2023 Season 3 Round 6 Thunder Results
Thunder Series Review
Qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway would see Andrew Dyson take pole position narrowly over Barry Neale, with Ryan Jones and Shayne Bowen filling row 2.
Jones would get a great start from P3 and lead the early laps, whilst Dyson, Neale and Michelmore settled in behind. Playing the long game, Dyson allowed himself to drift back through the pack and hover towards the back end of the top 10.
Meanwhile, Neale had moved past Jones and set about building a gap over the field. Just a few laps later, Michelmore, Joshua Carroll-Walden and Bowen also made moves around Jones, who drifted back towards his DPR teammate in Dyson.
By quarter race distance, Neale was over 3 seconds ahead of Michelmore, with Bowen, Carroll-Walden and Dyson all close together, battling for P2. Approaching half race distance, and Neale was still out in front, but was now being chased down by Dyson, pushing hard on old tyres and had brought the gap down to 1.5 seconds. Michelmore was clear in third, as was Jones in fourth, whilst Bowen and Jason Martin had their own little battle going for P5.
Aiden Schultz was the first to play the strategy card, heading to the pits on lap 49 for fuel and tyres. Soon after he was exiting the lane, the only caution of the night was called. Initially Carroll-Walden made heavy contact with the T2 wall, which bunched the chasing pack behind him. In turn 3, Kayd Donnelly and Steven Williams would get together, sending both cars heavily into the outside wall. Whilst this was occurring, Carroll-Walden got loose exiting T4 and makes contact with Ruben Phelps. Once the dust had settled, Carroll-Walden was the only car involved to continue, with the other 3 heading to garage and an early shower.
After winning the race off of pit road, Dyson would lead the restart from Neale, Michelmore, Jones and Bowen.
Dyson got a great launch, which allowed Michelmore to briefly take over second position from Neale. This only lasted for a lap before Neale would regain second place and set off after Dyson; with Neale able to retake the lead from Dyson on lap 64.
Approaching three quarters race distance, and the top three of Neale, Dyson and Jones had gaped the rest of the field by about 2 seconds. Dyson would make an easy pass on the inside of Neale heading into turn 1, and set about controlling the tempo from the front. Dyson wouldn’t be troubled in the remaining laps, going on to win by almost 3 seconds over Neale, with Jones a further second behind.
Race Summary:
103 Laps
1 Cautions for 4 Laps
3 Leaders
4 Lead Changes
1st - #41 Andrew Dyson
2nd - #22 Barry Neale
3rd - #11 Ryan Jones
4th - #21 Jason Martin
5th - #31 Josh Michelmore
Stewards Summary:
Cautions:
Lap 52 - #40 Kayd Donnelly
Restarts:
Nil
Protests:
Lap 52 - #35 Joshua Carroll-Walden making contact #06 Ruben Phelps - Upheld
Other:
Nil
Series 3 standings:
Josh Michelmore continues to lead the Series 3 championship, still 13 points clear of second position, which is now held by Jason Martin, with Ryan Jones just a single point further behind. Next week sees the Thunder Series head to World Wide Technology (Gateway) Raceway for a 100 lap event. 2023 overall standings:
Continuing to mimic each other finishing positions, the Mitch Motorsport pair of Jason Martin and Josh Michelmore maintain their close battle for the overall title, currently 13 points in favour of Martin. Matthew Raymond moves into third position, now 6 points ahead of Ruben Phelps.
Qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway would see Andrew Dyson take pole position narrowly over Barry Neale, with Ryan Jones and Shayne Bowen filling row 2.
Jones would get a great start from P3 and lead the early laps, whilst Dyson, Neale and Michelmore settled in behind. Playing the long game, Dyson allowed himself to drift back through the pack and hover towards the back end of the top 10.
Meanwhile, Neale had moved past Jones and set about building a gap over the field. Just a few laps later, Michelmore, Joshua Carroll-Walden and Bowen also made moves around Jones, who drifted back towards his DPR teammate in Dyson.
By quarter race distance, Neale was over 3 seconds ahead of Michelmore, with Bowen, Carroll-Walden and Dyson all close together, battling for P2. Approaching half race distance, and Neale was still out in front, but was now being chased down by Dyson, pushing hard on old tyres and had brought the gap down to 1.5 seconds. Michelmore was clear in third, as was Jones in fourth, whilst Bowen and Jason Martin had their own little battle going for P5.
Aiden Schultz was the first to play the strategy card, heading to the pits on lap 49 for fuel and tyres. Soon after he was exiting the lane, the only caution of the night was called. Initially Carroll-Walden made heavy contact with the T2 wall, which bunched the chasing pack behind him. In turn 3, Kayd Donnelly and Steven Williams would get together, sending both cars heavily into the outside wall. Whilst this was occurring, Carroll-Walden got loose exiting T4 and makes contact with Ruben Phelps. Once the dust had settled, Carroll-Walden was the only car involved to continue, with the other 3 heading to garage and an early shower.
After winning the race off of pit road, Dyson would lead the restart from Neale, Michelmore, Jones and Bowen.
Dyson got a great launch, which allowed Michelmore to briefly take over second position from Neale. This only lasted for a lap before Neale would regain second place and set off after Dyson; with Neale able to retake the lead from Dyson on lap 64.
Approaching three quarters race distance, and the top three of Neale, Dyson and Jones had gaped the rest of the field by about 2 seconds. Dyson would make an easy pass on the inside of Neale heading into turn 1, and set about controlling the tempo from the front. Dyson wouldn’t be troubled in the remaining laps, going on to win by almost 3 seconds over Neale, with Jones a further second behind.
Race Summary:
103 Laps
1 Cautions for 4 Laps
3 Leaders
4 Lead Changes
1st - #41 Andrew Dyson
2nd - #22 Barry Neale
3rd - #11 Ryan Jones
4th - #21 Jason Martin
5th - #31 Josh Michelmore
Stewards Summary:
Cautions:
Lap 52 - #40 Kayd Donnelly
Restarts:
Nil
Protests:
Lap 52 - #35 Joshua Carroll-Walden making contact #06 Ruben Phelps - Upheld
Other:
Nil
Series 3 standings:
Josh Michelmore continues to lead the Series 3 championship, still 13 points clear of second position, which is now held by Jason Martin, with Ryan Jones just a single point further behind. Next week sees the Thunder Series head to World Wide Technology (Gateway) Raceway for a 100 lap event. 2023 overall standings:
Continuing to mimic each other finishing positions, the Mitch Motorsport pair of Jason Martin and Josh Michelmore maintain their close battle for the overall title, currently 13 points in favour of Martin. Matthew Raymond moves into third position, now 6 points ahead of Ruben Phelps.
