Weekend Lowdown 22nd – 26th Feb 2024
Bathurst, Mount Panorama in Australia is a beast in any car. When you get 50 GT3 cars taking on the mountain for 12 hours, it’s even more so. There may be one or two teams that the Tempest weather system on iRacing won’t bring any rain to such a race just yet, but even in the dry, it’s one of the toughest road racing challenges there is.
The iRacing Bathurst 12 Hours presented by Coach Dave Delta is the featured event of the week, but just one of a number of events taking place this weekend that we are broadcasting here on RaceSpot TV. We have IMSA, Porsche, World GT, NASCAR, and IndyCar action to look forward to, so with no further ado, welcome to this edition of the Weekend Lowdown[i].
Don’t forget that you can check out our upcoming events list at the following URL (Or by visiting the Upcoming Events link from the main menu). If you would like your event added to the list, then now you can! Community submitted events are now a thing, and you can submit events at the following link. Please remember to follow the rules, as after all, what is life without a little regulation… Eh? You can also subscribe to our weekly newsletter by dropping your email below.
Thursday 22nd February
We start this weekend with Bohlin’s Svenska Eracingligan on iRacing. Translated, that means Bohlin’s Sweedish iRacing Eracing League, or something similar. Here, some of Sweeden’s best Sim Racers compete, this time at Phillip Island. The track may look simple on paper, but with plenty of elevation changes and a track that is constantly demanding on tyres, expect to see some Gott & Blandat thrown from virtual racecars if there’s on track drama.
Next up we have one of two Precision Racing League events this weekend, as the Formula D series makes a trip to [Checks notes…] Mount Panorama. Seeing as everything that can be said about this track will be said elsewhere, just note that this is Open Wheelers compared to the tin tops in action later on in the weekend.
Friday 23rd February
It wouldn’t be Friday without a little bit of IMSA Action. This time the series heads over to the legendary Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The track became famous in 1999 for multiple F1 word champions quite literally saying Bienvenue au Québec, and hosts a variety of racing series each year. Fun fact; it hosted the first points paying NASCAR race in the rain back in 2008, won by a driver who has a near obsession with the track in Ron Fellows. He’s the Sabine Schmitz of Montreal, to draw the closest comparison.
For the multi class of the IMSA iRacing Series, the key difficulty will be how narrow the track is. There’s plenty of straights, but we’ve seen how different acceleration patterns out of slow corners can produce issues with GT and LMP2 cars. The tight Sector 1 will likely cause some issue at the start, combined with the fact that GT cars will likely be starting half way down the back straight at best.
Saturday 24th February
Did you know that there’s been stories over the years of fans burying alcohol around Mount Panorama in order to get around limits that can be brought into the track on raceday? It’s not so much as a gold rush as it is an Tooheys rush for some fans[ii]!
12 hours at Bathurst is one of those events where beauty and carnage often mix. The track in sunrise and sunset is one to behold. Beautiful beyond means as the sun works across the mountain. All it takes, especially early in the race is for one driver to get it wrong going up the mountain, and all carnage can ensue before you can blink. A certain F1 World Champion once made a mistake early on in this race at the Cutting, leading to this author referencing it as a ‘Rookie Mistake’. The hate from the Orange army still exists to this day!
Yes, the track is narrow; it’s public roads, and New South Wales doesn’t need 10 lane highways like they have in Los Angeles! There is some run off, especially down at The Chase, which can also double as Sim Racing’s equvilent of a daredevil jump at the end of the race. From Turns 3 through 18 (The Cutting – Forest’s Elbow) it’s all about keeping it on the Mountain as the walls are close, and speeds high. Lapped traffic can be a nightmare, especially in a single class field, but patience is key. If there’s any consolation, there is some runoff at Skyline for those who get it completely wrong at McPhillamy Park, which ranks in the Top 10 hardest road racing corners to get right perhaps in all of Sim Racing.
A 12 hour race will see tears of joy, tears of anger, and tears of despondency. It is however one of those Special Events on iRacing that you don’t realise you need in your life until you’ve watched about 20 minutes of it. We have the entire race covered for you, with our usual all star commentary teams.
Sunday 25th February
Sunday = Porsche. Or at least it has been pretty much every weekend this year! This week it’s the turn of the Great Britain Porsche Carrera Cup drivers to get the spotlight, as they head over to Oulton Park. Continuing our theme of ‘bloody narrow tracks’, this is yet another one of them, again with some blisteringly fast corners.
Last time out Sebastian Job won Race #1, and came through the Top 6 inverted grid for Race #2 to finish just a quarter of a second back from race winner Luke McKeown. A track this fast does mean that overtaking can be at a premium, but expect closely fought battles and another close finish in both races as the top 2 in the championship (Job & McKeown) look to extend their gap to rivals whilst looking to enhance their bid for the overall title.
Sunday Nightcap? That’s the Precision Racing League NASCAR Series. They head over to Atlanta Motor Speedway, with the third steepest banking of a NASCAR circuit on the current calendar. After being repaved in 2022, it became the third track after Daytona and Talladega to receive the restrictor plate treatment, changing the racing forever.
The 1.54 mile track is another that produces fantastic oval racing, and may go down as being the widest track raced at all weekend! If you’re into your NASCAR and want to be a part of the Precision Racing League moving forward into next season, registration is now open.
Monday 26th February
The World GT Championship is back for another round at Road Atlanta, because we may as well complete the bingo card of all the narrow tracks you can get racing action on in a single week, right?!?!
The series is brought to you by WSR and sponsored by FreeM & Simutec. World Sim Racing is an approved Company and Community of Motorsport UK. Their Motorsport UK Esports hub gives great advice on how to get started in Sim Racing as well as directing you to established communities and companies. This is yet another celebration of British Motorsport and Esports, so be sure to give it a watch.
We wrap up our weekend’s worth of action with more IndyCar Open Series action. This time out the series heads to the Tricky Triangle of Pocono, a track which at one point was a part of the CART / IndyCar Triple Crown, but one which was also beset with tragedy with the loss of Justin Wilson. Turn 1 here can have hundreds of different lines, but like Sunset Bend at Sebring, only a small number unlock maximum speed.
Turn 2 continues our trend of narrow racetrack for the week, and Turn 3 is one which requires precision on turn in, combined with a good use of the in car tools over a run. The track really is three different setups in one, with drivers often sacrificing performance on one part of the track for gains elsewhere. On top of that, there’s the restart zone and pit entry under green. We could talk about the latter for hours, but sadly, we’ve run out of time!
Once again, don’t forget that you can check out our upcoming events list at the following URL (Or by visiting the Upcoming Events link from the main menu), and you can submit events at the following link. If you would like to be included in upcoming Weekend Lowdown articles, please email me at vt.topsecar@liW.
[i] Embeds to broadcasts not currently visible will be provided soon; please check back and visit our YouTube page for the latest feeds!
[ii] Never, and I repeat NEVER imply that the folk in NSW drink Fosters, you may end up setting a lap record trying to race away from the torrent of abuse you receive!
[Cover Image H/T iRacing]