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.