2023 Season 2 Round 11 Thunder Results
Thunder Series Review
Lucas Oil Raceway (IRP) would see the penultimate round of Series 2 for the 2023 Thunder Series. Andrew Dyson would claim yet another pole position, ahead of Josh Michelmore, Jason Martin, Jaie Schultz and Norman Clark.
Michelmore would take over the race lead early ahead of the first caution flag of the night. A few drivers would come to the lane for a splash of fuel to help with opening up their strategy later in the race.
The highline proved to be the place to be, with drivers struggling to get enough traction down low to get the passes made, relying more on driver error to get the job done.
When the second caution flag came out, everyone except Mark Smith would head to pitlane for fuel and tyres. With only 3 additional sets of tyres at their disposal for the race, and decent pace drop off over a stint, choosing the correct strategy would be critical to getting a top result. Being on the unflavoured low line and on old tyres, Smith would drop down the order quickly on the resumption of green flag running, whilst Dyson would take over at the head of the field from Michelmore, Schultz, Martin and Luke Crum.
The turning point of the race came with the caution flag flying on lap 78, with leaders Michelmore and Dyson heading to the lane for fresh tyres, whilst the remainder of the front runners stayed out. This would put those 2 drivers onto their last set of tyres, whilst the those that remained out still had a fresh set in hand.
If the race stayed green, it would be a great strategy call but with with just under 50 laps to the finish, they would need everything crossed. This elevated Martin to the lead, with Jack Barrett, Ruben Phelps, Joshua Carroll-Walden and Matthew Raymond filling the top 5 positions, with Michelmore and Dyson restarting from 10th and 11th.
On fresher tyres, Dyson and Michelmore made steady progress through the field, and by lap 96 Dyson had raced himself back into the lead ahead of Martin and Michelmore. But just 10 laps later, the luck ran out with another caution flag being thrown. The rest of the field came in for service whilst Dyson and Michelmore would be stuck out on track on old tyres for the remainder of the race.
Martin would make short work of getting back into the lead of the race, followed by Phelps, Carroll-Walden, Barrett and Raymond, whilst Dyson and Michelmore were doing their best to limit the points damage. This was compounded slightly for Dyson, who spun after receiving contact from Crum and dropping to 13th.
Elbows were out over the closing laps, which included a final caution, setting up a 3 lap dash to the flag. Martin would prove to be too strong, holding on for his first win in Series 2. over Carroll-Walden and Raymond.
Race Summary:
130 Laps
7 Cautions for 33 Laps
4 Leaders
8 Lead Changes
1st - #21 Jason Martin
2nd - #35 Joshua Carroll-Walden
3rd - #83 Matthew Raymond
4th - #127 Jack Barrett
5th - #26 Shaun Doecke
Stewards Summary:
Cautions:
Lap 2 - #129 Paul Drady
Lap 21 - #003 Wade Sheedy
Lap 59 - #129 Paul Drady
Lap 78 - #007 Mark Smith - 3rd strike (EOL next week)
Lap 105 - #35 Joshua Carroll-Walden
Lap 115 - #030 Luke Crum
Lap 123 - #35 Joshua Carroll-Walden - 5th strike (1 race suspension)
Restarts:
Nil
Protests:
Lap 78-80 - #007 Mark Smith, for abuse towards #080 Koby Jordan – Upheld. Unprofessional conduct (language), 5 point penalty
Other:
Nil
Series 2 standings:
Whilst series leaders Andrew Dyson and Josh Michelmore had less than ideal results, they maintain the top 2 spots in the standings, with Michelmore closing the gap to 22 points heading into the final round.
Dyson may be in the box seat to claim the Series 2 Title, but as we have seen this year anything can happen. Jason Martin moves into third position thanks to his win, now 5 points in front of Ruben Phelps, with Matthew Raymond climbing up into the top 5, just 1 point in front of Jaie Schultz. The final race of Series 2 will be contested on the oval layout at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which is also Round 4 of the Superspeedway Title.
Short Track Title:
Jason Martin turns a 3 point deficit into a 6 point lead over Josh Michelmore after Round 4 of the Short Track Title, with Ruben Phelps, Paul Drady and Jaie Schultz rounding out the top 5. The next race of the Short Track Title will be on 13th September at Bristol Motor Speedway. 2023 overall standings:
Jason Martin pulls back some of his lost advantage from the last couple of weeks, now holding a 27 point lead over Josh Michelmore, with Ruben Phelps in a distant third place with Matthew Raymond and Jaie Schultz only 7 points behind in equal fourth.
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-streaming917074444444
Lucas Oil Raceway (IRP) would see the penultimate round of Series 2 for the 2023 Thunder Series. Andrew Dyson would claim yet another pole position, ahead of Josh Michelmore, Jason Martin, Jaie Schultz and Norman Clark.
Michelmore would take over the race lead early ahead of the first caution flag of the night. A few drivers would come to the lane for a splash of fuel to help with opening up their strategy later in the race.
The highline proved to be the place to be, with drivers struggling to get enough traction down low to get the passes made, relying more on driver error to get the job done.
When the second caution flag came out, everyone except Mark Smith would head to pitlane for fuel and tyres. With only 3 additional sets of tyres at their disposal for the race, and decent pace drop off over a stint, choosing the correct strategy would be critical to getting a top result. Being on the unflavoured low line and on old tyres, Smith would drop down the order quickly on the resumption of green flag running, whilst Dyson would take over at the head of the field from Michelmore, Schultz, Martin and Luke Crum.
The turning point of the race came with the caution flag flying on lap 78, with leaders Michelmore and Dyson heading to the lane for fresh tyres, whilst the remainder of the front runners stayed out. This would put those 2 drivers onto their last set of tyres, whilst the those that remained out still had a fresh set in hand.
If the race stayed green, it would be a great strategy call but with with just under 50 laps to the finish, they would need everything crossed. This elevated Martin to the lead, with Jack Barrett, Ruben Phelps, Joshua Carroll-Walden and Matthew Raymond filling the top 5 positions, with Michelmore and Dyson restarting from 10th and 11th.
On fresher tyres, Dyson and Michelmore made steady progress through the field, and by lap 96 Dyson had raced himself back into the lead ahead of Martin and Michelmore. But just 10 laps later, the luck ran out with another caution flag being thrown. The rest of the field came in for service whilst Dyson and Michelmore would be stuck out on track on old tyres for the remainder of the race.
Martin would make short work of getting back into the lead of the race, followed by Phelps, Carroll-Walden, Barrett and Raymond, whilst Dyson and Michelmore were doing their best to limit the points damage. This was compounded slightly for Dyson, who spun after receiving contact from Crum and dropping to 13th.
Elbows were out over the closing laps, which included a final caution, setting up a 3 lap dash to the flag. Martin would prove to be too strong, holding on for his first win in Series 2. over Carroll-Walden and Raymond.
Race Summary:
130 Laps
7 Cautions for 33 Laps
4 Leaders
8 Lead Changes
1st - #21 Jason Martin
2nd - #35 Joshua Carroll-Walden
3rd - #83 Matthew Raymond
4th - #127 Jack Barrett
5th - #26 Shaun Doecke
Stewards Summary:
Cautions:
Lap 2 - #129 Paul Drady
Lap 21 - #003 Wade Sheedy
Lap 59 - #129 Paul Drady
Lap 78 - #007 Mark Smith - 3rd strike (EOL next week)
Lap 105 - #35 Joshua Carroll-Walden
Lap 115 - #030 Luke Crum
Lap 123 - #35 Joshua Carroll-Walden - 5th strike (1 race suspension)
Restarts:
Nil
Protests:
Lap 78-80 - #007 Mark Smith, for abuse towards #080 Koby Jordan – Upheld. Unprofessional conduct (language), 5 point penalty
Other:
Nil
Series 2 standings:
Whilst series leaders Andrew Dyson and Josh Michelmore had less than ideal results, they maintain the top 2 spots in the standings, with Michelmore closing the gap to 22 points heading into the final round.
Dyson may be in the box seat to claim the Series 2 Title, but as we have seen this year anything can happen. Jason Martin moves into third position thanks to his win, now 5 points in front of Ruben Phelps, with Matthew Raymond climbing up into the top 5, just 1 point in front of Jaie Schultz. The final race of Series 2 will be contested on the oval layout at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which is also Round 4 of the Superspeedway Title.
Short Track Title:
Jason Martin turns a 3 point deficit into a 6 point lead over Josh Michelmore after Round 4 of the Short Track Title, with Ruben Phelps, Paul Drady and Jaie Schultz rounding out the top 5. The next race of the Short Track Title will be on 13th September at Bristol Motor Speedway. 2023 overall standings:
Jason Martin pulls back some of his lost advantage from the last couple of weeks, now holding a 27 point lead over Josh Michelmore, with Ruben Phelps in a distant third place with Matthew Raymond and Jaie Schultz only 7 points behind in equal fourth.
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-streaming917074444444
