2023 Season 1 Round 8 Thunder Results
Martin survives wreck fest at Martinsville
On a cool Wednesday night in Ridgeway Virginia, 31 Thunder Series drivers turned up to contest 135 laps around the challenging paperclip. Jason Martin continued to dominate in qualifying, claiming his 5th pole position by over a tenth of a second from Dave Douglas and Joshua Carroll-Walden.
All drivers seemed to get away well and for the first dozen of so laps; everyone racing hard but allowing racing room. However, once the first caution came out it all fell apart as many exceeded their driving capabilities and caused a procession of caution periods. In all, almost half of the race distance was conducted under yellow flag conditions.
Throughout all of the carnage unfolding behind, Martin continued to hold the lead of the race, and would have led every lap if not for an iRacing scoring glitch when Douglas was able to inherit the lead whilst avoiding smoking piles of scrap metal spread across the track.
Martin would ultimately claim his first win of the series by a comfortable 1.5s over Michelmore whilst Kye Turner put in a great run from starting in 21st position to round out the podium.
Race Summary:
135 Laps
12 Cautions for 60 Laps
2 leaders
2 Lead Changes
Results:
1st - #21 Jason Martin
2nd - #31 Josh Michelmore
3rd - #408 Kye Turner
4th - #02 Darren Mckenzie
5th - #35 Joshua Carroll-Walden
Stewards Summary:
Cautions:
Lap 16 - #35 Joshua Carroll-Walden
Lap 31 - #030 Luke Crum
Lap 39 - #007 Mark Smith
Lap 46 - #30 Phil Bissett
Lap 53 - #11 Ryan Jones
Lap 70 - #015 Brett Campbell
Lap 82 - #270 Jaie Schultz
Lap 92 - #81 Brenton Henderson
Lap 101 - #31 Josh Michelmore
Lap 113 - #43 Luke Trahair (3rd strike – ROF next week)
Lap 123 - #274 Luke Georgeson
Start Procedure Penalties:
Lap 44 - #274 Luke Georgeson
Protests:
Nil
Other:
Lap 22 - #98 Steven Williams & #43 Luke Trahair - Netcode
Series 1 Championship:
Martin continues to extend his lead, which is now up to 17 points over Michelmore, with Darren Mckenzie a further 22 points adrift. The battle for 4th seems to be where the most action is, with Dave Douglas currently holding a 4 point margin over Jaie Schultz with Matthew Raymond, Joshua Carroll-Walden and Brad Fenly all within a few points of each other. Drivers will need to change their driving style for next week, as the Thunder Series heads to the high banks of Talladega Superspeedway.
Short Track Title:
After Round 2, Martin takes over the lead, with Michelmore and Phelps tied for 2nd, 10 points adrift. Driver will now take a break from the short track title, with the Round 3 to be held at Iowa Speedway on the 14th of June.
Full race results: https://www.simracerhub.com/scoring/season_race.php...
Full driver standings: https://www.simracerhub.com/scoring/season_standings.php...
For full race replay and future Thunder Series broadcasts, please head to Performance E-Streaming on Facebook.
On a cool Wednesday night in Ridgeway Virginia, 31 Thunder Series drivers turned up to contest 135 laps around the challenging paperclip. Jason Martin continued to dominate in qualifying, claiming his 5th pole position by over a tenth of a second from Dave Douglas and Joshua Carroll-Walden.
All drivers seemed to get away well and for the first dozen of so laps; everyone racing hard but allowing racing room. However, once the first caution came out it all fell apart as many exceeded their driving capabilities and caused a procession of caution periods. In all, almost half of the race distance was conducted under yellow flag conditions.
Throughout all of the carnage unfolding behind, Martin continued to hold the lead of the race, and would have led every lap if not for an iRacing scoring glitch when Douglas was able to inherit the lead whilst avoiding smoking piles of scrap metal spread across the track.
Martin would ultimately claim his first win of the series by a comfortable 1.5s over Michelmore whilst Kye Turner put in a great run from starting in 21st position to round out the podium.
Race Summary:
135 Laps
12 Cautions for 60 Laps
2 leaders
2 Lead Changes
Results:
1st - #21 Jason Martin
2nd - #31 Josh Michelmore
3rd - #408 Kye Turner
4th - #02 Darren Mckenzie
5th - #35 Joshua Carroll-Walden
Stewards Summary:
Cautions:
Lap 16 - #35 Joshua Carroll-Walden
Lap 31 - #030 Luke Crum
Lap 39 - #007 Mark Smith
Lap 46 - #30 Phil Bissett
Lap 53 - #11 Ryan Jones
Lap 70 - #015 Brett Campbell
Lap 82 - #270 Jaie Schultz
Lap 92 - #81 Brenton Henderson
Lap 101 - #31 Josh Michelmore
Lap 113 - #43 Luke Trahair (3rd strike – ROF next week)
Lap 123 - #274 Luke Georgeson
Start Procedure Penalties:
Lap 44 - #274 Luke Georgeson
Protests:
Nil
Other:
Lap 22 - #98 Steven Williams & #43 Luke Trahair - Netcode
Series 1 Championship:
Martin continues to extend his lead, which is now up to 17 points over Michelmore, with Darren Mckenzie a further 22 points adrift. The battle for 4th seems to be where the most action is, with Dave Douglas currently holding a 4 point margin over Jaie Schultz with Matthew Raymond, Joshua Carroll-Walden and Brad Fenly all within a few points of each other. Drivers will need to change their driving style for next week, as the Thunder Series heads to the high banks of Talladega Superspeedway.
Short Track Title:
After Round 2, Martin takes over the lead, with Michelmore and Phelps tied for 2nd, 10 points adrift. Driver will now take a break from the short track title, with the Round 3 to be held at Iowa Speedway on the 14th of June.
Full race results: https://www.simracerhub.com/scoring/season_race.php...
Full driver standings: https://www.simracerhub.com/scoring/season_standings.php...
For full race replay and future Thunder Series broadcasts, please head to Performance E-Streaming on Facebook.
