint, followed by two shorter stints to the end only works when you have long run pace. Did the TTR crew have fresher tires to overtake in the back half of the race? Yes. The key factor was the overtaking difficulty, they were just never able to recoup the spots they lost with the long run strategy. Madison would recover to finish 16th at the end, but thats a night that a better points finish went begging.

Following the who is on what strategy battle through the middle of the race was intense as the early stoppers would fall through the field, whilst the longer opening stint would create opportunities for the likes of Jake Burton, Blake Worboys and Josh Anderson in the middle of the race.

Tom Freer would run long in the middle of the race and shorten up his final stint which would give him his second top 10 of the season after 2nd place back at Sebring. Freer is just quietly going about his business and achieving good results consistently. He sits 4th in the championship after a 10th at Jerez and will be looking forward with supreme confidence.

Blake Worboys is another one who is putting in the results and finally got a lot of attention in Spain. His drive through the field was not just a delight to watch, but confidence inspiring, particularly when you note he has no teammates in the only WK & P entry.

Andrew Gilliam I think is Dylan Rudd’s biggest rival right now. He’s put in 2 big finishes over the last 2 rounds and has been moving forward. 

Marcello Rivera showed great pace and ran near the front all race

Rudd is quick, he’s stringing Qualifying performances together, but there’s always a big mistake in the race and he’s struggling to pass drivers. I’ve got to be honest, I want to see Dylan win the championship, that would be amazing…. But I think there’s just too many drivers around that are more reliable. If he can put together all aspects of the race and win one, that changes.

Andrew Gilliam on the other hand did grab a podium. Clean start, pressed forwards and stayed relevant with Filsell and Scott all night. Wasn’t the fastest overall, but is close enough on points and that gets me excited. Can he find the extra few tenths and translate that into long run pace as well? Jury is still out.

Filsell was again supreme on long run pace mixed with fuel saving and would pull off, in my mind, the move of the night to swing underneath James Scott to take the lead on the pit lane exit. From there it was a cruise to the finish with Filsell leading home his teammate for a 1-2 finish.

Another point to note was an odd on track exchange between two drivers late in the piece. There was an on track battle between Thomas Freeman and Brady Baldwin at the tail end of the field. It's obvious to any observer that Baldwin and Freeman are not each other’s biggest fans. They traded blows on a hot track, with hot tires and hotter tempers. Could be something to keep in the back of your mind later in the season. Brady Baldwin’s thoughts on the matter were “Play silly games, win silly prizes.”

As we leave Spain and head to the track touted as the series’ “Bull Ring”, overtaking opportunities will come at a premium and tempers between drivers could boil over. Could we see the end of the Green Flag racing streak that's been going since early at Phillip Island.

What I can say is I will be pondering the next few weeks from the Spanish coast of the Atlantic with a lovely local glass of Sherry.

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by Scott Rankin

The Logitech G Pro Invitational Qualifying Series returns to Australia to one of its premier racing precincts for the penultimate round of the championship.

Sandown, one of the most technically demanding circuits on the qualifying series calendar, will provide the drivers with a challenge like no other. Drivers will have to draw from all their experiences so far, as they try to deliver in the closing stages of the championship.

This week we hear Rehan Liyanage’s key points around the 3.104 kilometre circuit located in Springvale, Melbourne.

Lap one:

Lap one is crucial, if you have a bad start or something goes wrong at the start of the race, you are making the rest of the race quite hard for yourself. Once the first lap is over, you just have to settle in and deal with what you’ve got.

Turn 2-3:

Turn 2 & 3 is the first chicane, these two corners are very important, if you get them wrong, you can send yourself into the wall or into another car. If someone takes these kerbs wrong or gets to the throttle too quickly, there is potential for a spin and for a parking lot.

Straight line speed:

Sandown Motor park is known as two drag strips with a couple of twisty bits at the end, so that is why the straight line speed is crucial. If you have to sacrifice some time in corners by making that setup suit the straights, it is definitely worth it.

Brains:

You really have to use your brains and pick your battles, know when to get into a fight and when not to battle. Knowing how much to push and how much to conserve tyres as well as fuel.

Strategy:

Strategy just like any other track is key, tyre wear isn’t too bad around here, but it is a very long race. Knowing if you have to stay out, go in early, pit under safety, all of these things are part of the strategy which is highly required.

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Sandown will play host to round 8 of the Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup for the first of 2 endurance races set to be held over the coming month.

Drivers will tackle the 3.104 kilometre circuit for 161 laps of action packed racing on Friday the 1st of September, with the goal of becoming a Sandown 500 champion.

Sandown, located in Springvale, Victoria, sits roughly 20km from Melbourne’s city centre. Considered one of Australia’s most well known racing precincts, its bumpy fast natured layout provides numerous challenges for drivers to overcome, including the turn 2-3 chicane which is pivotal to lap time.

Sandown is predominantly a power circuit, with its long front & back straights also providing an interesting challenge for drivers to tackle as they search for a balance between having a strong handling car through the corners, vs a car capable of being the fastest down the “drag strips”, maximising straight line speed.

The inclusion of co drivers add an extra variable to proceedings at Sandown, with the likes of real world racers Shane Van Gisbergen, James Golding, Andre Heimgartner, Cooper Murray, Brad Vaughan & Anton De Pasquale all making themselves available for the endurance cup. Other notable mentions Include 2022 Bathurst podium finisher Corey Shepherd, Fawzan El Nabi & Griffin Gardner to name a few.

Co Drivers will be expected to complete a minimum lap count of 54 laps, as well as both drivers having to adhere to the 80 lap drive time limit over the course of 500 kilometres.

Split qualifying will also feature for the first time in the 2023 Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup at Sandown, with drivers to be broken up into 2 groups for the 35 minute qualifying session. Qualifying groups will be determined off championship position.

Join us from 7pm AEST to catch all the action from qualifying and the first enduro of 2023! Who will reign supreme?

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I was just reading over the article from this time last season and reminiscing. That was my first time putting pen to paper for previews of the series. Nobody had an idea what was about to play out for Round 1. 

Sebring last year kicked off in a big way. If you’re new here, or for some other reason haven’t seen the ending to last year’s championship opener, I would list it as prescribed viewing. Yes! I’m assigning you homework, it's the kind of homework I’ve rewatched multiple times across the year. I even made it easy, you only need to watch the final 10 laps!

The tiniest of touches at the end of an amazing race blew up into the biggest accident the series has ever seen, rewriting the entire narrative that had built up for the 2024 championship. Robbie Gibbs would win his first ever Pro Invitational race, with Tom Freer and Hayden Veld rounding out the podium.

If this year’s race can go anywhere near that, we are in for a banger of a year. The best part is, the Qualifying series has told us it's very much going to be the case!

The 2025 V8PRO Qualifying Series delivered remarkable racing

Lessons from the Qualifying Series

It was a wild four-round series to get us underway in new hardware, and something Brenton Hobson said at one stage has actually stuck with me.

“I think the drivers who get to race the qualifying series are going to be in a better spot for racing laps”.

With racing at times mirroring what we’ve seen from the real world Supercars at the Melbourne GP, this could be a frantic affair with more Safety Cars than we’re used to. The biggest win for the new iRacing Gen 3’s is the amount of contact the cars can now take without being affected; it is going to have an ongoing impact on what the racing looks like.

Strategy has changed up as well, with extra fuel available in the tank and tyres that seem to fall off before plateauing. Keep an eye on teams looking to create an advantage as drivers skill sets evolve with new management techniques.

Race Info

It's normally about now that I go and grab last year’s pole lap, race winner and some more key insights. I’m going to do that again this year, but I’d take this with a pinch of salt. Remember, these new cars have less downforce and therefore are going to be slower.

2025

What to expect

Well the word from the drivers I have spoken to thus far is that tyre wear and ‘fall off’ are going to be huge factors! For the last few years, Sebring has traditionally been a hot race with track temperatures soaring into the mid to high 40’s.

Peak lap times are going to fall off to the tune of two seconds across just the first three laps of the run. Will they stabilise out from there? Most likely, but do expect some tyre fall off at the back end of the run once again. If you split the race into three even segments, this is set to occur at around lap 12-13 of the run; expect overcuts and undercuts to throw a spanner in the works at this stage of the stints.

On track, this race has been absolutely cracking in the past! From the very first race with a pack of five cars squabbling over victory on the final lap, to the drama of last year’s ‘big one’ - Sebring has not yet failed to deliver as an action packed spectacle!

Fuel saving strategy plays, crossover moves and ailing rubber will all be on my bingo card for this one, but the thing to watch in Sebring will be the pack flying into Turn 1 for the first time! That first corner is infamous for narrowing on exit and could lead to chaos.

I’m banking on 1-2 Safety Cars, and Stephen “Sandman” Clarke has not been quiet over the course of the Qualifying Series about how much impact the Safety Car can have!

Rookies? Well if you thought five in Formula 1 over the weekend was a lot, we’ve got 11 - making up a quarter of the field! Most of them do have experience running in Supercars from the Gen 2 era, but will be making their debut as a full time driver here in Gen 3 hardware! The race for Rookie of the Year will be a hot one as the year progresses.

New drivers and new teams are expected to shake up the series this year

Pre Race Predictions

I actually feel my predictions are on the conservative side this year. These are new cars with drastically new feel, and I’m going into Wednesday night expecting to see something out of the ordinary to suit. We’ve got such big potential to see a first timer on the podium, but also a big field shakeup.

Do you think we’re going to get a race that cascades into disaster as the 2024 race did? Or do we go green the entire way and I get proven wrong?

Join us for our first race of the Logitech G Pro Invitational Championship live on Wednesday 19th March from 7.45pm AEDT (GMT +11)

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by Scott Rankin

In all the madness of the first race of the year, one thing that wasn't expected was to see another group of team changes. 

It's already been discussed at length about the breakdown in the relationship and teamwork that ended up with “LOBS Esports” being formed, but this week the driver market shifted again.

Atlus Australia’s driving lineup was shaken to the core with Andrew Gilliam, Ric Kuznetsov, Andre Yousiff and Tao Soerono having all just signed with Vermillion Esports along with a few other teammates from Altus not currently racing in Logitech Pro Invitational.

Talijancich has previously done a large part of the management duties back when the group of drivers ran under Pursuit Sim Racing, and in part, the move to Altus was an opportunity to go back to focussing on his driving more. “Talli” is happy with the current arrangement and is looking to stay where he is for now.

Further from the Vermillion lineup, Connor Nixon came to a mutual agreement with the team to part ways at the current juncture. Of critical note here was the fact that Connor was doing the bulk of the setup design work for the Logitech Pro Qualifying and Invitational series. Where this workload will now shift within a strengthened Vermillion lineup is currently up for debate, but Gilliam has carried that load previously and may step up and do so again.

Andrew Gilliam will no longer be seen in Altus eSports colours as he makes the move to Vermillion

An interesting point to note is that the Vermillion lineup now has 42 drivers across the breadth of the team and all its categories of racing. In recent history multiple teams have attempted to make larger driver bodies work, but the trend has been that smaller tighter-nit groups tend to work better.

Synergy Sim Racing are one such team and found mixed success with managing a wide variety of personalities, motivations and speed. Jordan Ross commented “It’s a tough gig. Many different personalities to manage. Inevitably big teams split up into smaller groups internally, and that is when problems start!”

Ric Kuznetsov has an insane amount of talent and potential. His skillset in a Porsche Cup 992 car is legendary, PESC is an option for him to chase if he can surround himself with the right people. Altus should have opened that door for him, but whether it was a priority in his short time span with the team is up for debate. Could this be a leading cause for him moving to Vermillion? Ben Faulkner (team manager) made it known this week the team does have aspirations outside of Australia.

With the first round of the season being a “wildcard” in terms of results the entire field is in a place where good results over the next few rounds changes the entire championship outlook. If the new Vermillion lineup is to succeed, these rounds will be absolutely critical. Gilliam will want top 5s and podiums, Kuznetsov has recently shown pace at Phillip Island. 

Jacob O’Reilly has a huge opportunity on his plate to work with drivers who may pull him closer to the front. His pace this far has outstripped both Connor Nixon and Zach Rattray-White. If O’Reilly finds the last ingredient, the right garnish to the near complete meal of his driving talents if you will, then in theory the sky's the limit for him.

At this juncture all we can do is speculate on where all of this shakes out. As a commentator, pundit and racing fan I have 3 separate opinions.

The Pundit thinks - I need to see results. Phillip Island is a known quantity, we’ve been there a lot (including other leagues VERY recently). Results may be hard to come by there, so they get a pass for 1 round. They must score at least 2 top 10s at Red Bull Ring, preferably a Top 5.

The Commentator - OH BOY…. Drama? We can sell that!

The Racing Fan - That's a couple of jumps for these drivers in a short space of time. If it doesn’t work out, could we see another unique team created in the second half of the year? That could be exciting!!!

Just another swirl in the eddies of the Great Sea that is the Logitech Pro Invitational Driver Market. I’ve got another bucket of popcorn on the stove, popping away towards lights out on the 10th of April.

See you at Phillip Island.

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By Scott Rankin

2 Rounds behind us now and we power on to Round 3 at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

An important point to make is that this will be the quarter-mark for the season. We’re not going to get a true picture of who is actually in contention until the halfway mark of the year, but the first true picture of the chase will appear after this one.

Driver’s Standings

The margin at the top of the standings has closed. Robbie Gibbs still leads the way, but its down to 6 points to Tom Freer, and 8 points to Dylan Rudd. Rudd made up 20 points on Gibbs and stands a good chance of leading the way come the end of Wednesday night’s action.

Guess what, 5 different Teams inside the Top 5 in points. Oh and the first time in Logitech Pro Invitational history that a Ford has led the way on points. A fact we missed thus far in the coverage. I am appalled that as a Ford fan it failed to be realised. Don’t worry Blue Oval fans, I’ll try and get a Ford stat for the rest of the year. Could be fun! - Credit to Jordan Ross for this fun Ford fact

Just think about 5 different teams in 5 places for a moment. This is the pinnacle of Australian Sim Racing in the Supercar. Here we stand with these guys putting in an immense amount of work just to get here. All those countless hours put into practice laps, data review, fuel number crunching, setup tweaks etc.Add in other people around each of these teams including Spotters, supporters, friends who jump in and keep you sane before race night.

We have 10 teams represented up and down the field, and half of those are represented inside the top 5. I love stats sometimes, you get little gems like this on occasion!

I’ll make a prediction here about the driver’s championship. The lead will change hands this week. As for who grabs the lead? The Red Bull Ring leads to surprise results with a high chance to overtake and multi-wide racing. Tom Freer might actually surprise us all and bank enough points to take it. A long shot, but hey sometimes you’ve got to pick the dark horse!

Robert Gibbs heads to Austria with a narrow championship lead

We haven’t touched on the team’s championship as yet, it's a new feature for 2024.

Teams Championship

Vermillion’s big acquisitions lead the way in the 2 car pairings. This one is going to be about getting points on the board in both cars. In the midst of all the drama thus far Andrew Gilliam and Ric Kuznetsov are doing a mammoth job of getting over the line clean. Ric is punching above his weight in the driver’s championship battle and that's contributing.

Of note, no Speedcafe Lobs Esports cars inside the top 10. This comes with a caveat though, the primary team for Speedcafe Lobs, Jarrad Filsell and James Scott, failed to score a point at Sebring. The secondary team, made up of Dylan Rudd and Luke Rosella, has Rosella failing to score a point thus far with two blown engines, whilst Rudd sits third in the drivers championship. This situates the Lobs Esports teams 11th and 13th respectively in the teams championships.

Keep an eye on both championships to receive a major shuffle by the end of Wednesday night’s racing

The Lobs Esports cars have struggled to build points in the opening two rounds

The Track

The Red Bull Ring is one of the highest percentage of full throttle tracks with a length of 4.31km hosting only 10 turns (well…. really 9, who even calls the kink on the run up the hill a turn anyway….).

A wide track surface offers a lot of opportunity to get alongside at Turn 3 and the opening lap can really create a master or disaster style situation. You can get down the inside at T1, T4 and a sneaky late move at T6 are your best opportunities elsewhere on the lap, but T3 is absolutely your best opportunity. The switchback is always on if the drivers get overly ambitious on the brakes and racing here is always a delight!

Expect the front group to stay trained up for the bulk of the race and fuel will be critical. Again its that higher full throttle percentage that leads to draft trains. Everyone will buy into this and the leader will be left out to dry.

Red Bull Ring Form Guide

Single format races across both previous visits to this track means that it's about race smarts. There’s strong finishes in both years from drivers outside the top 20 in Qualifying finishing inside the top 10.

Synergy Sim Racing tend to perform very strongly here and I would be keeping an eye on Jordan Ross to be another outside chance at a podium. Another strong result for himself and Tom Freer could see them bounce to the lead of the teams championship, but it's got to be Top 10 for Ross and teammate Tom Freer.

Synergy Sim Racing have historically performed very strongly at Red Bull Ring

Dylan Rudd is going to hate me for this, but I have to mention it. Bogey track for Rudd? Two finishes in two years outside the top 30 is something he will be looking to shake. Does he make himself aware of this fact and respond by under driving a little and leaving extra room, or does he ignore the stat completely and drive with confidence like he has thus far in 2024? Think of the driver’s championship implications and its very clear this could be the race that decides his attempt at the championship.

Jarrad Filsell has been supreme here over both iterations of the Logitech Pro Invitational, could he make it 3 from 3 podiums? He’s driving out of his skin at the moment and looks strong. I’ve seen his teammate James Scott managing a race comfortably to a win around here recently. These 2 drivers seem to operate with the team mindset of “anything he can do I can do better”. I’ve got Filsell as my favourite.

Kuznetsov is also driving very well. He performs well under pressure and is a very calm driver. This is the best he’s ever looked, and if he can match that race going toe to toe with James Scott will also be a shout of a podium in Austria.

Biggest Stat - the ring never fails to disappoint! Racing is everywhere. You can overtake at any stage in the run, just don't burn off the fuel you need.

Rankin’s Recommendations

1st Jarrad Filsell - Driving amazingly well, smooth, consistent and has done a lot of overtaking. Too good to pass up.

2nd Ric Kuznetsov - This is based on a good qualifying result. Has the required laps to be a huge threat, needs a strong showing. Will he protect his place in the championship and take P2? Good points are too good to pass up

3rd Dylan O’Shea - I love this kid. I’ve had a couple of run ins with him on track but that wasn’t in a Supercar. Has talent at these point and shoot style tracks. Has impressed me out of sight with his ability to finish more races with less scrapes on the car. Won’t challenge to win many, but some races you just have to consider him.

4th Madison Down - will be thinking points. Always thinks big picture. Best driver in the field at ticking the right boxes every race. Needs to claw points back on Kuznetsov and Rudd.

5th Jordan Ross - Too consistent here, taken a podium and a P6. Likely to finish in any slot inside the top 10, needs to look for the right set of circumstances to take advantage. I accidentally called him “Rossi” the other week and he’s not heard the end of it. Hopefully a good night goes a long way to repairing that damage.

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By Scott Rankin

Prior to Wednesday night’s racing action we have had one of the weirdest season’s of sim racing to date. So, how would another 276 kilometres of the Red Bull Ring add into that equation? Who would stand atop the pace pile at the end of the night? And who would lead the championship?

Qualifying

James Scott would punch in a 1:29:582 around the halfway mark in the session. This would be good enough for pole and James took the opportunity from here to attempt to assist the Speedcafe Lobs Esports squad with their remaining laps.

That now means the team have taken all 3 pole positions from the season thus far, with Scott taking two and Jarrad Filsell the other.

Ethan Grigg-Gault would also launch in a phenomenal time to start off the outside of the front row. This would be critical in setting up his night, thus far Ethan’s 2024 season has been more unlucky than most, and required a strong showing to get his aspirations back on track.

James Scott and Ethan Grigg-Gault locked out the front row

Dylan Rudd and Andrew Gilliam would also star in qualifying to make up the second row of the grid. With a championship title to think about, Rudd's qualifying would have been worth a sigh of relief after disastrous campaigns at the Austrian circuit in both ‘22 and ‘23.

Ric Kuznetsov would be 5th and also setup a strong race with solid qualifying pace.

Jarrad Filsell would fail to show the pace he is capable of in qualifying and start out of 17th, right in front of fellow Speedcafe Lobs Esports driver Luke Rosella who hadn’t finished a race thus far in 2024.

Failing to get a valid lap time and starting from the rear of the field would create problems for both Sebastian Flock and Thomas Freeman.

Race

Lights out and the run to turn one would see strong starts from both drivers on the front row.

James Scott would settle into the lead, and Ethan Grigg-Gault would be keen to follow with a view to setting up the back half of the race.

Dylan Rudd would fight vigorously to hang onto third at the first turn with a fast-starting Andrew Gilliam taking a dive for the spot.

The field thunder into Turn 1 on the opening lap

Deeper in the pack our championship leader Robert Gibbs would get tagged by the #951 entry of Shawn Mcnamara and save the car, albeit losing 4 or 5 spots in the process.

If you thought turn one was clean, turn three never is and the Red Bull Ring delivered.

Two cars would end up spun with Luke Rosella triggering contact into the rear of Zach Rattray-White, sending Rattray-White around and to the rear of the field. Damien Johnstone would also get turned and at the back.

From here 3 distinct trains of cars formed with Scott and Grigg-Gault clear at the front. Andrew Gilliam would enter a dogfight with Dylan Rudd and cause them to lose the tow of the front two. This pack would run from 3rd down to 15th.

The next pack would be split with fighting for 16th and run back to the mid 20’s. A third pack would form as well.

From around lap 7 the race would start to settle down as targets would turn to a little bit of saving of the machinery, tire and fuel. Marcello Rivera would make a move to settle into 4th spot for the laps through to the first stops, making his way past Andrew Gilliam.

Contact on Lap 1 saw Zach Rattray-White backwards at turn three

A group of drivers would try the undercut starting on lap 16, but pace really hadn’t fallen off enough for there to be much time gain. What it would do is break up the packs that had formed.

Of the lead pack it would be Gilliam who would be the first to have a crack at the alternate strategy and severely underfill the car at the first stop to try and run light and quick for both the remaining stints.

Overall James Scott across the course of the race was just about untouchable. If you closely inspected his race there would be minor lockups and slight misses of apexes. However, that was all masked by a driver in supreme control of his machinery. How the field will find a way to match both Scott and teammate Jarrad Filsell will be the key question moving into Jerez in a few weeks time.

Marcello Rivera had great speed in his ANZAC inspired ERT Commodore

Ethan Grigg-Gault would end up with driver of the day for his first finish with a clean car of the season. Pace wise he would have known he was capable of such a finish thus far, but to see him drive a speedy and smart race was the strong return to form for the ERT driver who has been shaking up the world of Hyundai Excels of late.

Jarrad Filsell has again shown an ability to rebound from a poor qualifying performance. If we see a return to the execution of his pole lap from Phillip Island there is every chance he might become the number one driver over at Speedcafe Lobs Esports, particularly when Scott and Filsell are just two points apart in the championship standings.

Dylan Rudd would drop off in terms of pace late, and lose a small amount of ground to Ric Kuznetsov. These two drivers will continue to keep a close eye on each other as they moved to first and second in the championship, with a margin of 8 points favouring Rudd at this juncture.

Championship Standings

Keep an eye on the Madison Down, Brady Meyers, James Scott, and Jarrad Filsell battle for championship standings. TTR’s Down and Meyers sit tied on 400 points with the Speedcafe Lobs cars only just over 20 points further back.

With a quarter of the season done the margin from these 4 to the top of the standings has now closed.

Either Kuznetsov or Rudd are capable of winning the championship, but from here on out I want to see them beating their rivals at least one race from three to be in contention.

The Spanish Hills of Jerez play host to the next round. It's a circuit that the supercars haven’t done a large amount of racing at. This means a larger investment in practice and tuning time from the teams and could lead to an overall shakeup in the pecking order.

Could this be the kind of track that fires off another twist in the tail of Championship Glory?

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by Scott Rankin