Ehnström Off to Fast Start in Barber Series

The iRacing.com Skip Barber Race Series kicked off Season Four of 2010 at a track synonymous with Skip Barber Racing: Lime Rock Park. With seven turns and plenty of bumps and elevation changes, rookies and veterans of sim racing found familiar footing as they made their way back on track after the Week 13 break. Out in front of the pack was something else very familiar as 2010 Season Three titlist Roland Ehnström put his stamp on the top of the standings after the first week of online racing. It should come as no big surprise that the Club Scandinavia driver may be the man to beat in Season Four as well. In qualifying for Lime Rock however, Ehnström would be bested by none other than the driver with whom he fought tooth and nail for the Season Three title, Frank Hermann.

Lime Rock Park means shaking off the Week 13 rust for rookies and veterans alike in the iRacing.com Skip Barber Race Series.

Qualifying Results

JWH Racing League Race Report

Thanks to the The JWH Racing League the Sunday 19:45 GMT / 2:45PM EST time-slot is now the place to find one of the largest and fastest groups of virtual Skip Barber Formula 2000 racers. At Lime Rock the fastest were none other than two-thirds of the championship podium from Season Three with Hermann parlaying his fast time for the week into pole position for the top split of five packed grids of sim racers. Title rival Ehnström lined up along side and the duo picked up in Season Four exactly where they left off in Season Three. Qualifying proved to be crucial as, with only one high quality passing opportunity, it would take a fairly big mistake to make a move anywhere other than entering Big Bend. Unfortunately for Ehnström, this race Hermman had ice water in his veins and so he waited for a mistake that would never come. Hermann went flag-to-flag to get the win with Ehnström six seconds arrears in second and Martti Pietilä (Club Scandinavia) in third.

The second highest split saw another dominating, mistake-free, flag-to-flag run as Piotr Paczynski took home the win in his race nearly twenty seconds clear of Jarle Dawes with Harri Hirsimki in third. In the third split, pole sitter Pierre Bourdon managed to keep his nose clean the longest as attrition played a key part in the race. Bourdon slotted into second place for the opening five laps behind Samuel Garcia who was among the fastest drivers in the race. On the sixth lap however, contact with another car forced Garcia to the pits.  All was not lost, as he made a charge hrough the field over the remaining twenty-five laps. Garcia almost regained all he lost in the opening laps and was up to third behind second place Gregory Frament with the white flag waving. While Bourdon took the checkered flag for the win nearly fifty seconds ahead, Garcia made a last moment move for second place but would come up a hair short, finishing a scant 0.079 seconds behind Frament.

In the fourth split consistency was the name of the game and if you could keep it on track you were going to have a good shot at the win. Three different drivers took turns at the lead throughout the course of the thirty one laps and all managed to lose control to give it up. In the end Jason Hack was the beneficiary of the final spin, he himself having spun out of the lead earlier in the race. Behind the winner came Edward Pond in second and Fabrizio Fabbri third. In the fifth and final split a similar situation played out with four different drivers taking to the lead. Through a series of spins and some more heavy attritition Mathieu Gomez made his way to the checkered flag first ahead of Steven Vicat and Daniel Wallin2.

Highest Points Scorers Overall

Highest Scorers by Division

Top Drivers by Category

Most Starts:        Bob Kern (26), Jesse Mash (23), Jerry Favorito (19)

Most Wins:        Frank Hermann (12), Vincenzo Silvestri (5), Marcello Maio (4)

Most Top Fives:        Jesse Mash (16), Frank Hermann (14), Bob Kern (10)

Most Poles:        Frank Hermann (15), Thomas Ward (10), Mark Hewitt (7)

Most Laps Led:    Frank Hermann (385), Vincenzo Silvestri (170), Thomas Ward (146)

Most Points Earned without Incident:    Barry Roberts (164), Tim Dembowski (147), Pascal Mirande (145)

Check back in with us next time as the iRacing.com Skip Barber Race Series tackles the North Course of Virginia International Raceway.

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