Mosport Welcomes the GT3 Challenge
May 13th, 2014 by Jaime Baker
Another race week has come and gone as the iRacing.com GT3 Challenge wraps up Week 2 at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (Mosport). This fast and sweeping track seemed to be appropriate for the GT3 series and it proved to be an exciting week as many of the drivers continued putting the new BMW Z4 GT3 through its paces. Additionally, we saw many familiar names as well as some new ones coming into view as many drivers are already making an early but strong push for championship points. With over 2,000 sim-racers participating in the Week 2 action which gave way to dozens of multiple-split races, here’s a quick rundown of last week’s movers and shakers.
Winning two out of the three races he started, Rens Broekman completed the week on top by gathering 259 championship points to his name. The two race wins he achieved this week also saw him starting from pole position and racing incident-free in both events. Additionally, his fastest lap time was a VERY quick 1:15.075.
Not far behind Broekman was Desmond Foley who, despite failing to win a race, proved that consistency pays as he accrued 253 points in his championship endeavors through multiple top-five finishes in high Strength-of-Field (SoF) races. Rounding-out the podium this week is a tie between Tom Erik Voll and Raffaele A Di Palo who both achieved 250 points. Voll started in eight different races and ended-up winning six while Palo had consistency on his side by starting and completing two incident free races in the top-five.
In terms of manufacturers, the car of choice continues to be the BMW Z4 as we see few drivers using the RUF and even fewer using the bigger McLaren. This is to be expected, however, as it is the “new car.” Many drivers are commenting that the competition will be evened out once slower and more technical tracks come into play. In regards to the BMW, Colton Landes commented in the forums that, “With the front engine it might be slower out of low speed corners than the RUF.”
As we conclude the second week of racing for Season 2, the GT3 Challenge heads over to Austin, TX for its debut performance at the new Circuit of the Americas (CoTA) using the Grand Prix configuration. This monster of a track is sure to put even the best drivers to the test. A combination of all things great about racing, CoTA features everything from its signature uphill Turn One which leads to a series of fast and winding corners to a number of hairpins which are sure to keep the sim-racing pack together. This 20 turn 3.4 mile track is already being said by many drivers to rival Mount Panorama in complexity. Additionally, this week is also the first of three 70-minute endurance races spread out across this season. Drivers will indeed have their hands full this week.
This season is shaping up to be a great one. With many contenders already challenging for the championship, this will continue to be an excellent series to watch. Be sure to follow iRacingNews as we continue our coverage of Season 2 of the iRacing.com GT3 Challenge.