Miranda, Deith split Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series wins at Circuit of the Americas

The opening round of the 2024 Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series at Circuit of the Americas proved to be a heated contest right out of the gates on Thursday night. In the dueling 15-minute races, two drivers fought for the top spot, and both prevailed—Brazil’s Victor Miranda won from the pole position in the opening race, while Australia’s Kody Deith recovered from a sixth place effort and starting spot to win in the second.

Located in the heart of Texas, Circuit, Austin’s 3.426-mile Grand Prix circuit provided fast straightaways and heavy braking zones, mixed in with a few technical corners that gave these 20 top-ranked open wheel hopefuls a challenge through the evening. The track surface cooked tires immensely, and both races ultimately came down to who could keep the grip at the end.

RACE #1

Miranda and Keith started alongside each other to open the series. They barreled into the opening corner nearly four-wide, but somehow mostly made it through without incident. Miranda led Deith, Ayden Young, and Leo Ovtcharov, all four drivers sporting the black-numbered liveries to signify their top-four qualifying status, inside the top-four positions through most of the race.

As the clock hit three-and-a-half minutes to go, a moment into the heavy braking zone at Turn 12 shook up that party. Byron Mitchell sent it a little too deep, and it collected Ovtcharov in the process. The two wound up finishing outside the top-10, but the intensity was still high as Deith made a move on Miranda for the lead.

Miranda held on, but Deith gave it one more shot on the final lap. Through the stadium section, between Turns 13 and 16, Deith got the preferred line, but as they exited, Deith stepped on it a little too hard and lost control, falling from second to sixth. Miranda held off one last charge from Ivan Machado and went on to claim the first victory of the season.

Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series Race #1 at Circuit of the Americas – Top 10 Results:

RACE #2

The field lined up as they finished in the first race, so Miranda was back on pole again. Deith, now in sixth, would have a longer distance to make up to have shot. Ovtcharov and Mitchell finished 16th and 17th in the opening race after their contact up front, and would play catch-up the entirety of the second race.

Again, the entire field fanned out multiple cars wide, but this time, not everyone made it into the esses, as Jacob Ortiz and Ayush Pasricha both saw their nights end early exiting Turn 1. Miranda held on to the lead once again, but before halfway, Deith was back up into the second spot, just like in the first race.

With five minutes left on the clock, Miranda finally gave up the top spot. Deith worked the momentum on the unpreferred line to put himself into position to clear a few corners later in the stadium section. Miranda fell back to third quickly after that, and suddenly, Deith had a mirror full of Machado. On the final lap, Machado and Miranda both tried as they might, but Machado slid in too hard in the stadium section. Deith held on for the victory, while Miranda took back second by the line.

Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series Race #2 at Circuit of the Americas – Top 10 Results:

Through the first event, a win and runner-up finish places Victor Miranda at the top of the leaderboard, with Ivan Machado in second, five points back. The second race winner, Kody Deith, sits in third, while Ayden Young and Matt Bussa round out the top-five.

Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series points through races #1 and #2 at Circuit of the Americas:

1. Victor Miranda, 67
2. Ivan Machado Perez, 62
3. Kody Deith, 60
4. Ayden Young, 58
5. Matt Bussa, 52
6. Felipe Cabrera Loyola, 48
7. Nickolas Lo Galbo, 48
8. Shannon K Morris, 44
9. Leo Ovtcharov, 40
10. Sergio Ostos, 39
    Seungin Park, 39

Next Race: Following up to Circuit of the Americas, the second race of the 2024 season will take place at the Grand Course at Virginia International Raceway. This Hot Lap Qualifier is active from Friday, July 26th at 12 a.m. ET to Sunday, July 28th at 11:59 p.m. ET.

The entry fee for each Hot Lap Qualifier is $20, and the top 20 drivers on the Time Attack leaderboard will be invited to run each race. They’ll also get to take part in an open test with Skip Barber Racing School instructors on hand to provide feedback.

The race itself is scheduled for Thursday, August 1st, once again at 7 p.m. ET. It will be live on iRacing.com/live and across all of iRacing’s social media channels.

To learn more about the Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series, visit https://www.skipbarber.com/iracing-series/.
Drivers can register to compete in 2024 Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series events here.
For more information about iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.

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