Pinto Earns 2023 Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series Title, Splits Wins With Wheldon at Road America
March 3rd, 2023 by Chris Leone
Last year, Diogo Pinto earned one of the biggest prizes in sim racing when he took home the 2022 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup championship in just his second year in the series. He leads the standings in that series through two rounds right now, but after Thursday night’s Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series finale at Road America, his year just got a whole lot busier.
Entering the night with a single-point advantage over Harley Haughton, Pinto beat Haughton to the checkered flag in the first of two races on the night, qualifying first and leading five out of the race’s seven laps on the way to the win. He also led the first four laps of the second race before Sebastian Wheldon got by him for good on Lap 5, and despite falling from second to seventh on the final lap, still had enough points in hand after Haughton suffered issues of his own to clinch the second championship in series history with 301 points to Haughton’s 288.
Both drivers will get to transfer their skills into the real world as part of this year’s prize package, with Pinto getting to run the full eight-event series that kicks off at Road Atlanta in April and Haughton earning a half-season drive. In the battle for third place, the final spot to offer a real-world drive, Brandon Hawkin came out on top of a closely fought three-way battle with Josh Thompson and Michael Janney, scoring 246 points to Thompson’s 244 and Janney’s 241.
To prepare for their real-world action, Pinto, Haughton, and Hawkin will each receive a 5 Day Competition Licensing Race School from Skip Barber Racing School, as well as coaching from the SBRS team. Thompson and Janney won’t walk away empty handed, though: they’ll each receive a 1 Day Racing School from SBRS, while the rest of the top 10 in points will receive an Intro to Racing program. Combining end of season and single-race prizes, the total prize pool for the 2023 Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series is valued at more than $500,000.
Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series race one results from Road America were as follows:
Fin. |
St. |
No. |
Driver |
Laps |
Interval |
Led |
Best |
Pts. |
| 1 | 1 | 19 | Diogo C. Pinto | 7 | 5 | 2:08.477 | 35 | |
| 2 | 4 | 3 | Harley Haughton | 7 | -1.455 | 0 | 2:09.152 | 32 |
| 3 | 5 | 2 | Matt J Caruana | 7 | -1.606 | 1 | 2:08.025 | 30 |
| 4 | 2 | 8 | Chris Lulham | 7 | -2.989 | 0 | 2:08.097 | 28 |
| 5 | 10 | 14 | Sebastian Wheldon | 7 | -4.054 | 0 | 2:08.789 | 26 |
| 6 | 12 | 18 | Brandon Hawkin | 7 | -4.247 | 0 | 2:08.256 | 25 |
| 7 | 16 | 16 | Justin Adakonis | 7 | -4.310 | 0 | 2:09.108 | 24 |
| 8 | 8 | 9 | Matthew Zeis | 7 | -4.655 | 0 | 2:08.481 | 23 |
| 9 | 6 | 11 | Michael A Romanidis | 7 | -4.732 | 0 | 2:08.030 | 22 |
| 10 | 14 | 7 | Simone Passoni | 7 | -5.378 | 0 | 2:08.736 | 21 |
| 11 | 11 | 1 | Przemyslaw Marek Lemanek | 7 | -7.926 | 0 | 2:08.394 | 20 |
| 12 | 18 | 15 | Jeffrey Decker | 7 | -8.076 | 0 | 2:08.782 | 19 |
| 13 | 15 | 10 | Matt Bussa | 7 | -8.926 | 0 | 2:08.694 | 18 |
| 14 | 13 | 13 | Johannes Traupe | 7 | -8.934 | 0 | 2:08.189 | 17 |
| 15 | 17 | 20 | Ross Banfield | 7 | -12.952 | 0 | 2:09.648 | 16 |
| 16 | 7 | 4 | Michael Janney | 7 | -18.992 | 0 | 2:10.456 | 15 |
| 17 | 9 | 6 | Josh Thompson | 7 | -19.275 | 0 | 2:10.649 | 14 |
| 18 | 3 | 5 | Luke McKeown | 4 | -3 L | 1 | 2:08.509 | 13 |
Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series race two results from Road America were as follows:
Fin. |
St. |
No. |
Driver |
Laps |
Interval |
Led |
Best |
Pts. |
| 1 | 5 | 14 | Sebastian Wheldon | 7 | 3 | 2:08.011 | 35 | |
| 2 | 18 | 5 | Luke McKeown | 7 | -0.118 | 0 | 2:07.747 | 32 |
| 3 | 9 | 11 | Michael A Romanidis | 7 | -1.849 | 0 | 2:08.161 | 30 |
| 4 | 4 | 8 | Chris Lulham | 7 | -1.884 | 0 | 2:07.944 | 28 |
| 5 | 6 | 18 | Brandon Hawkin | 7 | -2.080 | 0 | 2:07.835 | 26 |
| 6 | 8 | 9 | Matthew Zeis | 7 | -2.483 | 0 | 2:08.223 | 25 |
| 7 | 1 | 19 | Diogo C. Pinto | 7 | -2.502 | 4 | 2:08.247 | 24 |
| 8 | 12 | 15 | Jeffrey Decker | 7 | -7.200 | 0 | 2:08.346 | 23 |
| 9 | 15 | 20 | Ross Banfield | 7 | -7.360 | 0 | 2:08.527 | 22 |
| 10 | 13 | 10 | Matt Bussa | 7 | -10.191 | 0 | 2:08.691 | 21 |
| 11 | 17 | 6 | Josh Thompson | 7 | -12.540 | 0 | 2:07.992 | 20 |
| 12 | 3 | 2 | Matt J Caruana | 7 | -24.660 | 0 | 2:08.249 | 19 |
| 13 | 7 | 16 | Justin Adakonis | 7 | -35.470 | 0 | 2:11.784 | 18 |
| 14 | 10 | 7 | Simone Passoni | 5 | -2 L | 0 | 2:08.621 | 17 |
| 15 | 11 | 1 | Przemyslaw Marek Lemanek | 5 | -2 L | 0 | 2:07.830 | 16 |
| 16 | 2 | 3 | Harley Haughton | 3 | -4 L | 0 | 2:18.188 | 15 |
| 17 | 14 | 13 | Johannes Traupe | 1 | -6 L | 0 | 14 | |
| 18 | 16 | 4 | Michael Janney | 0 | -7 L | 0 | 13 |
Final Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series points are as follows:
- Diogo Pinto, 301
- Harley Haughton, 288
- Brandon Hawkin, 246
- Josh Thompson, 244
- Michael Janney, 241
- Matt Caruana, 233
- Sebastian Wheldon, 231
- Michael Romanidis, 208
- Przemyslaw Marek Lemanek, 202
- Matthew Zeis, 193
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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