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- Towler, Wood Suspended from Upcoming iWCRR Events 67
- Dave Kaemmer Comes Clean on Dirt 44
- iRacing.com Announces iRacing 2.0 41
- The iRacing.com Protest System - May, 2012 33
- Bathurst Coming to iRacing! 30
- iRacing's Corvette: Good Enough is Not Good Enough 23
- Scanning What’s in Store for iRacing with Tony Gardner 22
- iRacing Simulation Gives NASCAR Hall of Fame Guests Authentic Driving Experience 17
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David Phillips
Editor and ChiefDavid Phillips is a long-time contributor to print and electronic publications in the U.S. and abroad, including Racer, Autosport, AutoWeek, Motor Sport and SPEEDtv.com, oversees the daily updating of news stories and assigns, edits and contributes feature material for inRacingNews.com.
Chris Hall
iRacing.com Series WriterChris Hall has been writing since the nineties and moved into motorsports reporting in 2005, covering series such as ALMS, British GT, FIA GT, Le Mans and 2CV racing for Full Throttle magazine, Motorsport.com, The-Paddock.net, GTGateway.com, L' Endurance and, of course, inRacingNews. During 2008 and 2009, he worked with the RSS Performance Porsche Carrera Cup Team (and former British GT(C) champions) as a data engineer for a variety of drivers and models of 997s.
Jameson Spies
Contributing Writer19 years old, Jameson Spies lives in Quartz Hill, California. He grew-up surrounded by racing. His mother raced late models throughout Southern California while his father built and setup the car. Not surprisingly, Jameson began racing go-karts at the age of 13, and is now racing Spec Trucks at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. He has a passion about all forms of racing and hopes to make a career out of it.
Jason Lofing
iRacing.com Series WriterJason is 21 years old and was born and raised in Elk Grove. California. A big time NASCAR fan, he hasn’t missed a race on Sunday in years. Lofing is also a huge San Fransisco Giants fan and tries to take in at least a couple games a year. Other than sim racing, his biggest (and far more expensive!) hobby is photography. Although he is rather new to sim racing, Lofing has already accomplished some pretty impressive results, qualifying for the 2011 iRacing Oval Pro Series in Season 1, 2011, winning the inaugural Landon Cassill Qualifying Challenge and finishing runner-up in the second one.
David Ifeguni
Contributing WriterI was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1988 and moved to Midland, Michigan when I was two years old. I stayed there until third grade when I moved to Farmington Hills, Michigan and now I currently live in Naperville, IL where I'm attending Metea Valley High School as a 9th grader. In the past, I have participated in soccer and this year I plan on joining swimming or water polo. My family includes my 15 year old sister, a 7 year old sister and my mom and dad. I have been writing since 6th grade and have participated in many writing contests in my school and have received several awards for writing.
My fascination for motorsports began when I was nine. The first NASCAR race I watched on TV was the 2009 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway, won by Kasey Kahne. My favorite NASCAR drivers are Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Jimmie Johnson. I have watched all the races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series since 2010. I currently have three wins on iRacing, two of them in the Nationwide car at Daytona and one in the Street stocks at Charlotte. My favorite car and type of track on iRacing is the Nationwide Series (B Class) car and superspeedways.
Katier Scott
Contributing WriterI am a veteran sim racer who first started racing way back in 1993 on the SPRTSIMS section of Compuserve with a league who can trace themselves all the way to the present. Within that league I act as Chief Steward and try to bring the unique viewpoint that this experience gives me into my articles.
I have a BA (Hons) in Journalism and Editorial design and have been writing for seven years and currently cover the Lotus 79 CTC and Radical series alongside my freelance work. Living in the UK, as well as motorsports I love Photography, Arts and Crafts and reading.
Dylan Sharman
Contributing WriterI was born in Adelaide and we moved-out for Angle Vale for a few years until I was about 7 years old, when we moved to the Barossa Valley where I live now. I'm 19 years old and currently traveling back and forth weekly as I'm studying for a Diploma of Furniture Design and Technology.
I've always had a love for racing as my close family did some racing and we were always out at the local dirt track. I joined iRacing back in 2010 and slowly but surely got the hang of it as this is my first experience with sim racing and am loving it each time I race. I've won two SK Modified titles (almost had three in a row but finished P2 in 2011 S4), an inRacingNews Challenge championship (2012 S1 Mazda) and was also an AustralAsian Intel GT Series Finalist.
Nathan Aljoe
Contributing WriterNathan's passion for motorsport first began in the late 1980s, captivated by the season in which Aryton Senna won his first F1 title with McLaren. Over the years his interest widened to include the British Touring Car Championship, World Rally Championship, NASCAR and various other forms of motorsport. Nathan began sim-racing in the mid 1990s using games developed by Papyrus. He later moved onto SimBim simulations such as GTR, GTR2 and GTR Evolution and has most recently joined the iRacing community.
When he's not working or sim racing, Nathan enjoys spending time and relaxing with his family. Other hobbies include going to festivals, tinkering with his car and doing up his house.
Austin Hartenfels
Contributing WriterBorn and raised in Fredericksburg, Virginia, I have always had a serious passion for cars and motorsports. Hoping one day to become an automotive journalist for a magazine, I constantly crave the exciting competition that comes along with racing and sim-racing. Having participated in a mere test session in a Legends car at Old Dominion Speedway, I have not been able to get into any real-life competition . . . yet.
As a sim racer, my interests date back to "GTR Evolution." My goal is to have fun and win some races. I made it to Oval Pro in 2010, but did not become very successful. I enjoy any mixed road racing competition and love racing the Silverados around almost any track.
Jordan Hightower
Contributing WriterJordan began sim-racing in 2005 with the NASCAR Racing 2003 Season sim and then joined the iRacing community in June of 2008. He hails from Fort Smith, Arkansas where he is currently enrolled at the University of Arkansas Fort Smith, after which he plans to attend the University of Arkansas to earn his MBA. Although he enjoys watching and playing basketball, most of Jordan's focus is on motorsports, particularly NASCAR: "Anything that burns gas and goes fast, I like."
Scott Kelly
Contributing WriterBorn and raised in the greater St. Louis, Missouri area, Scott Kelly has had a love for motorsports ever since his father did the right thing by introducing auto racing into his life. No longer able to quench his need for speed by spectating NASCAR races on TV and watching dirt track stars slide around local tracks, Kelly eventually picked-up sim racing in his teens, wheeling cars found in Ratbag Games' "Dirt Track Racing" and "World of Outlaws: Sprint Cars" while also becoming introduced into multiple Papyrus sim-racing series. Joining the iRacing ranks in late 2011, Kelly set his sights on the short track racing he was familiar with, focusing on the sprint car, while also driving the Legends and street stock in multiple iRacing.com leagues.
Kelly brings not just his enthusiasm for racing to the highest-rated motorsports simulation, but also his B.A. degree in English; he covers the action seen in the iRacing.com Sprint Car Series, while also placing the spotlight on various leagues within the service. Enjoying his start to a career in motorsports journalism, Kelly also doesn't mind visiting victory lane from time-to-time.
Kenneth O'Keefe
Contributing WriterKenneth was born in Smithville, Ontario on December 23, 1994. A major racing fan, he enjoys competitive kart racing in the Rotax Max category at Mosport International Karting. Kenneth also tunes into Formula One and NASCAR races on those Sundays when he is not at the kart track.
O'Keefe has been sim-racing since 2005, starting on the Live For Speed simulator. After moving to iRacing in 2008, he was able to qualify for the NASCAR iRacing Pro Series (NiPS) in both 2011 and 2012. He will continue to compete and write about the iRacing.com Skip Barber Series throughout the coming year before taking another run at the NiPS in late 2013.
Chris Owens
Contributing WriterI was born in Florence, South Carolina in 1989 and have lived here my entire life. I've been around racing since I was a young kid watching with my dad on Sundays. In 2009 and found my local track, Florence Motor Speedway and started working for them as a PR guy the same year. At the end of that season, I started writing for RACE22.com, a Late Model Stock Car news site. In 2010, I picked up my first DSLR camera and started shooting races. To this day, I've experienced some of the best races from behind the camera.
I've been with the iRacing service since its public beta in 2008, back when the top oval car was the Late Model. I've been in over 500 races on the service with 70+ wins on both oval and road. My favorite car on the service is the Chevrolet Silverado. Darlington Raceway and Concord Speedway are my favorite tracks simply because everybody hates them.
George Wood
Contributing WriterAfter beginning his racing career with go-karts at age seven, George then turned wrenches on street stocks until he could finally turn the wheel. Following the successes of his friends and family, George has since retired from real-world racing, where he is now a science and mathematics faculty member for several local community colleges. When George isn't grading laboratory reports or iRacing, he is performing at bluegrass festivals in the Northeast, making fishing lures, playing golf, and rooting for his beloved Baltimore Orioles.
Barcelona test one round-up
February 25th, 2012
The 2012 Formula 1 winter testing schedule offered teams an unusual one-week break between the opening sessions at Jerez and action resuming at Barcelona – giving an opportunity for those who had troubled starts to work hard back at base before hitting the track again, but also giving those who shone at Jerez plenty of time to process their data and make further gains.
A chilly week at Barcelona’s Catalunya circuit therefore began to give us a clearer picture of where the field stands and how the picture is chagning as the season-opener in Melbourne approaches.
Day one
World champion Sebastian Vettel commenced the week in ominous form with the fastest time for Red Bull on Tuesday, although it was a relatively close fight at the front of the field, with 0.353 seconds covering the top four cars.
Whereas Jerez had tended to see each day’s best time set very early then never beaten, Tuesday’s pattern of a morning of close competition and top-spot-swapping followed by a slow afternoon set the tone for the Catalunya week. Vettel jumped to the top with his 1m23.265s shortly before lunch, deposing compatriot Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India by 0.175s.
But the biggest news was not who was fastest, but who was already heading home. Romain Grosjean reported “strange” feelings from his Lotus and parked after just seven laps. A major chassis problem – seemingly related to the front suspension – was discovered, and the team packed up not only for the day, but for the rest of the week.
That overshadowed the unveiling of the new Mercedes W03, the last potential 2012 frontrunner to break cover. The new car was sixth on its first public appearance, with Michael Schumacher doing the honours.
Also making a 2012 debut was Marussia, albeit with a 2011 Virgin for rookie Charles Pic to build up mileage and experience in. The GP2 graduate covered a mammoth 121 laps.
Lewis Hamilton was also busy as he completed 114 laps and went third-quickest for McLaren, followed by Daniel Ricciardo’s Toro Rosso and Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari.
A trackrod problem left Heikki Kovalainen’s Caterham parked across the circuit in the morning, but it was resolved in time for him to get a little more running at the end of the day.
Day two
After narrowly missing out on the Tuesday top spot, Hulkenberg established himself at the head of the order on Wednesday as one of several drivers to try Pirelli’s super softs.
Sergio Perez did likewise for Sauber and lapped within 0.040s of Hulkenberg’s 1m22.608s.
But Vettel was again at the forefront, setting the soft-tyre pace with a time 0.283s off the Force India.
Ricciardo and Alonso again completed the top five, ahead of Hamilton. The McLaren driver and Vettel carried out intriguing long runs at the same time, giving a hint of their potential race pace, and appearing evenly matched.
Williams gave reserve driver Valtteri Bottas a full day in the car and a chance to simulate his grand prix Friday programmes. The Finn was eighth quickest.
There was also a new face at Caterham, as Vitaly Petrov made his debut for his new employer and settled in with the ninth-quickest time.
Day three
Another super soft run grabbed the top spot, this time courtesy of Williams man Pastor Maldonado.
Given that Williams had not looked like a pacesetter so far, this could have been dismissed as low-fuel showboating, but Maldonado was adamant that the FW34 was showing genuinely encouraging signs.
Schumacher took second place for Mercedes, nearly a second off the Williams, having completed an impressive 127 laps – including a 59-lap run punctuated only by tyre changes.
Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi, McLaren’s Jenson Button and Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne were next up.
Day four
The fastest time of the week came on the final morning – and on softs rather than super softs. Kobayashi lapped in 1m22.312s for Sauber – then got within 0.006s of that mark on super softs too.
Maldonado continued to produce encouraging pace for Williams in a close second place, followed by Force India’s Paul di Resta, who caused a morning red flag by slewing into the gravel at Campsa.
As well as going quickest, Kobayashi also had the honour of the greatest lap tally, as he completed 145 circuits of Catalunya.
Only nine cars took part in the final day. With Lotus already long since departed and HRT still not ready, Marussia caused numbers to dwindle further when a suspension issue on Pic’s 2011 Virgin meant it could not take part in the Friday running.
COMBINED TIMESPos Driver Team Best time Total laps
1. Kobayashi Sauber 1m22.312s 244
2. Maldonado Williams 1m22.391s + 0.079s 240
3. Hulkenberg Force India 1m22.608s + 0.296s 209
4. Perez Sauber 1m22.648s + 0.336s 151
5. Vettel Red Bull 1m22.891s + 0.579s 183
6. Di Resta Force India 1m23.119s + 0.807s 184
7. Alonso Ferrari 1m23.180s + 0.868s 162
8. Button McLaren 1m23.200s + 0.888s 229
9. Schumacher Mercedes 1m23.384s + 1.072s 178
10. Massa Ferrari 1m23.563s + 1.251s 187
11. Hamilton McLaren 1m23.590s + 1.278s 234
12. Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1m23.618s + 1.306s 126
13. Webber Red Bull 1m23.774s + 1.462s 182
14. Vergne Toro Rosso 1m23.792s + 1.480s 170
15. Rosberg Mercedes 1m23.843s + 1.531s 221
16. Senna Williams 1m25.711s + 3.399s 97
17. Bottas Williams 1m25.738s + 3.426s 117
18. Kovalainen Caterham 1m26.035s + 3.723s 101
19. Glock Marussia 1m26.173s + 3.861s 108
20. Petrov Caterham 1m26.448s + 4.136s 139
21. Grosjean Lotus 1m26.809s + 4.497s 7
22. Pic Marussia 1m27.343s + 5.031s 229