Maiden V8SCOPS win for Dayne
Round 2 of the V8 Supercar Online Premier Series took place at Autódromo José Carlos Pace, otherwise known as Interlagos in Brazil. The round format would be a Reverse Sprint, with 3 short races taking place with Race 2 being a partial reverse grid. Representing Altus Esports would be the Warren brothers, Dayne and Ethan.
In qualifying would set times that were a bit off pace when compared with the potential shown at Montreal, however with errors on their opening hot laps there was certainly pace left in the tank.
Race 1 would prove the be somewhat of a calamity throughout the field, and seemingly nobody was safe. There is still much dust to be settled with results still provisional from a points perspective, however Dayne would finish race 1 in 10th place and Ethan falling back to 33rd after being the innocent bystander in a multi-car collision late in the race.
For the Partial Reverse Grid, Dayne was fortunate enough to have had the random reverse pole being position 11, so he would line up on the front row alongside Synergy Sim Racing’s Brenton Hobson. The pair would get off to a strong start, with Dayne getting the slight edge into Turn 1 and streaking off down the road in the lead of the race. Despite pulling a gap over the very fast cars behind, it became apparent fairly early on in the stint that the car wasn’t underneath him to retain this level of performance long term. The car was a handful, and overusing its tyres compared to the chasing Evolution Racing Team cars, and leading that charge was Ethan Grigg-Gault, one of the very best in the Supercar.
The final 5 laps were enthralling, with complete respect shown by both drivers, with Dayne playing the defensive card and hitting his marks, and EGG pushing as hard as he could while keeping it clean. The battle was reminiscent of the Schumacher-Alonso battles at Imola in 2005-06, and it was breathtaking to watch. Dayne was able to place his car perfectly and get just enough traction to hold position and hold the important defensive line, with the battle going all the way to the line in one of V8SCOPS’ memorable moments, most notably for Dayne as he captured his very first win in V8SCOPS, one he has been so close to achieving before. Huge respect for both men on their driving and putting on a great show. Ethan Warren would fight through from 33rd to finish 19th in Race 2.
Race 3 would see Dayne starting close to the front on the back of his Race 2 win, and compared with the earlier races it would be a much more straight forward race. He would gain positions early to find himself in 3rd place, and was able to retain that place throughout the race despite the same tyre wear issues repeating themselves in the longer 18 lap race. The biggest mover of the race was Ethan Warren, jumping up from the second half of the grid to finish the race in 10th place, a great finish to the night!
As mentioned before, championship points results are all provisional, however there were moments that were an exceptional improvement on Round 1, and race wins are definitely what the doctor ordered. Onwards and upwards!