2023 Season 3 Round 5 Thunder Results
Thunder Series Review
Bristol Motor Speedway would see 19 Thunder Series drivers strap in and attempt to conquer its high banks. Ryan Jones would start the night well, claiming pole position by 0.003 over Jason Martin, whilst row 2 would be filled by Lachlan Urquijo and Steven Williams.
Urquijo’s night was turned upside-down by an spin in turns 3 and 4 on the opening lap, resulting in several cars pickling up damage, Urquijo and Barry Neale coping the brunt of it.
The restart saw Jones get a good launch and led the field early, whilst in the mid pack 2 wide racing was commonplace as drivers worked on different lines to gain positions whilst trying to not lose the rear end due to tail happy setup.
Just as drivers were settling into a grove, Josh Gallichan looped the #36 machine in turn 2, narrowly missing Williams, but making heavy contact with Jaie Schultz. Gallichan’s night was done, whilst Schultz soldiered on with the Toyota repaired the best his pit crew could manage.
The majority of the field came in for fuel and tyres, with the leading 7 cars the only ones yet to come in for service, led by Joshua Carroll-Walden, Jones, Martin and Williams.
Carroll-Walden shot out of a cannon at the restart, quickly building up a 3 second lead in just a handful of laps. The race had been divided into 2 strategy groups, with those on fresh tyres making progress through the field towards the front.
Lap 50, and Carroll-Walden still held a 2 second lead over Jones, who had Martin glued to the rear bumper, and Ruben Phelps just a half second behind, the first of those on the “fresher” tyres.
10 laps later, and Carroll-Walden’s tyres had found their cliff, with the chasing pack of 5 swallowing him up. Martin, taking control at the front of the field, set about pushing hard and building an almost 2 second lead whilst those behind battled each other for position.
Lap 81, and Carroll-Walden was the first to pit for fresh tyres as the race remained green. As the race ticked over half race distance, drivers slowly started to came to the lane for 4 new tyres in an attempt to undercut those that they were racing against.
Several drivers tried sticking it out, hoping for a late caution and gaining plenty of track position over those who green flag pitted, but it never eventuated. Once the pitstops had all been completed, with drivers fuelled to the end, Michelmore would find himself at the front of the field with 60 laps to go. Michelmore was able maintain enough pace in those well worn tyres to win by almost 9 seconds over Martin, who came from a long way back, but on the freshest tyres, to pip Jones for second.
148 green flag laps around Bristol is no easy feat, so congratulations to all drivers for hanging in as well as you did.
Race Summary:
170 Laps
2 Cautions for 9 Laps
4 Leaders
3 Lead Changes
1st - #31 Josh Michelmore
2nd - #21 Jason Martin
3rd - #11 Ryan Jones
4th - #06 Ruben Phelps
5th - #09 Norman Clark
Stewards Summary:
Cautions:
Lap 1 - #42 Lachlan Urquijo - 3rd strike, ROF next week
Lap 16 - #36 Josh Gallichan
Restarts:
Nil
Protests:
Nil
Other:
Nil
Series 3 standings:
Josh Michelmore continues to lead the Series 3 championship, now 13 points clear of Matthew Raymond, with Jason Martin up into third position and just a single point further behind. After a night of elbows out, short track racing, next week the series is off to 1.5 mile oval at Texas Motor Speedway for a 103 lap race.
Short Track Championship:
With just 1 round remaining, there’s just 2 points in it at the top of the standings between Jason Martin and Josh Michelmore, with Ruben Phelps looking comfortable in third. The final race of the Championship will be at North Wilkesboro Speedway on the 25th October.
2023 overall standings:
The Mitch Motorsport teammates continue their year long battle, with Josh Michelmore gaining a couple more points at Bristol, reducing Jason Martin’s advantage down to 12 points with 7 races still to go. The battle for third is even closer, with Ruben Phelps slightly extending his lead to 6 points over Matthew Raymond, whilst Jaie Schultz is now a further 17 points adrift after a tough night.
Bristol Motor Speedway would see 19 Thunder Series drivers strap in and attempt to conquer its high banks. Ryan Jones would start the night well, claiming pole position by 0.003 over Jason Martin, whilst row 2 would be filled by Lachlan Urquijo and Steven Williams.
Urquijo’s night was turned upside-down by an spin in turns 3 and 4 on the opening lap, resulting in several cars pickling up damage, Urquijo and Barry Neale coping the brunt of it.
The restart saw Jones get a good launch and led the field early, whilst in the mid pack 2 wide racing was commonplace as drivers worked on different lines to gain positions whilst trying to not lose the rear end due to tail happy setup.
Just as drivers were settling into a grove, Josh Gallichan looped the #36 machine in turn 2, narrowly missing Williams, but making heavy contact with Jaie Schultz. Gallichan’s night was done, whilst Schultz soldiered on with the Toyota repaired the best his pit crew could manage.
The majority of the field came in for fuel and tyres, with the leading 7 cars the only ones yet to come in for service, led by Joshua Carroll-Walden, Jones, Martin and Williams.
Carroll-Walden shot out of a cannon at the restart, quickly building up a 3 second lead in just a handful of laps. The race had been divided into 2 strategy groups, with those on fresh tyres making progress through the field towards the front.
Lap 50, and Carroll-Walden still held a 2 second lead over Jones, who had Martin glued to the rear bumper, and Ruben Phelps just a half second behind, the first of those on the “fresher” tyres.
10 laps later, and Carroll-Walden’s tyres had found their cliff, with the chasing pack of 5 swallowing him up. Martin, taking control at the front of the field, set about pushing hard and building an almost 2 second lead whilst those behind battled each other for position.
Lap 81, and Carroll-Walden was the first to pit for fresh tyres as the race remained green. As the race ticked over half race distance, drivers slowly started to came to the lane for 4 new tyres in an attempt to undercut those that they were racing against.
Several drivers tried sticking it out, hoping for a late caution and gaining plenty of track position over those who green flag pitted, but it never eventuated. Once the pitstops had all been completed, with drivers fuelled to the end, Michelmore would find himself at the front of the field with 60 laps to go. Michelmore was able maintain enough pace in those well worn tyres to win by almost 9 seconds over Martin, who came from a long way back, but on the freshest tyres, to pip Jones for second.
148 green flag laps around Bristol is no easy feat, so congratulations to all drivers for hanging in as well as you did.
Race Summary:
170 Laps
2 Cautions for 9 Laps
4 Leaders
3 Lead Changes
1st - #31 Josh Michelmore
2nd - #21 Jason Martin
3rd - #11 Ryan Jones
4th - #06 Ruben Phelps
5th - #09 Norman Clark
Stewards Summary:
Cautions:
Lap 1 - #42 Lachlan Urquijo - 3rd strike, ROF next week
Lap 16 - #36 Josh Gallichan
Restarts:
Nil
Protests:
Nil
Other:
Nil
Series 3 standings:
Josh Michelmore continues to lead the Series 3 championship, now 13 points clear of Matthew Raymond, with Jason Martin up into third position and just a single point further behind. After a night of elbows out, short track racing, next week the series is off to 1.5 mile oval at Texas Motor Speedway for a 103 lap race.
Short Track Championship:
With just 1 round remaining, there’s just 2 points in it at the top of the standings between Jason Martin and Josh Michelmore, with Ruben Phelps looking comfortable in third. The final race of the Championship will be at North Wilkesboro Speedway on the 25th October.
2023 overall standings:
The Mitch Motorsport teammates continue their year long battle, with Josh Michelmore gaining a couple more points at Bristol, reducing Jason Martin’s advantage down to 12 points with 7 races still to go. The battle for third is even closer, with Ruben Phelps slightly extending his lead to 6 points over Matthew Raymond, whilst Jaie Schultz is now a further 17 points adrift after a tough night.
