After Simone Maria Marcenò set a brilliant Pole Position lap in the DP class, we had a very strong opening, leading the first stint of the race and having a great battle with CoRe SimRacing. However we would both gather damage with the strong racing at the front, and would lose some time repairing the front in the opening stop, and losing the lead.

The damage would not end there however, with Simone escaping with not one but two near race ending moments with one being a car stricken across the circuit and the other being from a dangerous rejoin from a GTE car, with us having no choice but to hit the outside wall firmly costing time but more importantly damage that would not be able to be repaired. This damage we carried through into Zachary Hanlin’s triple stint, which was a welcome return to the Special Event scene after a long time away. He performed fantastically well, pumping out consistent fast laps and keeping the cars in front honest throughout.

Simone then had one final stint to bring the car home, however it would have to be an extra long stint to avoid a splash and dash. Simone saved the required 2 Litres across the stint to finish in 2nd place, behind race winners Evolution Racing Team.

For our ASTRO Gaming Ferrari GTE team, Marin Čolak did a wonderful job in putting the Ferrari right amongst the favoured BMWs in P3 on the grid. The performance however would be tough in the race, with the pace drifting away after 30 minutes in the stint. The team would have some computer problems also which would curtail the team’s performance, however they did well to bounce back from dropping as low as P8, to finish in P5 for the race and the fastest Ferrari, with Vedran also making a welcome return after a long time away from the track.

Another special event has finished, and our last for our first year in competition. Stay tuned for a celebration next week of Altus Esports’ first year in competition. It has certainly been a successful one!

Just as our GT Sport drivers are preparing for the World Tour Event at Nurburgring (more on that soon), it is with great pleasure that we can announce that we have been accepted as one of the 24 iRacing teams to be represented at the ADAC SimRacing Expo in 2019 from 30th August – 1st September, also at the Nürburgring.

We will be competing as a team in the ADAC GT500 Endurance race in GTE machinery, as well as in the Porsche Sim Racing Trophy event where Marin Čolak expertly qualified 9th fastest out of 32 that did qualify, with 4 wildcards due to be announced during the event.

This is a landmark moment for the team, with Altus Esports being the first Australian run team to be taking part in the event’s history, in what is arguably iRacing’s biggest LAN Esports Competition against the strongest world contenders.

This qualification means that Altus Esports will have been involved in live Sim Racing events held at France, New York and Germany twice during the months of June through September – a very busy travel schedule indeed.

The V8 SCOPS Premier Series moved to Mosport International Raceway in Canada, and with Dayne unable to race and Adam taking an indefinite leave of absence, Altus would be represented by Sam Blacklock and Ethan Warren. Both drivers were coming off solid races at Sebring however with the very tight field in pre-qualifying, getting a strong result was going to be tough.

Race 1 got off to an almighty bang, with an enormous crash involved almost the entire field when the track would be blocked between turns 1 and 2, as cars jostled for position in the run into T2. Sam was right in the thick of it, getting a slide when avoiding a baulked car in front and ultimately touching one car, who touched another and the chain reaction then took place. The incident would prove race ending for Sam, and Ethan would carry massive damage but remarkably was able to continue and finish in 16th place despite the incident.

Race 2 got off a lot cleaner and for the most part Sam and Ethan were having a very tight race with those around them. It is the nature of Mosport, where the margins are fine and often the passes are difficult. In the case of Sam, a pass was made on him which unfortunately would destroy Sam’s car, taking him out of the race. A penalty was applied to the offending driver, however it was little consolation from a second DNF in two races for Sam – a nightmare weekend.

In the case of Ethan however, he was having a great race, moving through the pack nicely and racing clean and strong despite often being attacked himself in odd places, and his race almost ended not once, but twice through some questionable driving. Ethan kept a cool head however, and did what many could not achieve and brought home a mostly clean car in 7th place after a long fight with Marlon McMullen.

The V8SCOPS series now moves onto Monza in two weeks time, where Dayne will also be making a welcome return and ruffling some feathers at the top. The team is optimistic of a good performance and will be looking to stay clear of the midfield.

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Take a ride onboard with Andrew Kahl on his way to setting the Pole Position lap in the GT class at last weekend’s 24 Heures du Mans on iRacing with a blistering 3:44.248!

The 24 Hours of Nurburgring is arguably the toughest race in the world. We started the race in P5 and had a very strong opening two hours. We were running the tank long to retrieve an extra lap which would benefit us later on in the race, and the plan was working well, however small mistakes can have big consequences.

Firstly Simone made contact with the wall on the left side of his car just prior to the second pit stop, damaging the suspension in the process and costing us some straight line speed.

The lap times had dropped slightly and we were racing with RSO and Pure Racing Team managing the traffic, when a race ending crash would ensue. Simone had thought he had cleared a Mazda MX-5, but came across the nose and making extremely heavy contact with the wall. Simone did recover the car back to the pits, and we took as much repairs as we could, however with Alexander Lauritzen now at the wheel, the car had too much damage to safely continue without risking the field. The unenviable decision was made to retire the car and end our race on Lap 25.

It was not the result we were looking for and mistakes happen from time to time. However on the positive side it was a great build up for all of the team, of which we would like to pay tribute to our guest drivers Alex and Dion who were invaluable throughout the week. We bid them a fond farewell as they return to their usual teams, and we look forward to seeing them out on track in the coming races.

We will be back for redemption in 2020 as we leave with plenty of unfinished business.

After a dire run from the first four rounds of the iRacing World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series World Championship, Tim Ryan had just a 5th, a 12th and two feature DNFs to his name. With the ten round championship defence sadly in tatters, Ryno is out to to do what he does best… go fast! With only six rounds to go, winning is the only target.

The championship headed back to Volusia where the title defence got off to a bad start. On this occasion, Ryno was clinical. He top qualified for the first time, lead from start to finish in his heat and would line up on pole for the 30 lap feature, his winning formula from 2018.

The feature was a cracker, with 2018 adversary and current championship leader Alex Bergeron having a great run through the field before having a thrilling green flag duel with Ryno. The low line was on early however deteriorated especially through turns 1-2, but Tim placed his car perfectly throughout leaving Alex no room to make a definitive move. After 30 laps it was Ryno who would take the chequered flag, and his first championship race win in 2019!

The series moves onto Kokomo Speedway next week, on a track where Ryno hasn’t run a competitive race before. It’ll be a new challenge, however one he will once again be pushing for the win.

It was a case of maximising our opportunities with the Logitech G Ferrari of Simone Maria Marcenò & Simon Feigl. Simone expertly combined skill and timing to get the most of out of the changeable weather conditions to line up 4th on the grid and the leading Ferrari, ahead of an angry pack of quick cars behind. We never felt the Ferrari had the outright pace of the BMWs however the pair went on to take the race on, and use a slightly undercutting strategy to retain the all important track position, on a track that was very hard on tyres, and difficult to pass on.

After the first round of stops, we had dropped just two positions behind a very quick Coanda BMW, and a pair of quick Williams Esports Ferraris who showed strong race pace again. Towards the back end of the second stint, we lost a further position to the Red Bull Racing Esports BMW that was charging through the field, and from there Simon was able to bring the car home in 7th place, ahead of last year’s world champions from Pure Racing Team on a track we expected to be a bit further behind. 7th place at the line, and 6th overall in the championship after two rounds.

For the ASTRO Gaming squad, unfortunately it just didn’t quite go to plan. A small error on the final qualifying lap meant that Yannick was unable to improve his position, and they would end up starting P18 despite looking set for a third row grid slot. The race went from bad to worse in the first half lap of the race, with minor contact made at turn 3 in the pack, but an almost race ending incident at the first Degner where Yan was hit from behind and cars were going everywhere. The damage causing to the ASTRO Ferrari was significant, and they were well down on lap speed but thankfully were able to continue the race and avoid retirement. The would fight as hard as they could, but ultimately the damage would blunt the effort, with Vedran Kralj bringing home the ASTRO Ferrari in P20 and 23rd in the championship.

The next round heads to Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola on 18th May, where we hope the namesake gives the Ferrari the edge.

There are very exciting times ahead, with Gfinity now running the Supercars Eseries and bringing the game to iRacing. For our team and drivers this is very big news indeed, as it will enable us to perform in a series with greater exposure and excitement, as being officially involved with Supercars.

There is more to the story in regards to how we may be involved, however we are exploring all options at this point in time, and will have further news on this when possible.

Main Story: https://www.supercars.com/news/championship/supercars-unveils-next-level-2019-eseries/

Round 2 of iRacing’s World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series World Championship was run at Knoxville Raceway today and like at Volusia, Tim Ryan was in trouble early on. He managed to qualify in 5th however on Lap 1 of his heat he was the meat in the sandwich, in what ultimately was a racing incident, but meant that the bad luck continued and Tim would need to make the feature the hard way.

His B-Main race would be a lot more typical of Tim, able to move into the lead fairly early on and build an unassailable lead to easily qualify for the feature, however he would have the difficult task of sitting on the back row.

This time Tim was able to settle into a rhythm and avoid early damage to progress through the field, showing patience down low and making precision passes when he could. There were two cautions in the race from incidents further down the pack, and starting 6th on the final restart he had high hopes. Tim persisted like many did with the low line and it was working well, ultimately moving up into 4th place, however in the last few laps the high line really come up strong, and David Heileman was able to make the pass in the final laps, meaning Ryno would finish in 5th place.

Tim is hoping that his bad luck is over for the season, as he’s sitting in a lowly 11th place in the championship after 2 rounds, and 8 more to go. Plenty of chances for round wins though, and that will be the target as he heads to Limaland Motorsports Park for Round 3 next Tuesday.