It was a big night of racing at Sebring for Round 1 of the Logitech G V8PRO Invitational, and after much speculation we finally got to see where the pecking order lies for the season ahead. As always, there were some winners and some losers after an incredible night of racing. Let's take a look.
The Winners:
Jarrad Filsell & LOBS ESPORTS
It really could not have gone better for Jarrad Filsell and the team at LOBS ESPORTS at Sebring. A Top-3 lockout in both qualifying and the race sent a strong warning to the rest of the field. Jarrad continued his impeccable form and race execution, beating out his front-running teammates in Gilliam and Rosella. Rosella was also a winner on the night, finally getting his season off to a clean and successful start. Maybe 2026 is the year he can finally contend over an entire championship.
Ryan O’Sullivan
It’s always hard to see where people will end up going into the season, especially when they’re making their series debut, but Ryan put himself firmly into the spotlight at Sebring. Qualifying 7th and finishing 7th, he was the best of the rookies by far, and in my eyes, driver of the day. Although not new to the Supercar scene on iRacing, it has been a while since O’Sullivan has been seen in serious competition. To perform at this level after so much time away was extremely impressive, and I’m sure the team at Eclipse Simsports are delighted with his addition to their lineup.
Emily Jones
After taking time away from competitive sim racing towards the end of 2025, Emily has returned for 2026 and after qualifying lower than she would’ve hoped in 18th, she executed extremely well and recovered to 10th place, just behind her TTR teammates Brady Meyers and Joshua Anderson. I think Top-10 results this year would be a great return for Emily within such a competitive field and the odd Top-5 will definitely be on the cards if she can execute on a consistent basis.
The Losers:
Madison Down
It’s hard to go past Madison being the biggest loser at Sebring. In my opinion, a self-inflicted wound in qualifying after going off-sequence to the field, which everyone knows can be fraught with danger, left him starting last. However, Madison made it look easy charging through the field and hunting a Top-15 finish from the rear. Unfortunately, getting turned on the back straight by Ric Kuznetsov put pay to that. With the pace he showed in practice and in the race, Madison was definitely a Top-5 car, and when you have that underneath you in this series you need to capitalise. Fighting back from a 0-points result will likely be too hard an ask, even for Madison.
Jake Burton
On return to the series in 2026, it was a far from ideal start for Jake. Qualifying 11th was a very solid result in what is probably the most competitive field we’ve ever had, but getting turned in a racing incident on lap 1 and sustaining damage, meant no chance of a positive result. 34th is better than a 0-points finish, and Jake has the smarts and experience to recover, but this would have to be the worst start to the season imaginable for Burton.
Damon Woods
Expectations are high for Woods in 2026, after finishing 3rd overall in 2025. A mediocre qualifying effort of 21st was backed up by an unfortunate racing incident on lap 1, sending him towards the rear. Damon did well to recover to 18th, but as everyone knows, to challenge for the title a near-perfect year is required. The #56 will need to perform very well over the next few rounds to put himself back in the championship conversation.
