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!

We entered the biggest race in Australian sim racing with a lot of optimism, through a great preparation especially for our lead Logitech G car driven by Dayne Warren and Sam Blacklock and having started fourth on the grid and getting away cleanly, we were hoping for a solid opening to the race as you vy for a ticket to the final hour. However disaster would strike on just Lap 2 of the 161 lap event, where two cars ahead of Sam would come together in their own risky manoeuvre at Griffins Bend, with one car spearing off into the fence. That car would then bounce back right onto the racing line, collecting a Pursuit Sim Racing car blocking the track, leaving Sam with nowhere to go. They were able to return to the pits for lengthy repairs, but ultimately the race was effectively over and our challenge for the win taken away on just Lap 2. Devastating for the team.

The attention would then turn to the Motum Simulation Holden of Simon Feigl and Adam Zeitinger who were making a return to V8 racing and the great race. They started P27 and kept a clean car, gaining several positions to sit solidly in the Top 15 fairly early on. However a bizarre drive through penalty was given for a latency contact at The Chase, dropping them down to last position on the lead lap. A very long period of green flag racing allowed them to catch and climb back through the field only for the leader to draw ever closer, however a Safety Car came at just the right time, with the then leader sitting only 0.5sec behind when the safety car was called. Amazing timing!

It was at this time however that their challenge would fade. As the track temperatures dropped, the car became less and less competitive, suffering from significant understeer. Within the final sprint to the finish, Simon would understeer into the wall at Reed Park and lose significant engine performance leaving them unable to defend or attack. They would finish P17 in the end, but leave the mountain disappointed when a Top 10 was quite achievable.

Lastly, the ASTRO Gaming Falcon of Zachary Hanlin and Beau Albert had improved well in the early laps, however caught trouble at around 1/3 race distance. They had done amazingly well to avoid a huge shunt early in the race when two cars simultaneously had problems at Sulman Park with Beau’s expert avoidance in full display. Catch the moment here: https://clips.twitch.tv/HungryRamshackleMartenMVGame

Ultimately they would end the race several laps down, with the mountain getting the better of them.

A very disappointing race for the team, who have had a lot of bad luck in races 1 & 3 of the Endurance Cup. However we do take some solace in the fact that we have improved our performances and pace, being the fastest in each qualifying session of the series, and also winning the Imola endurance race with JSH & Sam. We will be back, and we will continue to fight!

Congratulations to our friendly rivals at Evolution Racing Team on a great win. Very well deserved indeed. Hopefully we can buy a ticket to the final hour next year and challenge for the win in the new cars.

Australia’s biggest single race, the V8 SCOPS Premier Series Bathurst 1000 has arrived. We’re excited to have three cars take part in the great race, lead by Dayne Warren and Sam Blacklock in the winning car from the last round at Imola, with Dayne returning to the field having missed the last race with ESeries commitments.

Dayne did an awesome job of Top Qualifying, making it a clean sweep for Altus Esports at the top of the Endurance Series Qualifying standings, however had a bit of a scruffy run by his standards in the Top 15 shootout, however will start P4 for the big race. There’s plenty of speed in the Logitech G Holden, so be sure to watch out for Dayne and Sam.

Also in the field is the Motum Simulation Holden of Simon Feigl and Adam Zeitinger, with both drivers coming back from a long V8SCOPS hiatus and will line up P27 on the grid.

Rounding out the Altus Esports pairings, is the ASTRO Gaming Ford of Beau Albert and Zachary Hanlin. Fresh off their maiden Top 10 finish at the last race at Imola, they are hopeful of another solid race, where they can both keep a clean car and buy a ticket to the last hour where anything can happen. They will start from 34th on the grid.

The green flag drops at 1pm AEST, and you can catch all of the action LIVE on the iRacing Esports Network, broadcasted by benchmark operators Sim Speed Esports Network.

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Last night’s Australian Online Supercar Championship endurance race at COTA was set up for a fantastic climax to the Infinity War brewing between Logitech G Altus Esports, Evolution Racing Team and Xero Esports.

The Altus Holden being driven by Dayne Warren was able to slice his way through from third to first place and after a critical error from combatant Jordan Ross, the race looked all but over with a 1.5 second gap and just a few laps remaining.

However Thanos had other ideas, snapping his fingers to cause the Altus Holden to disappear for a full 12 seconds, relinquishing the lead and taking a near certain win away from our grasp.

Team Manager Simon Feigl has already reached out to Tony Stark for Time Travel support via the Quantum Realm, however declined to support at this time citing family concerns.

We still hold out hope of a reversal of fortunes, however congratulate ERT on holding onto the win.

For everyone who tuned in and continue to support us… Thank You 3,000!

We’re extremely excited to announce that Tuomas Tähtelä has signed with the team. Tuomas is currently competing in the Porsche Esports Supercup and currently sits 18th in the championship with two rounds remaining. Tuomas was also competing in the iRacing GT World Championship with Black Star Racing.

Tuomas comes with a fantastic background, being a high achiever in Assetto Corsa being an 8x ACRL Champion including the RaceDepartment.com Driver of the Year in 2016. He made the move to iRacing almost two years from today, and has had a meteoric rise. He achieved a 7K iRating in only 193 races, and has competed in both of the Road Racing World Championships on iRacing all within his second year, including P3 in the 2019 Finnish Sim Racing Association eSM Finals.

This Saturday’s penultimate round of the Porsche Esports Supercup at Laguna Seca will see Tuomas make his debut for Altus Esports. Tuomas will also be joining us in the NEO Endurance Series in the Audi RS3 TCR, Sports Car Open in GTE and will be seeking out re qualification into the 2020 GT World Championship, this time with Altus Esports.

Welcome Tuomas!

ILiveries have outdone themselves once again with the gorgeous Audi RS3 TCR car! We have already had success in this car in the HJ Events Barcelona 3 Hour race with Beau Albert and Andrew Kahl, but if Liveries determine a cars speed; then more good things are yet to come with this new paint!

The Audi will be in action alot over the next few months; with the debut of the NEO 24H Series in partnership with Creventic and Simspeed TV’s TCR SOF races which will be two key series our drivers will be looking forward too.

Well done to iRacing for everything they have done with this car. The entire team loves it and now with this new Paint, it may prove difficult to get them out of it!

Sam Blacklock and Jackson Souslin Harlow would pair up for the Second round of the SCOPS Enduro Calendar; and what a pairing it would be over the 500km Sprint Race. Jackson would clinch Pole Position in a nail-biting Shootout, and the duo would go from strength to strength; battling early on with Xero Esports and Trans Tasman Racing for the race lead.

A gearbox issue in their final Pit Stop seemed to throw the result in doubt; but through their phenomenal pace; great strategy and persistence; it would prove a tough combination to beat as the pair went on to claim both of their first victories in the SCOPS Championship by 7 seconds.

Beau Albert and Zac Hanlin also took to the challenge and despite being in unfamiliar territory in the Supercar; would take a very strong 10th after Zac’s Fuel saving allowed Beau to push right to the very last lap.

A perfect way to build momentum for the squad as their eyes are now set firmly on the Mountain.

We’re very proud that our very own Tim Ryan Motorsport is now the Virtual Racing School Dirt Oval Coach. May you all now have the ability to learn from the Master of Dirt!

The final race of the season took place at Circuit of The Americas and unfortunately it was a race to forget for the team. Simon “L8AP3X” Feigl qualified the Logitech G Ferrari in P17 and had a solid run early on running in P15 however was caught up in a racing incident with the PRT Blue car, which subsequently ruined both races. Simon continued on, and was caught up in two other incidents, one of which from being turned around just after passing a lapped runner. Things did calm down after 90 minutes and with the track temp soaring to 49.4 degrees for half the race, it was intense. Unfortunately for the incidents caused in the opening two hours left Zachary Hanlin the uneviable task of bringing home the car with very few incident points remaining. The job was mostly done, however with 5 laps to go he would be hit in the rear from another competitor, disqualifying us in the process but being classified P30 in the race.

The ASTRO Gaming Ferrari’s season had a race that close to summed up their season. Starting P22 on the grid, Marin Čolak had negotiated the opening chicane complex however with the traffic bunching up, he was unceremoniously smacked in the rear, turning him around being collected by some of the pack. He would recommence and catch the battling pack however when letting another car through, he was hit off the track before the braking area on the main straight and speared into the fence in a horrible crash.

The 2019 season has come to a close, and there’s been some highs and some lows. For the Logitech G squad of Andrew Kahl, Simone Maria Marcenò, Simon “L8AP3X” Feigl & Zachary Hanlin they finished in 9th Place in the Championship with their results being a 6th, 7th, 5th, 35th, 15th, 30th from the six races. A very solid season against the very best endurance teams in the world and will be returning to the World Championship in 2020.

For the ASTRO Gaming squad of Yannick Lapchin, Marin Čolak and Vedran Kralj, unfortunately their P35 finish in the standings means that they were unable to retain their place for the 2020 Championship and will return to qualifying. From the first round where a Top 10 was on track and they would have a disconnection, it would end up being an omen that would last with them throughout the season. Results of 24th, 20th, 41st, 21st, 42nd, 36th would sum up the season. A frustrating one, but they will return and fight back.