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!!!

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.

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. 

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.