Sebring Awaits: V8PRO’s First Battle of the Year
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.
2022
Pole: Jarrad Filsell 2:01.226
Winner: Brady Meyers
Format: Sprint - 44 Laps (265km)
2023
Pole: Madison Down 2:01.002
Winner: Madison Down
Format: Sprint - 44 Laps (265km)
2024
Pole: James Scott 1:59.992
Winner: Robbie Gibbs
Format: Sprint - 42 Laps (250km)
2025
Format: Sprint - 38 Laps (230km)
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
- Trans Tasman Racing have made a big start here every year except last year. Three cars in the top 5, two on the podium.
- Four retirements. I wanted to say more, and I think there is a high potential for that, but this number is nicely down the middle.
- At least one Eclipse car inside the top 5. They’ve been too quick in the Qualifying Series to not be highlighted as a huge threat.
- A big crash. Not on the same scale as last year, but probably 4-5 cars involved.
- Top 3 covered by less than two seconds.
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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