2023 Season 1 Round 7 Thunder Results
Phelps wins at Richmond in 200th ANZCAR start
Richmond Raceway played host to Round 7 of the Thunder Series on Wednesday night with 32 drivers keen to get their elbows out on the first short track of the season. The night would also celebrate 2 drivers reaching ANZCAR milestones - Paul Jackson in his 100th ANZCAR start and Ruben Phelps in his 200th .
After missing the previous week, Luke Trahair sent the #43 machine to pole position in qualifying and was joined on the front row by Adam Malone; Jason Martin and Josh Michelmore rounded out row 2.
Trahair got a good start and led early, whilst Martin and Michelmore quickly moved past Malone into 2nd and 3rd respectfully. Drivers settled into a good rhythm with an early long green flag and plenty of battles throughout the field. Lap 20,and Marin made his move to the front, passing Trahair into turn 1.
Trahair would trigger the first caution of the night on Lap 34, which would trigger everyone to pit road for fresh tyres and maybe a small splash of fuel to assist with any potential GWC finish.
For the next 30 laps, the red mist descended over many of the field, with multiple cautions being triggered and plenty of driver sustaining damage to their vehicles. During this period, some drivers elected to take on fresh tyres with others staying out, trying to best predict when to bolt on new rubber at the latest moment.
Thankfully, the last restart happened on Lap 78, giving the drivers a near 50 lap run home. With fuel not being an issue, it was all down to who had the best tyres underneath them to push themselves forward.
Out front, it looked like being a repeat of previous weeks with Martin looking comfortable in front of Michelmore, with Darren Mckenzie, Dave Douglas and Barry Neale rounding out the top 5. But there was movement from the midfield, as drivers who had stopped recently started to gain the benefit of fresher tyres.
The most notable of these was Phelps, who restarted in P14 and within 10 laps had moved up into P3. Whilst Phelps would ultimately get by Michelmore and Martin comfortably, it wouldn’t be an easy ride to the finish as Martin would push hard the whole way home;
Phelps taking the win by just 0.3s. Douglas would claim the final step on the podium with Neale home in 4th whilst Michelmore would drift backwards in the latter laps, coming home in fifth.
Race Summary:
133 Laps
6 Cautions for 30 Laps
3 leaders
4 Lead Changes
Results:
1st - #06 Ruben Phelps
2nd - #21 Jason Martin
3rd - #10 Dave Douglas
4th - #22 Barry Neale
5th - #31 Josh Michelmore
Stewards Summary:
Cautions:
Lap 34 - #43 Luke Trahair
Lap 41 - #43 Luke Trahair
Lap 50 - #93 Mirko Dautanac
Lap 56 - #231 Paul Jackson
Lap 63 - #93 Mirko Dautanac
Lap 73 - #26 Shaun Doecke
Start Procedure Penalties:
Nil
Protests:
Nil
Other:
Lap 73 - #26 Shaun Doecke – Failure to hold brake, Rule 5(b)iii – DQ and 1 week suspension
#93 Mirko Dautanac – 3 licence strikes within 10 race period, Rule 5(d) – R.O.F. next race
Series 1 Championship:
Martin extends his lead to 12 points over Michelmore, with Darren Mckenzie a further 20 points adrift, in what is looking a dominant period for Mitch Motorsport.
Short Track Title:
After Round 1, Phelps holds a 2 points lead ahead of Martin, with Douglas a further 3 points behind.
Full race results: https://www.simracerhub.com/scoring/season_race.php...
Full driver standings: https://www.simracerhub.com/scoring/season_standings.php...
For full race replay and future Thunder Series broadcasts, please head to Performance E-Streaming on Facebook. This race is definitely worth a viewing!
We look forward to next week and Round 8 of Series 1 of the Thunder Series to be held at Martinsville Speedway, which will also double as Round 2 of the Short Track Title.
Richmond Raceway played host to Round 7 of the Thunder Series on Wednesday night with 32 drivers keen to get their elbows out on the first short track of the season. The night would also celebrate 2 drivers reaching ANZCAR milestones - Paul Jackson in his 100th ANZCAR start and Ruben Phelps in his 200th .
After missing the previous week, Luke Trahair sent the #43 machine to pole position in qualifying and was joined on the front row by Adam Malone; Jason Martin and Josh Michelmore rounded out row 2.
Trahair got a good start and led early, whilst Martin and Michelmore quickly moved past Malone into 2nd and 3rd respectfully. Drivers settled into a good rhythm with an early long green flag and plenty of battles throughout the field. Lap 20,and Marin made his move to the front, passing Trahair into turn 1.
Trahair would trigger the first caution of the night on Lap 34, which would trigger everyone to pit road for fresh tyres and maybe a small splash of fuel to assist with any potential GWC finish.
For the next 30 laps, the red mist descended over many of the field, with multiple cautions being triggered and plenty of driver sustaining damage to their vehicles. During this period, some drivers elected to take on fresh tyres with others staying out, trying to best predict when to bolt on new rubber at the latest moment.
Thankfully, the last restart happened on Lap 78, giving the drivers a near 50 lap run home. With fuel not being an issue, it was all down to who had the best tyres underneath them to push themselves forward.
Out front, it looked like being a repeat of previous weeks with Martin looking comfortable in front of Michelmore, with Darren Mckenzie, Dave Douglas and Barry Neale rounding out the top 5. But there was movement from the midfield, as drivers who had stopped recently started to gain the benefit of fresher tyres.
The most notable of these was Phelps, who restarted in P14 and within 10 laps had moved up into P3. Whilst Phelps would ultimately get by Michelmore and Martin comfortably, it wouldn’t be an easy ride to the finish as Martin would push hard the whole way home;
Phelps taking the win by just 0.3s. Douglas would claim the final step on the podium with Neale home in 4th whilst Michelmore would drift backwards in the latter laps, coming home in fifth.
Race Summary:
133 Laps
6 Cautions for 30 Laps
3 leaders
4 Lead Changes
Results:
1st - #06 Ruben Phelps
2nd - #21 Jason Martin
3rd - #10 Dave Douglas
4th - #22 Barry Neale
5th - #31 Josh Michelmore
Stewards Summary:
Cautions:
Lap 34 - #43 Luke Trahair
Lap 41 - #43 Luke Trahair
Lap 50 - #93 Mirko Dautanac
Lap 56 - #231 Paul Jackson
Lap 63 - #93 Mirko Dautanac
Lap 73 - #26 Shaun Doecke
Start Procedure Penalties:
Nil
Protests:
Nil
Other:
Lap 73 - #26 Shaun Doecke – Failure to hold brake, Rule 5(b)iii – DQ and 1 week suspension
#93 Mirko Dautanac – 3 licence strikes within 10 race period, Rule 5(d) – R.O.F. next race
Series 1 Championship:
Martin extends his lead to 12 points over Michelmore, with Darren Mckenzie a further 20 points adrift, in what is looking a dominant period for Mitch Motorsport.
Short Track Title:
After Round 1, Phelps holds a 2 points lead ahead of Martin, with Douglas a further 3 points behind.
Full race results: https://www.simracerhub.com/scoring/season_race.php...
Full driver standings: https://www.simracerhub.com/scoring/season_standings.php...
For full race replay and future Thunder Series broadcasts, please head to Performance E-Streaming on Facebook. This race is definitely worth a viewing!
We look forward to next week and Round 8 of Series 1 of the Thunder Series to be held at Martinsville Speedway, which will also double as Round 2 of the Short Track Title.
