2023 Season 3 Round 2 Thunder Results
Thunder Series Review
Round 2 saw almost a capacity grid roll up to Daytona International Speedway. Dave Douglas would put it on pole ahead of Ruben Phelps, Ryan Jones, Joshua Carroll-Walden and Mat Paton.
Douglas looked to have made a good start but was pinged by the iRacing official for a jump start and had to serve a drive through penalty at the end of lap 1. Jones and Jaie Schultz would lead the low line train whilst up high, it was Phelps and Carroll-Walden. The high line seemed the place to be early on, with plenty of speed allowing drivers to gain positions before dropping down onto the low line.
End of lap 4 saw the first wreck of the night and saw all but Jason Martin head to the lane for a splash of fuel. Martin and Carroll-Walden would restart from the front row, with Schultz and Jamie Nankervis on row 2, with Jones the only car unable to continue.
Carrying heavy rear damage, Martin was unable to get up to top speed on the restart, which stalled out the low line on the resumption of racing. This allowed Carroll-Walden, Nankervis and Michelmore to drop down from the high line and take over at the front of the field.
The racing stabilised and drivers maintained 2 lanes for the majority of the field, with no real speed advantage present as their was in the opening laps.
Start of lap 22 and the caution came out after drivers tried going three wide entering turn 1, with multiple cars picking up heavy damage. Drivers elected to bolt on new tyres, fill up the tan as well as get as some much needed repairs carried out.
Michelmore led from the restart ahead of Carroll-Walden and Urquijo, whilst Maxwell and Nankervis led the high line. With some of the field being impacted with damage, this started to fragment the field and slowly turn the race into single lane battle.
Urquijo had moved himself to the lead, followed by Carroll-Walden, Troy Davidson and Douglas, who had recovered from his early drive through penalty.
2 big wrecks had implications for just about the whole field, with very few drivers left in damage free cars.
With just under 30 laps to go, it was looking like being a last driver standing type of night. Michael Campbell would lead the restart ahead of Schultz, Carroll-Walden, Douglas, Davidson and Chris Finlay.
The top 15 or so drivers were able to separate themselves from the rest of the field, but several of these drivers where just trying to hold the draft due to their damaged cars. Despite all of this, 2 wide racing returned with plenty of drivers switching lanes and trying to position themselves on the run to the flag.
10 laps to go, and Douglas and Finlay had teamed up on the low line and were maintaining the led of the race, whilst Carroll-Walden, Garry Wellman and Matthew Raymond led the high line drivers. Things looked like staying like this until the flag, but approaching 2 to go, Williams and Wellman made contact exiting turn 4 saw a large number of drivers collected, by the track stayed green. This left 6 cars in with a short at the win.
Coming to the flag, and entering the tri-oval for the final time, Smith and Finlay made contact which scuttled the pack and allowed Douglas to take an easy win. Smith would be scored in second with Raymond, Phelps, Carroll-Walden and Finlay rounding out the top 6.
Race Summary:
75 Laps
4 Cautions for 12 Laps
8 Leaders
28 Lead Changes
1st - #10 Dave Douglas
2nd - #007 Mark Smith
3rd - #83 Matthew Raymond
4th - #06 Ruben Phelps
5th - #35 Joshua Carroll-Walden
Stewards Summary:
Cautions:
Lap 4 – #11 Ryan Jones
Lap 22 – #41 Andrew Dyson
Lap 34 – #013 Aaron Dillon
Lap 45 - #42 Lachlan Urquijo (3rd strike – EOL Next Week) & #16 Todd Maxfield
Restarts:
Lap 37 - #587 Matt Paton
Protests:
Nil
Other:
Nil
Josh Michelmore is your 2023 Superspeedway Champion!
Coming into the final round, Jason Martin held a 6 points lead over Josh Michelmore, with Ruben Phelps a further 7 points behind. With Martin being involved in an early wreck and finishing a lowly P23, the title looked to be a certainty for Michelmore, until he too was involved in a wreck. Phelps looked to have come from the clouds to snatch the title with a P4 finish, only for Michelmore to limp his damaged car home in P10 and claiming the title by a single point!
Series 3 standings:
Andrew Dyson early lead has disappeared after a DNF, now down to tenth in the standings. Matthew Raymond has taken over the lead in the standings, 6 points clear of Jaie Schultz and Luke Trahair tied for second position.
2023 overall standings:
Despite the carnage that Daytona produced, Jason Martin still hangs onto the overall lead by 17 points over Josh Michelmore, with Ruben Phelps, Matthew Raymond and Jaie Schultz rounding out the top 5. Next week sees the ANZCAR Thunder Series head to The Milwaukee Mile for 125 laps.
Full race results and Series 3 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 2 saw almost a capacity grid roll up to Daytona International Speedway. Dave Douglas would put it on pole ahead of Ruben Phelps, Ryan Jones, Joshua Carroll-Walden and Mat Paton.
Douglas looked to have made a good start but was pinged by the iRacing official for a jump start and had to serve a drive through penalty at the end of lap 1. Jones and Jaie Schultz would lead the low line train whilst up high, it was Phelps and Carroll-Walden. The high line seemed the place to be early on, with plenty of speed allowing drivers to gain positions before dropping down onto the low line.
End of lap 4 saw the first wreck of the night and saw all but Jason Martin head to the lane for a splash of fuel. Martin and Carroll-Walden would restart from the front row, with Schultz and Jamie Nankervis on row 2, with Jones the only car unable to continue.
Carrying heavy rear damage, Martin was unable to get up to top speed on the restart, which stalled out the low line on the resumption of racing. This allowed Carroll-Walden, Nankervis and Michelmore to drop down from the high line and take over at the front of the field.
The racing stabilised and drivers maintained 2 lanes for the majority of the field, with no real speed advantage present as their was in the opening laps.
Start of lap 22 and the caution came out after drivers tried going three wide entering turn 1, with multiple cars picking up heavy damage. Drivers elected to bolt on new tyres, fill up the tan as well as get as some much needed repairs carried out.
Michelmore led from the restart ahead of Carroll-Walden and Urquijo, whilst Maxwell and Nankervis led the high line. With some of the field being impacted with damage, this started to fragment the field and slowly turn the race into single lane battle.
Urquijo had moved himself to the lead, followed by Carroll-Walden, Troy Davidson and Douglas, who had recovered from his early drive through penalty.
2 big wrecks had implications for just about the whole field, with very few drivers left in damage free cars.
With just under 30 laps to go, it was looking like being a last driver standing type of night. Michael Campbell would lead the restart ahead of Schultz, Carroll-Walden, Douglas, Davidson and Chris Finlay.
The top 15 or so drivers were able to separate themselves from the rest of the field, but several of these drivers where just trying to hold the draft due to their damaged cars. Despite all of this, 2 wide racing returned with plenty of drivers switching lanes and trying to position themselves on the run to the flag.
10 laps to go, and Douglas and Finlay had teamed up on the low line and were maintaining the led of the race, whilst Carroll-Walden, Garry Wellman and Matthew Raymond led the high line drivers. Things looked like staying like this until the flag, but approaching 2 to go, Williams and Wellman made contact exiting turn 4 saw a large number of drivers collected, by the track stayed green. This left 6 cars in with a short at the win.
Coming to the flag, and entering the tri-oval for the final time, Smith and Finlay made contact which scuttled the pack and allowed Douglas to take an easy win. Smith would be scored in second with Raymond, Phelps, Carroll-Walden and Finlay rounding out the top 6.
Race Summary:
75 Laps
4 Cautions for 12 Laps
8 Leaders
28 Lead Changes
1st - #10 Dave Douglas
2nd - #007 Mark Smith
3rd - #83 Matthew Raymond
4th - #06 Ruben Phelps
5th - #35 Joshua Carroll-Walden
Stewards Summary:
Cautions:
Lap 4 – #11 Ryan Jones
Lap 22 – #41 Andrew Dyson
Lap 34 – #013 Aaron Dillon
Lap 45 - #42 Lachlan Urquijo (3rd strike – EOL Next Week) & #16 Todd Maxfield
Restarts:
Lap 37 - #587 Matt Paton
Protests:
Nil
Other:
Nil
Josh Michelmore is your 2023 Superspeedway Champion!
Coming into the final round, Jason Martin held a 6 points lead over Josh Michelmore, with Ruben Phelps a further 7 points behind. With Martin being involved in an early wreck and finishing a lowly P23, the title looked to be a certainty for Michelmore, until he too was involved in a wreck. Phelps looked to have come from the clouds to snatch the title with a P4 finish, only for Michelmore to limp his damaged car home in P10 and claiming the title by a single point!
Series 3 standings:
Andrew Dyson early lead has disappeared after a DNF, now down to tenth in the standings. Matthew Raymond has taken over the lead in the standings, 6 points clear of Jaie Schultz and Luke Trahair tied for second position.
2023 overall standings:
Despite the carnage that Daytona produced, Jason Martin still hangs onto the overall lead by 17 points over Josh Michelmore, with Ruben Phelps, Matthew Raymond and Jaie Schultz rounding out the top 5. Next week sees the ANZCAR Thunder Series head to The Milwaukee Mile for 125 laps.
Full race results and Series 3 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
