Thrustmaster iRacing Rallycross World Championship Preview: Atlanta

Barring a nightmarish season finale, SET Esports’ Sami-Matti Trogen will lock up the 2019 Thrustmaster iRacing Rallycross World Championship on Saturday from Atlanta Motor Speedway’s short rallycross layout.

Things are looking pretty good for the Finnish driver and real-world RX2 standout. He’s been the points leader for most of the season, having first taken the lead by winning the season opener on Atlanta’s longer layout and posted consistent results all season long afterward. While other championship contenders have seen multiple races not go their way, Trogen has been a consistent presence in finals all season long, racking up heat wins and podiums and building his points lead.

That’s why only one driver, Coanda Simsport’s Mitchell deJong, can possibly catch him going into Atlanta. By virtue of missing two races earlier in the season, deJong’s continued presence in the championship hunt is, in and of itself, a big deal, but the defending series champion has made every race he’s run this year count. In six starts, the Californian has four victories, a second place finish, and a worst result of fourth.

Those results have kept deJong hanging on, and give him the championship tiebreaker on wins, but Trogen is just a decent qualifying result away from locking up the championship. With an 82-point lead, and 84 points on the line, Trogen needs only three more points to cement the title. He can do that by qualifying fourth or better, finishing sixth or better in his heat race, or various other combinations of results in those two sessions. Regardless, if he makes it to the main event, he’ll earn the championship no matter what deJong does.

Meanwhile, if deJong has an unlucky day, a number of other drivers have the ability to catch him and reclaim second. Sonoma winners Joni Heikkinen and Yohann Harth are third and fourth, while deJong’s teammate Bobby Zalenski rides a podium streak into fifth place coming into the event. Lucas Oil Raceway winner Otto Taskinen in sixth is also within 60 points of deJong, and well within striking distance of the rest of the top five.

The 2019 Thrustmaster iRacing Rallycross World Championship season finale from Atlanta Motor Speedway will air at 1PM ET/10AM PT on the iRacing eSports Network on Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube.

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