2023 Season 2 Round 10 Thunder Results
Thunder Series Review
Michigan International Speedway played host to Round 10 of Series 2 on Wednesday night, with 28 drivers in attendance. Andrew Dyson claimed his fifth pole position of the series, with Steven Williams completed a DPR front row, whilst Barry Neale and Jason Martin filled row two.
An early caution saw the majority of the field head to pit lane, whilst Dyson, Martin, Neale, Lachlan Urquijo and Paul Jackson elected to stay out, with Williams being the first in the queue of those who stopped.
Whilst Dyson led Martin early, it was only a few laps before those who stopped for tyres started to make their move, with Garry Wellman and Josh Michelmore moving into first and second on lap 16.
Michelmore would take over the lead from Wellman a few laps later, and along with Ruben Phelps, the 3 front runners started to pull a gap over the chasing field, led by Karl Withey and Jaie Schultz.
Green flag pitstops started as the race reached the halfway points at the end of lap 39, and these would play out over the next 10 or so laps. Whilst most drivers elected to stop, Norman Clark, Matthew Raymond, Jamie Nankervis were throwing the strategy book out the window and running long. Michelmore, Dyson and Williams were the leading three that had made their stops.
Strategy got turned on its head with the caution flag flying on lap 52, with all drivers heading to the lane for service. The restart would see Jaie Schultz and Andy Barber on the front row, with Withey and Ryan Jones on row 2. Early race leader Michelmore would restart from eight with the pole sitter Dyson a further spot behind.
Elbows were out for the 22 lap sprint to the finish, with several drivers picking up damage in those early laps as they tried to make up positions quickly on the fresh tyres, often racing three and sometimes four wide.
Once the dust started to settle, Michelmore would find himself and the front of the field with 15 to go, and would go on to claim a comfortable win. Jaie Schultz, Jones and Withey were looking strong in the battle for the podium, but started to drop off the pace. This allowed Martin through into second place for a Mitch Motorsport 1-2. whilst Williams was able to make a move on Phelps to claim the final spot on the podium.
Race Summary:
78 Laps
2 Cautions for 7 Laps
9 Leaders
10 Lead Changes
1st - #31 Josh Michelmore
2nd - #21 Jason Martin
3rd - #98 Steven Williams
4th - #06 Ruben Phelps
5th - #22 Barry Neale
Stewards Summary:
Cautions:
Lap 8 - #35 Joshua Carroll-Walden – 3 strikes, ROF Next Week
Lap 52 - #015 Brett Campbell
Restarts:
Lap 55 - #030 Luke Crum
Lap 55 - #080 Koby Jordan
Protests:
Lap 56 – #015 Brett Campbell for causing a collision with #030 Luke Crum – Protest Upheld
Other:
Nil
Series 2 standings:
With Andrew Dyson recording a lowly 19th place finish and Josh Michelmore claiming the win, the battle for the Series 2 Title has become that little more exciting. Coming into the race, Dyson held a 47 point lead that has almost halved, down to just 26. Ruben Phelps is in a distant third position, 8 points ahead of Jason Martin with Ryan Jones another 6 points behind in fifth. Next week the Thunder Series heads to Lucas Oil Raceway/IRP for 130 laps, which also doubles at Round 4 of the Short Track Title.
2023 overall standings:
With his first win of Series 2, Josh Michelmore reduces Jason Martins lead from 23 down to 18 points. Ruben Phelps sits in third spot, with Jaie Schultz and Matthew Raymond completing the top 5.
Full race results and Series 2 standings at Sim Racer Hub: https://www.simracerhub.com/scoring/season_schedule.php...
Full race replay provided by Performance E-Streaming - https://youtube.com/@performancee-streaming9170
Michigan International Speedway played host to Round 10 of Series 2 on Wednesday night, with 28 drivers in attendance. Andrew Dyson claimed his fifth pole position of the series, with Steven Williams completed a DPR front row, whilst Barry Neale and Jason Martin filled row two.
An early caution saw the majority of the field head to pit lane, whilst Dyson, Martin, Neale, Lachlan Urquijo and Paul Jackson elected to stay out, with Williams being the first in the queue of those who stopped.
Whilst Dyson led Martin early, it was only a few laps before those who stopped for tyres started to make their move, with Garry Wellman and Josh Michelmore moving into first and second on lap 16.
Michelmore would take over the lead from Wellman a few laps later, and along with Ruben Phelps, the 3 front runners started to pull a gap over the chasing field, led by Karl Withey and Jaie Schultz.
Green flag pitstops started as the race reached the halfway points at the end of lap 39, and these would play out over the next 10 or so laps. Whilst most drivers elected to stop, Norman Clark, Matthew Raymond, Jamie Nankervis were throwing the strategy book out the window and running long. Michelmore, Dyson and Williams were the leading three that had made their stops.
Strategy got turned on its head with the caution flag flying on lap 52, with all drivers heading to the lane for service. The restart would see Jaie Schultz and Andy Barber on the front row, with Withey and Ryan Jones on row 2. Early race leader Michelmore would restart from eight with the pole sitter Dyson a further spot behind.
Elbows were out for the 22 lap sprint to the finish, with several drivers picking up damage in those early laps as they tried to make up positions quickly on the fresh tyres, often racing three and sometimes four wide.
Once the dust started to settle, Michelmore would find himself and the front of the field with 15 to go, and would go on to claim a comfortable win. Jaie Schultz, Jones and Withey were looking strong in the battle for the podium, but started to drop off the pace. This allowed Martin through into second place for a Mitch Motorsport 1-2. whilst Williams was able to make a move on Phelps to claim the final spot on the podium.
Race Summary:
78 Laps
2 Cautions for 7 Laps
9 Leaders
10 Lead Changes
1st - #31 Josh Michelmore
2nd - #21 Jason Martin
3rd - #98 Steven Williams
4th - #06 Ruben Phelps
5th - #22 Barry Neale
Stewards Summary:
Cautions:
Lap 8 - #35 Joshua Carroll-Walden – 3 strikes, ROF Next Week
Lap 52 - #015 Brett Campbell
Restarts:
Lap 55 - #030 Luke Crum
Lap 55 - #080 Koby Jordan
Protests:
Lap 56 – #015 Brett Campbell for causing a collision with #030 Luke Crum – Protest Upheld
Other:
Nil
Series 2 standings:
With Andrew Dyson recording a lowly 19th place finish and Josh Michelmore claiming the win, the battle for the Series 2 Title has become that little more exciting. Coming into the race, Dyson held a 47 point lead that has almost halved, down to just 26. Ruben Phelps is in a distant third position, 8 points ahead of Jason Martin with Ryan Jones another 6 points behind in fifth. Next week the Thunder Series heads to Lucas Oil Raceway/IRP for 130 laps, which also doubles at Round 4 of the Short Track Title.
2023 overall standings:
With his first win of Series 2, Josh Michelmore reduces Jason Martins lead from 23 down to 18 points. Ruben Phelps sits in third spot, with Jaie Schultz and Matthew Raymond completing the top 5.
Full race results and Series 2 standings at Sim Racer Hub: https://www.simracerhub.com/scoring/season_schedule.php...
Full race replay provided by Performance E-Streaming - https://youtube.com/@performancee-streaming9170
