2023 Season 2 Round 8 Thunder Results
Thunder Series Review
Round 8 of Series 2 saw drivers head to the mountains of Pennsylvania and the Pocono Raceway. 23 drivers would line up for battle, with Martin and Neale starting from the front row, with Dyson and Michelmore completing row 2.
Whilst an early caution had drivers on edge for potentially long night, drivers would soon settle into a good rhythm and set about making the tyres last until at least the fuel window opened.
Martin would control the race in the early laps and it would take until lap 24 until Dyson was able to make a pass into turn 1 and take over the lead. This proved to be short lived, as contact with the turn 3 wall the following lap allowed Martin back into the lead.
It was around this time that some drivers headed to pit lane in an attempt to uncut those they were in battle with, before the majority headed to the lane at half race distance, or soon afterwards.
A handful of drivers stayed out, running the tank dry in the hope of being faster towards the end of the race with fresher tyres than those around them.
The caution would fly on lap 38, with about 8 cars still yet to make their stop. Thankfully for the long track length, this meant that the majority of the field were still classified on the lead lap.
Once the pit stops had played out, Douglas would find himself at the front of the pack, followed by Carroll-Walden, Nankervis, Barber and Michelmore filling the top 5 spots, whilst early front runners Dyson and Martin restarted in 12th and 17th.
From hear on, the race would be littered with cautions as drivers got the elbows out and looked to make up positions as quickly as possible, with many of the front runners being caught up and collecting some form of damage.
A final 2 lap dash to the finish was in store. Douglas got the jump and looked to have the edge over the chasing pack. This buffer was enlarged when coming to the white flag Nankervis and Neale came together in their battle for second, taking themselves out of contention and forcing the cars around them to check up.
Douglas would go on to claim victory by almost a full second ahead of Dyson, with Michelmore rounding out the podium.
Race Summary:
62 Laps
6 Cautions for 18 Laps
5 Leaders
4 Lead Changes
1st - #10 Dave Douglas
2nd - #41 Andrew Dyson
3rd - #31 Josh Michelmore
4th - #35 Joshua Carroll-Walden
5th - #030 Luke Crum
Stewards Summary:
Cautions:
Lap 3 - #080 Koby Jordan
Lap 38 - #11 Ryan Jones
Lap 43 - #42 Lachlan Urquijo
Lap 48 - #007 Mark Smith - 3rd strike, ROF next race
Lap 52 - #52 Aiden Schultz
Lap 57 - #98 Steven Williams
Restarts:
Lap 51 - #52 Aiden Schultz
Protests:
Nil
Other:
Nil
Series 2 standings:
Things remained pretty stable at the head of the standings, with Dyson and Michelmore looking strong in the top 2 positions, whilst Phelps, Barber and Martin join them in rounding out the top 5. Next week sees the series head to Road America for a 25 lap event, which doubles as Round 4 of the Road Course Title.
Superspeedway Title:
Carroll-Walden maintains a narrow lead in the Superspeedway Title, now 6 points over Martin with Michelmore, Phelps and Douglas rounding out the top 5. Round 4 of the Series comes at the end of Series 2, on the 2nd Aug at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
2023 overall standings:
Not much change in the overall championship picture, with Martin maintaining a 25 point lead over Michelmore, with Phelps, Jaie Schultz and Clark rounding out 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
Round 8 of Series 2 saw drivers head to the mountains of Pennsylvania and the Pocono Raceway. 23 drivers would line up for battle, with Martin and Neale starting from the front row, with Dyson and Michelmore completing row 2.
Whilst an early caution had drivers on edge for potentially long night, drivers would soon settle into a good rhythm and set about making the tyres last until at least the fuel window opened.
Martin would control the race in the early laps and it would take until lap 24 until Dyson was able to make a pass into turn 1 and take over the lead. This proved to be short lived, as contact with the turn 3 wall the following lap allowed Martin back into the lead.
It was around this time that some drivers headed to pit lane in an attempt to uncut those they were in battle with, before the majority headed to the lane at half race distance, or soon afterwards.
A handful of drivers stayed out, running the tank dry in the hope of being faster towards the end of the race with fresher tyres than those around them.
The caution would fly on lap 38, with about 8 cars still yet to make their stop. Thankfully for the long track length, this meant that the majority of the field were still classified on the lead lap.
Once the pit stops had played out, Douglas would find himself at the front of the pack, followed by Carroll-Walden, Nankervis, Barber and Michelmore filling the top 5 spots, whilst early front runners Dyson and Martin restarted in 12th and 17th.
From hear on, the race would be littered with cautions as drivers got the elbows out and looked to make up positions as quickly as possible, with many of the front runners being caught up and collecting some form of damage.
A final 2 lap dash to the finish was in store. Douglas got the jump and looked to have the edge over the chasing pack. This buffer was enlarged when coming to the white flag Nankervis and Neale came together in their battle for second, taking themselves out of contention and forcing the cars around them to check up.
Douglas would go on to claim victory by almost a full second ahead of Dyson, with Michelmore rounding out the podium.
Race Summary:
62 Laps
6 Cautions for 18 Laps
5 Leaders
4 Lead Changes
1st - #10 Dave Douglas
2nd - #41 Andrew Dyson
3rd - #31 Josh Michelmore
4th - #35 Joshua Carroll-Walden
5th - #030 Luke Crum
Stewards Summary:
Cautions:
Lap 3 - #080 Koby Jordan
Lap 38 - #11 Ryan Jones
Lap 43 - #42 Lachlan Urquijo
Lap 48 - #007 Mark Smith - 3rd strike, ROF next race
Lap 52 - #52 Aiden Schultz
Lap 57 - #98 Steven Williams
Restarts:
Lap 51 - #52 Aiden Schultz
Protests:
Nil
Other:
Nil
Series 2 standings:
Things remained pretty stable at the head of the standings, with Dyson and Michelmore looking strong in the top 2 positions, whilst Phelps, Barber and Martin join them in rounding out the top 5. Next week sees the series head to Road America for a 25 lap event, which doubles as Round 4 of the Road Course Title.
Superspeedway Title:
Carroll-Walden maintains a narrow lead in the Superspeedway Title, now 6 points over Martin with Michelmore, Phelps and Douglas rounding out the top 5. Round 4 of the Series comes at the end of Series 2, on the 2nd Aug at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
2023 overall standings:
Not much change in the overall championship picture, with Martin maintaining a 25 point lead over Michelmore, with Phelps, Jaie Schultz and Clark rounding out 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
