Bussa, Gade Split Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series Victories at Laguna Seca
April 11th, 2022 by Chris Leone
eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series veteran Matt Bussa took the first checkered flag at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and three-time series winner Mikkel Gade returned to the top step of the podium for his fourth, as the Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series kicked off the second half of its 2022 season on Sunday afternoon.
The Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series closely mirrors the real-world Skip Barber Formula Race Series in vehicle formula and racing circuits, with the added caveat that the top performers in the virtual series earn racing opportunities in the real one. Each week, a new slate of 20 drivers qualifies their way into the next race round, receiving coaching from Skip Barber Racing School instructors before taking to the track for a pair of 15-minute timed races. The champion at the end of the six-week series earns a full-season ride in the Skip Barber Formula Race Series, and more than $500,000 worth of prizes is on the line overall.
Bussa posted the top qualifying lap prior to the first race and never looked back from there, scoring his first win of the season even as Gade set the fastest lap of the race on the final lap while pressuring him. For the Illinois native, the win was the biggest payoff from running all four events so far; while he also qualified fastest last week at Watkins Glen, his best finish thus far had been a fifth place run in the second feature at VIRginia International Raceway.
That meant that Bussa would retain the top spot for the second race, where he would lead the first two laps before the pressure from Gade and Elvis Rankin proved to be too much. Gade set up what would turn out to be the winning pass by running on the outside of the Andretti Hairpin, establishing the inside line for the subsequent corner and leading the final nine laps of the race from there. Unfortunately for Bussa, he would get caught up in an incident with multiple other cars a few laps later and take a DNF, opening up the final podium spot for Nicolas Mateo.
Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series feature one results at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca were as follows:
Fin. |
St. |
No. |
Driver |
Laps |
Interval |
Led |
Best |
Pts. |
| 1 | 1 | 13 | Matt Bussa | 11 | 0.000 | 11 | 1:45.477 | 35 |
| 2 | 4 | 2 | Mikkel Gade | 11 | -0.159 | 0 | 1:45.556 | 32 |
| 3 | 3 | 1 | Elvis Rankin | 11 | -1.184 | 0 | 1:45.325 | 30 |
| 4 | 6 | 10 | Nicolas Mateo | 11 | -5.999 | 0 | 1:45.600 | 28 |
| 5 | 2 | 5 | Michael Janney | 11 | -6.303 | 0 | 1:45.857 | 26 |
| 6 | 5 | 12 | Felipe Cabrera Loyola | 11 | -6.495 | 0 | 1:45.830 | 25 |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | Pierfrancesco Patricolo | 11 | -6.991 | 0 | 1:45.852 | 24 |
| 8 | 18 | 3 | Deagen Fairclough | 11 | -9.528 | 0 | 1:45.400 | 23 |
| 9 | 12 | 4 | Jordan Johnson5 | 11 | -11.718 | 0 | 1:45.543 | 22 |
| 10 | 13 | 20 | Luca Becker | 11 | -13.072 | 0 | 1:45.483 | 21 |
| 11 | 14 | 19 | Simon De Mori | 11 | -13.848 | 0 | 1:45.905 | 20 |
| 12 | 17 | 8 | Jack G Harrison | 11 | -16.685 | 0 | 1:45.668 | 19 |
| 13 | 9 | 6 | Matthew Zeis | 11 | -17.054 | 0 | 1:45.511 | 18 |
| 14 | 11 | 7 | Jon Boetefuer | 11 | -21.471 | 0 | 1:46.009 | 17 |
| 15 | 7 | 11 | Ross Banfield | 11 | -21.997 | 0 | 1:45.607 | 16 |
| 16 | 10 | 14 | Tyler S Campbell | 11 | -27.306 | 0 | 1:45.843 | 15 |
| 17 | 16 | 16 | Lyden Lee | 11 | -28.220 | 0 | 14 | |
| 18 | 19 | 18 | Julien Bachmann2 | 7 | -4 L | 0 | 1:48.777 | 13 |
| 19 | 15 | 15 | Michael Romanidis | 1 | -10 L | 0 | 12 |
Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series feature two results at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca were as follows:
Fin. |
St. |
No. |
Driver |
Laps |
Interval |
Led |
Best |
Pts. |
| 1 | 2 | 2 | Mikkel Gade | 11 | 0.000 | 9 | 1:21.469 | 35 |
| 2 | 3 | 1 | Elvis Rankin | 11 | -0.343 | 0 | 1:21.342 | 32 |
| 3 | 4 | 10 | Nicolas Mateo | 11 | -4.976 | 0 | 1:21.748 | 30 |
| 4 | 7 | 9 | Pierfrancesco Patricolo | 11 | -7.717 | 0 | 1:21.790 | 28 |
| 5 | 10 | 20 | Luca Becker | 11 | -9.247 | 0 | 1:21.790 | 26 |
| 6 | 9 | 4 | Jordan Johnson5 | 11 | -10.035 | 0 | 1:21.748 | 25 |
| 7 | 14 | 7 | Jon Boetefuer | 11 | -13.986 | 0 | 1:22.044 | 24 |
| 8 | 13 | 6 | Matthew Zeis | 11 | -15.526 | 0 | 1:21.929 | 23 |
| 9 | 6 | 12 | Felipe Cabrera Loyola | 11 | -15.754 | 0 | 1:21.811 | 22 |
| 10 | 19 | 15 | Michael Romanidis | 11 | -19.043 | 0 | 1:21.966 | 21 |
| 11 | 17 | 16 | Lyden Lee | 11 | -22.688 | 0 | 1:21.844 | 20 |
| 12 | 5 | 5 | Michael Janney | 11 | -23.354 | 0 | 1:22.009 | 19 |
| 13 | 15 | 11 | Ross Banfield | 11 | -23.791 | 0 | 1:22.050 | 18 |
| 14 | 18 | 18 | Julien Bachmann2 | 11 | -28.856 | 0 | 1:22.070 | 17 |
| 15 | 11 | 19 | Simon De Mori | 11 | -58.271 | 0 | 1:21.957 | 16 |
| 16 | 16 | 14 | Tyler S Campbell | 9 | -2 L | 0 | 1:21.757 | 15 |
| 17 | 1 | 13 | Matt Bussa | 7 | -4 L | 2 | 1:21.657 | 14 |
| 18 | 8 | 3 | Deagen Fairclough | 6 | -5 L | 0 | 1:21.812 | 13 |
| 19 | 12 | 8 | Jack G Harrison | 6 | -5 L | 0 | 1:21.913 | 12 |
The Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series season continues next week with a visit to Road America, with Time Attack qualifying open now and the race airing on Sunday at 3PM ET. For more information on the Skip Barber Racing School, visit www.skipbarber.com. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.
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