2023 Season 3 Round 1 Thunder Results
Thunder Series Review
Series 3 for 2023 kicked off at Watkins Glen International Raceway with a small field of 14 cars taking on the Cup layout. Jaie Schultz claimed his first Thunder Series pole position, with Jason Martin, Ryan Jones and Luke Trahair rounding out the first two rows. It would also be a special night for Brad Fenly, celebrating 100 ANZCAR race starts.
Unfortunately for Fenly, the night was cut short when he had a netcode contact with Luke Crum on the opening lap in the Esses. Fenly and Ruben Phelps made heavy contact with the wall, ending both their nights.
Jones would get a good start and lead the opening laps over Schultz and Martin. This lead would prove to be short lived, as Schultz regained the lead into turn 1 on lap 4.
A group of 6 had made a decent sized gap over the rest of the field, with everyone looking to get into a rhythm to conserve tyres and keep an eye on those all important incident points.
After loosing several spots in the opening lap, Trahair had made it back up to P2 on lap 9, whilst early front runner Martin had started to drift and was down in P6. Dyson, who had started the race back in P11, had worked his way up to fifth, and just a few laps later would be in P3. While this was all going on, Schultz was comfortable out in front, having built up a 6 second lead.
End of lap 22, and Schultz pits from the lead of the race with his lead reduced to just over 3 seconds, with several other drivers also coming in for service. Dyson would take over the lead of the race, followed by Jones and Trahair.
Jones would pit from second on lap 26, Trahair would come to the lane at the end of lap 31 whilst Dyson would finally pit the following lap. Once all the pitstops had played out, Schultz would lead by 6 seconds over Jones, with Dyson just a further second behind. Jones would soon lose second place, going off at the bus stop and allowing Dyson an easy pass.
With 10 lap fresher tyres, Dyson slowly chipped away at the lead Schultz had built, and by the start of lap 38 had caught Schultz. By the end of that lap, Dyson had made his way into the lead and was able to drive away from Schultz over the remaining few laps to claim victory.
Race Summary:
41 Laps
0 Cautions for 0 Laps
3 Leaders
4 Lead Changes
1st - #41 Andrew Dyson
2nd - #27 Jaie Schultz
3rd - #11 Ryan Jones
4th - #32 Jason Martin
5th - #030 Luke Crum
Stewards Summary:
Cautions:
Nil
Restarts:
Nil
Protests:
Nil
Other:
Post race burnout - #27 Jaie Schultz – 6(d)ii Unprofessional conduct not involving contact – 5 point penalty
Post race burnout - #030 Luke Crum – 6(d)ii Unprofessional conduct not involving contact – 5 point penalty
A reminder to all drivers – burnouts are reserved for the race winner. The only exception to this is if there is a series/overall champion officially crowned. Burnouts during a ANZCAR practice session will see driver immediately booted from the server. First offence will be a 5 point penalty, whilst a second breach of this rule will see that driver miss a week from ALL ANZCAR series races.
Series 3 standings:
Andrew Dyson holds a 5 point lead to commence his title defence, over Ryan Jones with Jason Martin a further 2 points behind in third.
Road Course Title:
With 1 round to complete the Road Course Title, Jaie Schultz holds a 16 point lead over Andrew Dyson, with Matthew Raymond, Josh Michelmore and Jason Martin rounding out the top 5. The final round will be held on the Charlotte Roval on the 4th October.
2023 overall standings:
Nothing much has changed with the year long standings, with Jason Martin holding a 30 point lead over Josh Michelmore and Ruben Phelps in third.
Next week sees the Thunder Series head to Daytona, which will also feature as the final round of the Superspeedway Title. Jason Martin currently holds a 6 point lead over Josh Michelmore, with a total of 8 drivers still in with a shot at the title.
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
Series 3 for 2023 kicked off at Watkins Glen International Raceway with a small field of 14 cars taking on the Cup layout. Jaie Schultz claimed his first Thunder Series pole position, with Jason Martin, Ryan Jones and Luke Trahair rounding out the first two rows. It would also be a special night for Brad Fenly, celebrating 100 ANZCAR race starts.
Unfortunately for Fenly, the night was cut short when he had a netcode contact with Luke Crum on the opening lap in the Esses. Fenly and Ruben Phelps made heavy contact with the wall, ending both their nights.
Jones would get a good start and lead the opening laps over Schultz and Martin. This lead would prove to be short lived, as Schultz regained the lead into turn 1 on lap 4.
A group of 6 had made a decent sized gap over the rest of the field, with everyone looking to get into a rhythm to conserve tyres and keep an eye on those all important incident points.
After loosing several spots in the opening lap, Trahair had made it back up to P2 on lap 9, whilst early front runner Martin had started to drift and was down in P6. Dyson, who had started the race back in P11, had worked his way up to fifth, and just a few laps later would be in P3. While this was all going on, Schultz was comfortable out in front, having built up a 6 second lead.
End of lap 22, and Schultz pits from the lead of the race with his lead reduced to just over 3 seconds, with several other drivers also coming in for service. Dyson would take over the lead of the race, followed by Jones and Trahair.
Jones would pit from second on lap 26, Trahair would come to the lane at the end of lap 31 whilst Dyson would finally pit the following lap. Once all the pitstops had played out, Schultz would lead by 6 seconds over Jones, with Dyson just a further second behind. Jones would soon lose second place, going off at the bus stop and allowing Dyson an easy pass.
With 10 lap fresher tyres, Dyson slowly chipped away at the lead Schultz had built, and by the start of lap 38 had caught Schultz. By the end of that lap, Dyson had made his way into the lead and was able to drive away from Schultz over the remaining few laps to claim victory.
Race Summary:
41 Laps
0 Cautions for 0 Laps
3 Leaders
4 Lead Changes
1st - #41 Andrew Dyson
2nd - #27 Jaie Schultz
3rd - #11 Ryan Jones
4th - #32 Jason Martin
5th - #030 Luke Crum
Stewards Summary:
Cautions:
Nil
Restarts:
Nil
Protests:
Nil
Other:
Post race burnout - #27 Jaie Schultz – 6(d)ii Unprofessional conduct not involving contact – 5 point penalty
Post race burnout - #030 Luke Crum – 6(d)ii Unprofessional conduct not involving contact – 5 point penalty
A reminder to all drivers – burnouts are reserved for the race winner. The only exception to this is if there is a series/overall champion officially crowned. Burnouts during a ANZCAR practice session will see driver immediately booted from the server. First offence will be a 5 point penalty, whilst a second breach of this rule will see that driver miss a week from ALL ANZCAR series races.
Series 3 standings:
Andrew Dyson holds a 5 point lead to commence his title defence, over Ryan Jones with Jason Martin a further 2 points behind in third.
Road Course Title:
With 1 round to complete the Road Course Title, Jaie Schultz holds a 16 point lead over Andrew Dyson, with Matthew Raymond, Josh Michelmore and Jason Martin rounding out the top 5. The final round will be held on the Charlotte Roval on the 4th October.
2023 overall standings:
Nothing much has changed with the year long standings, with Jason Martin holding a 30 point lead over Josh Michelmore and Ruben Phelps in third.
Next week sees the Thunder Series head to Daytona, which will also feature as the final round of the Superspeedway Title. Jason Martin currently holds a 6 point lead over Josh Michelmore, with a total of 8 drivers still in with a shot at the title.
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
