2023 Season 2 Round 1 Thunder Results
Thunder Series Review
After a well deserved week off, the Thunder Series roared into Series 2 with a near capacity grid taking to Charlotte Motor Speedway. Michelmore started strongly by putting the #31 machine on pole, with Neale starting on the outside of the front row with Williams and Bissett completing row 2.
Whilst Michelmore got a great start and led early, it didn’t take long until Williams was able to drive around on the high side and take over at the head of the field on lap 6.
Lap 15, and the first caution of the night flies when Mckenzie gets sucked into the T2 exit wall, setting off a chain reaction involving several cars. The majority of the field headed to the lane for tyres and fuel, whilst Wellman, Doecke, Carroll-Walden and Clark all rolled the dice on strategy by staying out.
The restart saw a yellow flying before the end of the first lap after Doecke and Williams came together at the exit of turn 2. Whilst this was unfolding, Aiden Schultz and Urquijo had a coming together at the same spot on the track, with nearly every car obtaining some form of damage. Restarting on lap 25, the field were able to get themselves back into some green flag running with Wellman leading from Carroll-Walden and Trahair.
With the advantage of fresh tyres, Trahair moved himself into the lead 2 laps later. After serving a pit lane penalty, Dyson worked his way past the leaders and back onto the lead lap just a few laps before the caution flag flew yet again on lap 40
Thankfully, that would be the final time the field would see the caution flag, as the remaining laps stayed green. Phelps took over the lead of the race from Trahair on lap 47, whilst Jaie Schultz was charging hard on fresh tyres and moved into the lead just a couple of laps latter. After getting his lap back at the last caution, Dyson had been moving his way forward and was soon inside the top 5.
Green flags stops started to play out from lap 75 with Michelmore pitting for new tyres and attempting to undercut the field, whilst the leaders stretched their stints that little bit longer and around lap 84 the leaders started to make their way to the lane for fuel and tyres. Once all the stops had been completed, Dyson was at the head of the field, followed by Michelmore and Phelps.
Over the closing laps, the early stop from Michelmore came back to haunt him as those that stopped later were able to push harder on the fresher tyres and drop Michelmore down the order.
At the end, Dyson would go on the claim a comfortable win, crossing the line 2.5 seconds ahead of Phelps with Trahair rounding out the podium.
Race Summary:
110 Laps
3 Cautions for 13 Laps
9 leaders
12 Lead Changes
1st - #41 Andrew Dyson
2nd - #06 Ruben Phelps
3rd - #43 Luke Trahair
4th - #31 Josh Michelmore
5th - #45 Garry Wellman
Stewards Summary:
Cautions:
Lap 15 - #02 Darren Mckenzie – Incident Noted
Lap 21 - #26 Shaun Doecke – Incident Noted
Lap 40 - #45 Garry Wellman/#81 Brenton Henderson/#98 Steven Williams – Racing Incident
Restarts:
Nil
Protests:
Nil
Series 2 standings:
With round 1 run and won, Dyson takes the early lead in the Series 2 championship, 1 point ahead of Phelps, with Trahair a further 3 points behind.
2023 overall standings:
Despite limping a very damaged car home in 25th position, Martin is able to maintain his overall championship lead, which has been reduced from 68 to 46 points over Michelmore whilst Mckenzie, Raymond and Jaie Schultz round out the top 5.
Next week sees the Thunder Series load up and head to the land of the rising sun to take on the challenging oval layout at Twin Ring Motegi.
Full race results and Series 2 standings at Sim Racer Hub: https://www.simracerhub.com/scoring/season_schedule.php...
For full race replay and future Thunder Series broadcasts, please head to Performance E-Streaming on YouTube and Facebook
After a well deserved week off, the Thunder Series roared into Series 2 with a near capacity grid taking to Charlotte Motor Speedway. Michelmore started strongly by putting the #31 machine on pole, with Neale starting on the outside of the front row with Williams and Bissett completing row 2.
Whilst Michelmore got a great start and led early, it didn’t take long until Williams was able to drive around on the high side and take over at the head of the field on lap 6.
Lap 15, and the first caution of the night flies when Mckenzie gets sucked into the T2 exit wall, setting off a chain reaction involving several cars. The majority of the field headed to the lane for tyres and fuel, whilst Wellman, Doecke, Carroll-Walden and Clark all rolled the dice on strategy by staying out.
The restart saw a yellow flying before the end of the first lap after Doecke and Williams came together at the exit of turn 2. Whilst this was unfolding, Aiden Schultz and Urquijo had a coming together at the same spot on the track, with nearly every car obtaining some form of damage. Restarting on lap 25, the field were able to get themselves back into some green flag running with Wellman leading from Carroll-Walden and Trahair.
With the advantage of fresh tyres, Trahair moved himself into the lead 2 laps later. After serving a pit lane penalty, Dyson worked his way past the leaders and back onto the lead lap just a few laps before the caution flag flew yet again on lap 40
Thankfully, that would be the final time the field would see the caution flag, as the remaining laps stayed green. Phelps took over the lead of the race from Trahair on lap 47, whilst Jaie Schultz was charging hard on fresh tyres and moved into the lead just a couple of laps latter. After getting his lap back at the last caution, Dyson had been moving his way forward and was soon inside the top 5.
Green flags stops started to play out from lap 75 with Michelmore pitting for new tyres and attempting to undercut the field, whilst the leaders stretched their stints that little bit longer and around lap 84 the leaders started to make their way to the lane for fuel and tyres. Once all the stops had been completed, Dyson was at the head of the field, followed by Michelmore and Phelps.
Over the closing laps, the early stop from Michelmore came back to haunt him as those that stopped later were able to push harder on the fresher tyres and drop Michelmore down the order.
At the end, Dyson would go on the claim a comfortable win, crossing the line 2.5 seconds ahead of Phelps with Trahair rounding out the podium.
Race Summary:
110 Laps
3 Cautions for 13 Laps
9 leaders
12 Lead Changes
1st - #41 Andrew Dyson
2nd - #06 Ruben Phelps
3rd - #43 Luke Trahair
4th - #31 Josh Michelmore
5th - #45 Garry Wellman
Stewards Summary:
Cautions:
Lap 15 - #02 Darren Mckenzie – Incident Noted
Lap 21 - #26 Shaun Doecke – Incident Noted
Lap 40 - #45 Garry Wellman/#81 Brenton Henderson/#98 Steven Williams – Racing Incident
Restarts:
Nil
Protests:
Nil
Series 2 standings:
With round 1 run and won, Dyson takes the early lead in the Series 2 championship, 1 point ahead of Phelps, with Trahair a further 3 points behind.
2023 overall standings:
Despite limping a very damaged car home in 25th position, Martin is able to maintain his overall championship lead, which has been reduced from 68 to 46 points over Michelmore whilst Mckenzie, Raymond and Jaie Schultz round out the top 5.
Next week sees the Thunder Series load up and head to the land of the rising sun to take on the challenging oval layout at Twin Ring Motegi.
Full race results and Series 2 standings at Sim Racer Hub: https://www.simracerhub.com/scoring/season_schedule.php...
For full race replay and future Thunder Series broadcasts, please head to Performance E-Streaming on YouTube and Facebook
