Xosé Estrada
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View the Post on the BlogSebring International Raceway hosted the rSeat 90 minutes of Sebring on Thursday, the first round of the SimRacing Team Challenge Blue Cup for 2013. Set in a portion of Sebring Regional Airport, the combination of high speed corners and tighter, technical sections presented a significant challenge to the 43 car field. It was the first STC event to be run on the iRacing platform using the twin-turbo V8 McLaren MP4-12C GT3. Enzo Bonito took pole position in the brief, 10 minute qualifying session. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Roland Ehnström, with Dave Gelink rounding out the top three fastest in qualifying.
It was a dream start to the season for ineX Racing, as Enzo Bonito took a dominating lights to flag victory, leading all 45 laps and taking the fastest lap of the race at a 2.00.3 on lap 33. Dave Gelink took a strong third place in the second ineX entry, assuring that the team would lead the points following the first round of the season. Roland Ehnström split the ineX racing entries, and took an impressive 2nd place for Danielsson Motorsports Virtual. Pablo López and Mads Buhr crossed the line 4th and 5th respectively, holding their qualifying positions throughout the duration of the race. Simon Hill made the biggest move forward throughout the 90 minute event, making up 9 positions to finish 31st after qualifying in 40th. The race was extremely clean; only Pawel Bienkowski and Fredric Tackman incurred drive through and stop & gp penalties respectively in the race as a result of their involvement in accidents.
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Roland Ehnstrom-Danielsson Motorsports Virtual (Qualified 2nd, Finished 2nd)
“It turned out into a fun race, especially with Dave Gelink (congratulations for the podium finish), and the result was a good way to start the season. Just feel sorry for my team-mate, who had a lot of pace in practice but had a race to forget. Overall I have to say I love the team aspect of this league, and we are really making the most of it in Danielsson Motorsport virtual. It's great fun”!
Pablo Lopez-Radicals Online (Qualified 4th, Finished 4th)“What a fantastic and eventful race for me, just have to forgot the hit that put me out of 2nd and the possibility to fight for the lead. At Radicals we had a great setup and were fairly prepared for a good race. Qualifying lap wasn’t my best but only 1 tenth off my best so I was happy with that, with 90 mins of racing starting 4th was a thing I didn't expect because it was the first race with my new wheel. Had a fun race after all, the atmosphere here is really good and I love the Team thing”!
JB Massida- Falcon GP (Qualified 12th, Finished 8th)“After the pits sequence I was behind everyone else and had to do all the work again, but this time I was heavier than the others and that certainly didn't help. Had a fierce battle with Luigi and then I started catching up Scott and Oliver who were in a battle of their own. My goal was to overtake both of them if possible and I nearly tried a 3 wide overtake but there was no room, so I had to sit back and watch Scott go away while I was trying to pass Oliver, which I finally did. Eventually I finished 8th and I'm quite happy with that, although I'm disappointed with my pit stop”.
Leading the championship is ineX Racing, who took 94 points from the first round of the season with two cars on the podium. Hot in pursuit is Radicals Online after putting in a consistent performance to take 74 points from Sebring. Danielsson Motorsports Virtual are third in the standings, largely due to the second placed finish from Roland Ehnström. Walk Racing and Team GT round out the top 5 in the standings. You can view the full championship standings here. Next up on the STC calendar is Interlagos in Sao Paulo, Brazil on the 18th Of April. The 45 minute event will undoubtedly lead to desperate overtaking moves and close racing for points, and you can follow the lead up to the event in our dedicated STC forums. Next stop Brazil!
Full race results:
