We’re proud to announce that we’ve entered the new NEO Endurance 24H Series Championship in the brand new TCR class.

As the reigning NEO Endurance GT Champions, we are hoping to adapt to the new Audi RS3 beast so we can once again challenge for the title on what is an exciting new ESeries in partnership with Creventic.

With this new entry, we are honoured to now have drivers competing in three major official ESeries:

– Gfinity Australia Supercars Eseries (Dayne Warren with Red Bull Holden Racing Team)

– Australian GT Online ESeries (Kenny Conomos, Nicholas Voon)

– NEO Endurance 24H Series ESeries (Drivers TBC)

iRacing Special Events is something we take pride in competing in at the team, and in the case of the Sprint Car there is only one on offer, and that is the Sprint Car Showdown at Knoxville.

2018 iRacing Sprint Car World Champion Tim Ryan would try to take this opportunity to get one back on key rival Alex Bergeron in what would go onto be a big battle in the feature race, with only one early caution. Tim would master the high line, making the move passed Bergeron’s Team ABR teammate Jason Nygard and extend his advantage nailing the high line lap after lap, ultimately taking a dominant win in the end.

For Tim, this was a bit of a redemption story and to win in this fashion is one to savour as our third iRacing Special Events win of the year as a team. It was a big weekend in racing for the team, and the good stories will keep coming.

The iRacing Virtual Racing School GT World Championship moved to Sebring for a 4 hour race running from dawn to late morning. Leading the charge was Simon “L8AP3X” Feigl and Zachary Hanlin in the Logitech G Ferrari, with both lead drivers Andrew Kahl and Simone Maria Marcenò unavailable. This duo haven’t raced together since the final round of the 2018 Championship and were up against it.

Simon did a solid job qualifying in 24th place in what was a typically very close qualifying session and got a great jump off the line gaining a few spots at the start, however would give those back when avoiding a spinning car through turn four. A few close shaves would occur in what was a frantic opening stint moving up into 18th place by the first stop.

The race would then settle down in what was an entertaining battle throughout with Apex Racing Team, Williams Esports, CoRe SimRacing and Coanda Simsport. Zac would take the car over for the final two stints and put together a very strong double stint, working the overcut fuel strategy to further move up to 15th place by the finish line.

For the ASTRO Gaming Ferrari, they went into the race with Yannick Lapchin showing a fantastic turn of speed, top 10 in practice and raring to go. The server however would have other ideas, not switching over to qualifying in an issue that affected our car, as well as two other cars. The delay in reconnecting would result in Yan not being able to set a time in qualifying and starting at the back of the field.

The racing in the mid-rear of the pack was overly aggressive, with lots of contact and cars being spun. Yan had gained several positions keeping a clean car until he entering the Le Mans sequence on lap one, a Vendaval Simracing car had been turned, leaving Yan with nowhere to go. The damage picked up was significant, and required repairs were extensive with the race ending a few laps later. A heartbreaking race for what was comfortably a top 10 car.

The championship now moves to the Circuit of The Americas in two weeks time where the Logitech G squad will try to retain their top 10 championship position with Feigl and Hanlin again at the wheel, and the ASTRO Gaming squad pushing hard for as high a position as possible to turn around a horror season into a Top 25 championship finish.

At the latter end of last week, the Gfinity Australia Supercars Eseries Draft was run, and our own Sam Blacklock was successful in qualifying through Stage 1 and making it into the three races that would determine the draft seedings for selection.

Race 1 at Lime Rock Park would prove to be quite difficult in the expert field, with Sam running in the mid pack throughout the race, ultimately finishing in 9th place.

Race 2 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca all looked to be great with Sam putting a fantastic defensive drive to contain Race 1 winner Madison Down, and come home in 3rd place, however due to a technical issue the whole race needed to be restarted. In the re-run Sam was positioned well however was taken out of the running by another car, leaving him well down the order. The sprint race format takes no prisoners and this incident would drop Sam to last placed of those still running.

Race 3 and it was a start at the back of the race. Sam was able to run a clean car and make a couple of passes however there would be heartbreak on the second lap when he was chopped up by another car while having a good run out of the Turn 5, accelerating down the long back straight. The contact would spear Sam into the fence and blow the engine in the process, ending his race and Eseries Draft campaign.

The team selection due this week, we have no expectations of Sam being selected for one of the final places left in the series. Despite our disappointment of that, Sam had a great time throughout the draft process and is looking forward to giving it a red hot go next time out.

The countdown is on until the ADAC SimRacing Expo at Nurburgring. We will be racing the ADAC Digital GT500 endurance team event in what is the biggest LAN event in iRacing with 24 of the best teams all competing head to head.

Yannick Lapchin, Simon Feigl and Alexander Adler Roth Lauritzen will be representing the team in this event.

Furthermore, the Porsche Sim Racing Trophy will also be run, which is the individual event. Marin Čolak will be representing Altus Esports having qualified very strongly inside the top 10, in the field of over 30 qualified drivers.

The GT Leagues Australia Epiroc Sprint Series Australia kicked off last night with Round 1 taking place at Sonoma. We’ve not raced the BMW M8 much at all since its release, but with Zachary Hanlin being the BMW man that he is, there was no other choice for him.

It was a return to the series that he’s contested strongly in the past, and with some challenging times in recent days he did an exceptional job of adapting to the BMW and extracting pace despite limited running. He would qualify in P6 in the bumper field and get off to a strong start, avoiding some interesting driving in front to keep his nose clean and take the battle to those around him.

Despite numerous attempts to pass the Exsto Gaming car driven by Ferraris in front and not sticking in what was an enthralling race, he was able to get the pass done in the pit stops and carry the car home to a memorable podium, holding off the challenge from those close behind. Congratulations to Trick Simsports’ Alex Bird on his debut victory.

The series moves onto Mid Ohio in two weeks time where we expect to have a few more cars. “Warrening” signs unleashed.

The V8 SCOPS Premier Series made its way to Watkins Glen International for the next round of the series. With brothers Dayne Warren and Ethan Warren out for the week and karting in Gippsland (more on that later), this left Altus to be represented by new recruit Jackson Souslin Harlow and Sam Blacklock to fly the flag.

Race 1 would be a case of two tales, with the pair sitting alongside on the grid just outside the top 10 however Sam was just tagged and caught out in a major crash heading up the hill for the first time. It’s been a dreadful run of luck for Sam who has been caught out in many incidents this season, several of them as the innocent bystander.

For JSH however, he would escape the accident unharmed and have a very strong race indeed, expertly slicing through the field and with a solid strategy, was able to hold onto 8th place with last year’s race winner Jake Burton hot on his heels at the line.

Race 2 was as though the fortunes were reversed. JSH was caught out on a first lap incident which would drop him to last place and a slightly damaged car, whereas Sam would have a clean run, opting for a major overcutting strategy with a short run on new tyres to finish the race on. Both drivers did an excellent job of keeping pace and moving up the order, and after Sam’s stop after leading for several laps, he would come out in 10th place and on fresh tyres. The pursuit of those in front of him would commence however a similar strategy was employed by a pair of fast ERT cars. Unfortunately for Sam, he was the innocent party in not one but two small incidents that had big consequences, spearing Sam into the inside wall with one lap to go. Both parties received penalties, however was little consolation for Sam, a Top 10 ended in DNF. For Jackson, he was able to drag his wounded Falcon from last place to 20th place in an excellent comeback under trying circumstances.

Jackson Souslin Harlow and Adam Zeitinger made a last minute call to pair up for the Silverstone 4 Hour Endurance round of the AOSC. With Jackson making his debut and Adam making a return to the cockpit after a lengthy span away, it was an opportunity to get acquainted and to enjoy a competitive race together for the first time.

It turned out very well indeed with JSH putting the Altus Ford on Pole Position, and Adam running very strong opening stints and handing over to Jackson who did a great job of moving up the order in what was a tense final hour with the Mach-1 Esports Holden driven by Harley Haber. A few unfortunate slow downs would curtail the run to the flag, however a podium finish was above expectations heading into the race. Congratulations to Xero Esports on taking the win. 👍