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Altus supporting Team Ireland in FIA Motorsport Games

This weekend the FIA are hosting their FIA Motorsport Games as the Olympics of Motorsport, and it’s being held in Rome. For the first time, the Digital Cup is being contested, bringing together representatives from many FIA member countries to contest in the big event, being run on Gran Turismo Sport.

Whilst we are not representing any nation in the event, we have had the pleasure of supporting and assisting the Ireland contingent for the event, being represented by Keith Dempsey. Keith has a very long history in simulated racing, and has also taken his skills to the track, however his experience is limited. Keith was brought into our Altus Academy for a rapid GT Sport boot camp run by our FIA World Tour team of Kenny Conomos, Nicholas Voon, Connor Healy and Matthew McEwen, to upskill Keith on GT Sport in a very short amount of time.

The racing is going to be exciting to watch, and Keith’s improvement and experience in the last few weeks has been great to see. We wish him all the best for this weekend’s action!

2nd Place Finish to kick of Sports Car Open season

Having finished in second place in the standings last year from just half a season of competition, the team is looking to go one better in the six round endurance series. Following a WEC style format, Sports Car Open is considered the Premier Series for LMP1, LMP2 and GTE Competition, with a world class field filling the timesheets each round.

However despite our runner up position of last season, Altus would field an entirely new pair from what raced last season. Giant killer Tuomas Tähtelä and Alexander Lauritzen would pair up, and make their debut in the series driving the #143. It would not be a brilliant start however, with qualifying only slotting them 10th on the grid in the 24 car GTE field. However Tuomas put his game face on, and drove brilliantly to exploit what was a very good race car, moving up 5 positions in the opening 15 minutes, and by the end of the first hour of racing, had moved all the way up into the P2 position, just 8 seconds behind the leading Pure Racing Team car.

We opted for a Double-Double tyre strategy, leveraging the car’s consistent wear to double stint the tyres twice in the four hour race.The opening double stint would prove fruitful, as we would gain a couple of seconds on PRT across the stint despite the varied strategy. Alex would jump in the car for the third hour, and being a late replacement for Yannick who unfortunately had prolonged Internet issues in the leadup, would put in a solid stint to stay within sight of the leader, and drop only one position to Biela Racing. Tuomas would return for the final hour, jumping into the car on old tyres and putting in an excellent drive to reclaim back 2nd position, but catch the leader significantly, and cross the line less than two seconds behind the race winner.

It was an excellent return to form for the team, who were very disappointed with their showing last week at the NEO Endurance 24H Series, also at Spa. The Sports Car Open Series now moves to Motegi in a few weeks time, where we will be looking to continue our strong race pace, but make an improvement to our qualifying position.

Solid start to 24H Series Esports in TCR

With the change in NEO Endurance from WEC to 24H Series, one of the great benefits of that was the new TCR class being included in a multi-class series for the first time on iRacing. Having been P2 in Pre Qualifying ahead of the series, we were feeling positive of a good showing.

During qualifying, we would not get the most out of our package and start P10 on the grid in what was a tight field. Our sector splits would have indicated a front row start had we optimised the session, so confidence was still there despite the low grid position.

Alexander Lauritzen would take the start, and get through the early laps safely and settle into a rhythm, getting passed a couple of cars within the first hour and staying within sight of the leading group. However within this stint we noticed a performance deficit as the front tyres degraded, and our excellent pace in the first 10 laps would drop off more than our competitors. This gave us reason for concern as the race would continue.

As initially feared, the issue was confirmed in the next stint with Tuomas Tähtelä at the wheel this time, also having the same problem, falling back from the pack during the stint.

The race itself would be one of high attrition, and ultimately our race pace was not where would have liked it to have been. We would finish the 6 hour race in P8, however lessons have been learned as to how we may approach the next round at Circuit of The Americas. No matter what the outcome, you always learn, and can always improve. We will come back stronger next time. 💪

Altus @ PAXAUS 2019

We had a great time at #paxaus with Logitech G, wheeling the G29s and G920s and giving thousands of patrons a great driving experience. Many thanks to Logitech G and ASTRO Gaming for having us on their stand meeting fans and coaching them through how to get to the top of the Logitech G Timesheets.

Kenny & Connor shine in AGT All Star Race

Fresh off the iRacing Petit Le Mans win, the team was on a high and wanted to keep the run going with another victory, this time in the AGT Online All Star Race on Gran Turismo Sport. Kenny Conomos wasted no time in doing so, taking pole position in the qualifying shootout and driving a masterful race to take the win by managing his fuel economy to make the no-stopper work. Connor Healy was debuting in the series, and had a great race also, crossing the line in 4th place in Race 1.

Race 2 was a reverse grid race, and with their great results from Race 1, it was going to be a tough affair. They both got off to strong starts, but then everything went off in front of them at McPhillamy Park, with the track being mostly blocked. They were able to get through, however did get held up in the process. The strategy game would come out again and on this occasion both drivers opted for an earlier stop and clear air. It would prove an excellent play, and as each driver in front of them stopped, they would move back up the order. But the race’s end, Kenny has wound up finishing the race in second place, and Connor in fifth place.

It was a fantastic performance by the Altus drivers, combining their two races to achieve the highest average of the night.

Victory & Double Podium at Petit Le Mans

What a race – 10 hours and split by only 7 seconds in the end! A huge drive by Tuomas Tähtelä and Yannick Lapchin to take the victory in what was a mammoth race long battle with the superstar Team Redline combination of Max Verstappen, Shane van Gisbergen and Rudy van Buren.

Tuomas did an excellent job to put the Ferrari P2 on the grid for the start, and after a tense opening with the sister Redline car and Pure Racing Team, the lead swapped several times with traffic playing its part. In that time, it allowed Verstappen to put through the stint of the race to take his Ford from P14 on the grid to P1 by the stint end. We ourselves were hit during hour 1, but thankfully there was minimal damage and only time was lost, but as this race would pan out time would be a valuable commodity.

We battled back into the P2 position as the track began to cool, and we took the bold step to change to double stinting tyres, and it was at the perfect moment to do so. Tuomas put in an amazing second stint on the tyres to lose only a few tenths a lap to the chasing Redline Orange car.

As the darkness bestowed the track, we were embroiled in a on track battle between Yan and Max with the two coming together in what looked like a 50/50 racing incident. The timing of our double stint was ideal, as we could go double-double-double to the finish of the race, and maximise our tyre strategy, despite being at a significant disadvantage on the fuel strategy Redline was running. Once the final stops had completed, we had more than 20 seconds back to Verstappen who was chasing hard. Tuomas did an excellent job of withstanding the pressure to manage the gap and take the victory, his first in iRacing Special Events, and his debut in these events with Altus Esports.

P2 in Qualifying, Fastest Lap & Race win! GG Yan and Tuomas! 🏆🏆

In the GT3 class, guest driver Josh Thompson qualified P7 on the grid and put in an excellent opening triple stint to steer into the third place. The race itself would end up being a bit of a lonely one for them, with a very big gap back to 4th place, and 2nd place being tantalizingly too far away to make a decent challenge. Zachary Hanlin and Josh did an excellent job to bring the car home in P3, and secure an amazing podium given that the pair only started working on the race two days ago. 🥉🥉

Furthermore this result equated in Zac achieving a podium finish in all four North American special events in 2019, taking victory at Daytona, 2nd places in Watkins Glen and Sebring, and 3rd place at Road Atlanta. One might think he likes the place! 🇺🇸

Congratulations to good friends Evolution Racing Team on taking the race win in the DP class, and to Vendaval Simracing on winning the GT3 class.

Roll on 2020!

An Altus Driver from Birth!

Simone Maria Marcenò was an Altus driver before he even knew it, wearing his White, Orange, Yellow and Blue karting overalls more than 10 years ago.

We have a late last minute guest driver planned for this weekend’s Petit le Mans at Road Atlanta, after one of our regular drivers fell ill during the week. The work ethic of this young Marcenò was the same advice passed on today.

“God bless you in this mission guys”

Tähtelä Finishes P6 & P8 in Supercup, Confirms 2020 Entry!

The Porsche Esports Supercup season finale took place at the famous Autodromo Nazionale di Monza with the Top 4 in the championship having a mathematical chance of taking the overall victory. However we had our own races to race, and Tuomas Tähtelä would take to the track for Altus Esports for the second time, with Marin Čolak devastatingly breaking his arm yesterday in a freak accident and unable to race despite a super impressive week of testing. We hope for a quick recovery. 🤕

Tuomas’ round got off to an exceptional start, taking a personal best P3 in qualifying which would earn him P6 on the grid for the sprint race. It was a steady opening to the lap, however it all started to go off around the Lesmos where Tuomas narrowly escaped a huge multi-car crash, arguably the biggest of the series. From this point Tuomas had dropped back a bit, but was able to climb through to a P6 finish by the race end.

In the Feature race Tuomas got away strongly off the start, and was able to pass Apex Racing’s Fluke by the second chicane to take 5th position behind a fierce Top 4 battle. From there it was a long and intense race, despite no overtakes for almost 30 minutes. It would come down to the final lap and a long 8 car train from P1. Tuomas was very strong in 5th place however a slight error would compromise the run into Ascari that allowed Fluke through only to compromise him further for the run to Parabolica which saw him drop to P8.

Despite the dropped positions, and being by far the one with the least experience at this level going into the race, a double Top 10 was a fantastic result, earning Tuomas P17 in the Championship and a confirmed birth in the 2020 Porsche Esports Supercup. With his performances on a sharp improve in the latter half of the season, you can expect a strong year in 2020 with that experience under his belt and for that, we can not wait! 👊

Congratulations to Joshua Rogers and Coanda Simsport on the provisional championship win too! 🏆

Bobo steals Round Victory at 60/60 AOSC Round!

There have been many things in sim racing that you can count on… Beau Albert’s love-hate relationship with the V8 (exhibited by his 100% conversion rate of crashing at Griffins Bend each SCOPS Bathurst 1000), and Simone Maria Marcenò’s daily use of “Mamma Mia”.

However, the world turned upside down where not only did Bobo not crash… but he finish with results of P8 in the regular race after a solid qualifying effort, and in the reverse Top 25 race he finished an astounding P6. Nobody could believe what we were watching… and that through all of this, Beau “Griffins” Albert from G-Town managed to WIN the round! We are still in disbelief, as must be the GWS Giants.

Congrats Bobo… maybe you are a Supercars driver!