2022 Round Cup Results
Hetterscheid becomes title dark horse with victory at Talladega!
One of the often-sited differences between simracing and the real deal is the lack of danger, we can't get hurt if we push that four wide, so we never experience any real fear. In that case the closest your ANZCAR Cup Series racer may feel to proper fear is that of heading into the final rounds of The Chase, needing a good points day... and Talladega is next.
Steven Williams would line up his retina-scorchingly green DPR machine on pole position, with superspeedway maestro Dave Douglas lining up alongside. Pearson and Foster would line up on row two, for ninety laps of tightly packed drafting action. At the drop of the green Foster would push Douglas to the lead, then duck underneath the 10 to take the lead for himself, Hetterscheid managing to get to his teammate's bumper and give him a solid push. The next lead change would come on the seventh lap, with Nigel Paton and Garry Wellman teaming up to push the outside line to the lead.
By lap nineteen a new high line had formed and Greg Spencer moved to the lead, with Jaeger and Jones slotting into positions two and three. Lap twenty-nine would see the beginning of the green flag pitstops, with everyone coming for service within the next five laps. All went largely without incident, except for Urquijo and Raymond messing up their entries and needing to take to the grass, heading around again.
When the stops shook out Jones would lead a quintet of cars, with Dyson and Lobb thankfully finding each other on the same piece of track, and tandem drafting onto the back of the leaders. A second pack of nine cars followed a couple of seconds back led by Jaeger. The trailing pack contained a few experienced drivers, who were able to marshal the troops and work together to catch the leaders. The majority of the field was together again. Jaeger, Wellman and the returning Josh Carroll-Walden kept the momentum and pushed the trio to the lead on lap forty-four.
If this race report appeared to be missing a few prominent names so far then wait no longer, as Hobson, Michelmore and Martin teamed up to make a bigtime run to the lead on lap forty-six. The field would run with one eye on the race end, not fighting until the next round of stops commenced on lap sixty-one. Once done, Hobson would lead Dyson, Foster, Hetterscheid and Wellman with a small gap to the rest of the field.
This would continue until the first caution of the race flew on lap sixty-nine, when Koch and Scurlock got together, collecting Jamie Nankervis in the process.
Hobson would lead away on the restart with Foster slotting in to second, Dyson dropping to the bottom lane to settle in third. The outside line would again be lead by Jones, with Scurlock pushing him to the lead on lap seventy-five, with Phelps coming along for the ride and taking third. Foster would jump out of fifth place to lead the top lane ahead of Michelmore, who with Martin would jump up to lead fast approaching third lane, sweeping down to lead the pack. No sooner had this happened than Paton, Hobson and Lobb would come together while three wide, collecting Wellman and bringing out the second caution.
Michelmore would get a good jump at the start and allow Martin to slot in behind to lead again. Natari cars Hetterscheid and Foster would move to the outside in front of Phelps, and the trio would push to the front, dropping down and being overlapped by Phelps who would assume the lead. The caution would fly again almost immediately, with Jaeger and Dyson getting together in the tri-oval.
Phelps would lead at the green/white/checquer with nothing but Natari in his mirrors, Foster behind and Hetterscheid and Carroll-Walden linked up on his outside. As the outside two pushed to the lead, Douglas and Foster would go for the same piece of real estate in the middle, making a four wide while they banged doors, knowing the next caution would end the race. Lobb would squeak by on the outside to take third, while Michelmore would be spat out of the field after a touch from Martin. Hetterscheid and Carroll-Walden would tandem draft out front, with Lobb just behind. Foster would get a push from Phelps with Jones looking for a way by them both, meanwhile Dyson and Douglas were pushing hard up by the wall, eyes on overtaking the lot of them.
Foster and Phelps built a huge run that took them past Lobb with enough steam to threaten the leaders, however the caution would come again when Urquijo and Dyson came together, collecting Jones and Martin in the melee. This would bring an end to the race with Hetterscheid, Carroll-Walden and Foster taking the top three spots, with Phelps and Lobb just behind. Scurlock, Williams, Jaeger, Clark and Martin would complete the top ten.
Dyson would run home twelfth and could likely conceive of no better place to strike back than the next round at the Roval, where he will surely be the unbackable favourite. Can anyone else step up and throw a spanner in the works?
Incidents
Lap 81 - Nigel Paton
Lap 87 - Raymond Jaeger
Lap 91 - Lachlan Urquijo
Restart Infringements
N/A
No Further Action
Lap 69 - Scurlock/Koch - 550 wobble and check up, 350 bumped on bad angle, racing deal
One of the often-sited differences between simracing and the real deal is the lack of danger, we can't get hurt if we push that four wide, so we never experience any real fear. In that case the closest your ANZCAR Cup Series racer may feel to proper fear is that of heading into the final rounds of The Chase, needing a good points day... and Talladega is next.
Steven Williams would line up his retina-scorchingly green DPR machine on pole position, with superspeedway maestro Dave Douglas lining up alongside. Pearson and Foster would line up on row two, for ninety laps of tightly packed drafting action. At the drop of the green Foster would push Douglas to the lead, then duck underneath the 10 to take the lead for himself, Hetterscheid managing to get to his teammate's bumper and give him a solid push. The next lead change would come on the seventh lap, with Nigel Paton and Garry Wellman teaming up to push the outside line to the lead.
By lap nineteen a new high line had formed and Greg Spencer moved to the lead, with Jaeger and Jones slotting into positions two and three. Lap twenty-nine would see the beginning of the green flag pitstops, with everyone coming for service within the next five laps. All went largely without incident, except for Urquijo and Raymond messing up their entries and needing to take to the grass, heading around again.
When the stops shook out Jones would lead a quintet of cars, with Dyson and Lobb thankfully finding each other on the same piece of track, and tandem drafting onto the back of the leaders. A second pack of nine cars followed a couple of seconds back led by Jaeger. The trailing pack contained a few experienced drivers, who were able to marshal the troops and work together to catch the leaders. The majority of the field was together again. Jaeger, Wellman and the returning Josh Carroll-Walden kept the momentum and pushed the trio to the lead on lap forty-four.
If this race report appeared to be missing a few prominent names so far then wait no longer, as Hobson, Michelmore and Martin teamed up to make a bigtime run to the lead on lap forty-six. The field would run with one eye on the race end, not fighting until the next round of stops commenced on lap sixty-one. Once done, Hobson would lead Dyson, Foster, Hetterscheid and Wellman with a small gap to the rest of the field.
This would continue until the first caution of the race flew on lap sixty-nine, when Koch and Scurlock got together, collecting Jamie Nankervis in the process.
Hobson would lead away on the restart with Foster slotting in to second, Dyson dropping to the bottom lane to settle in third. The outside line would again be lead by Jones, with Scurlock pushing him to the lead on lap seventy-five, with Phelps coming along for the ride and taking third. Foster would jump out of fifth place to lead the top lane ahead of Michelmore, who with Martin would jump up to lead fast approaching third lane, sweeping down to lead the pack. No sooner had this happened than Paton, Hobson and Lobb would come together while three wide, collecting Wellman and bringing out the second caution.
Michelmore would get a good jump at the start and allow Martin to slot in behind to lead again. Natari cars Hetterscheid and Foster would move to the outside in front of Phelps, and the trio would push to the front, dropping down and being overlapped by Phelps who would assume the lead. The caution would fly again almost immediately, with Jaeger and Dyson getting together in the tri-oval.
Phelps would lead at the green/white/checquer with nothing but Natari in his mirrors, Foster behind and Hetterscheid and Carroll-Walden linked up on his outside. As the outside two pushed to the lead, Douglas and Foster would go for the same piece of real estate in the middle, making a four wide while they banged doors, knowing the next caution would end the race. Lobb would squeak by on the outside to take third, while Michelmore would be spat out of the field after a touch from Martin. Hetterscheid and Carroll-Walden would tandem draft out front, with Lobb just behind. Foster would get a push from Phelps with Jones looking for a way by them both, meanwhile Dyson and Douglas were pushing hard up by the wall, eyes on overtaking the lot of them.
Foster and Phelps built a huge run that took them past Lobb with enough steam to threaten the leaders, however the caution would come again when Urquijo and Dyson came together, collecting Jones and Martin in the melee. This would bring an end to the race with Hetterscheid, Carroll-Walden and Foster taking the top three spots, with Phelps and Lobb just behind. Scurlock, Williams, Jaeger, Clark and Martin would complete the top ten.
Dyson would run home twelfth and could likely conceive of no better place to strike back than the next round at the Roval, where he will surely be the unbackable favourite. Can anyone else step up and throw a spanner in the works?
Incidents
Lap 81 - Nigel Paton
Lap 87 - Raymond Jaeger
Lap 91 - Lachlan Urquijo
Restart Infringements
N/A
No Further Action
Lap 69 - Scurlock/Koch - 550 wobble and check up, 350 bumped on bad angle, racing deal
