Mid Ohio Life

by Patrick Atherton on May 31st, 2011

We all lament the fact that real life gets in the way of the things we want to do. This was true on many levels for Monday Night’s iRacing V8 Supercar Series at Mid Ohio, Week Four. Firstly, series heavyweights Madison Down and Peter Read were absent from the proceedings. Down was in the USA.

Real-world V8 Supercar star, Stone Brothers Racing’s Shane Van Gisbergen showed that he’s had just about enough of these sim racers keeping him off the podium’s top spot. He made his intentions known with a pole time of 1 min 23.26.

The Hague’s Rens Broekman made a return to the top split sharing the front row with Van Gisbergen. XSG’s Michael McCabe was also returning, replete with new livery, taking third grid spot just to prove he hadn’t lost anything. Normally, even so much as a short spell away from this top-level series means the entire world has moved on a quantum or two. Alongside him was defending champ Mitchell McLeod.

Yet another real world racer, also a Stone Brothers’ driver (in the level-two Fujitsu series) was young Scott McLaughlin on grid five, from the ever-improving Simon Madden. XSG’s Corey Slade was next, changing his pre-race music ritual from Taylor Swift to Chris Isaak.  Troy Cox flew the flag for Trans Tasman Racing, then relative newcomers Vail Riches and Cal Whatmore rounded out the top ten.

The rest were: Scott U’Ren, John Emerson, Darrin Vouch, Craig Woodhouse, Wayne Harris, Lewis Dodimead, Matt Yeomans, George Fullerton, Guy Leach, Simon Black, Justin Strickland, Christopher Larmour, and finally Yongil Jeong in a packed grid, chock full of talent. The SOF was over 3,500.

Things did not start well for Scott U'Ren after a touch with John Emerson

Van Gisbergen took off at the start. Exiting Turn One, Emerson and U’Ren in the mid pack touched lightly, but enough to send U’Ren skywards. Rens Broekman was shuffled sideways for the first two corners as he and McCabe squabbled over who got to chase Van Gisbergen. McLaughlin and McLeod had a drag race down the back straight and through Turn Three, touching more than once. Under brakes into Turn Four, McLaughlin pulled off a demon move outside a cautious McLeod and Broekman. He almost got McCabe, too, into Turn Five, but settled into third.

The Giz gets busy, while McLaughlin (right) makes up two positions in one swoop

McLaughlin glued himself to the back of McCabe, allowing The Giz to get away ever so slightly, by iRacing V8SC standards. They went side by side into Turn Two, but McLaughlin thought better of it and lived to fight on, looking racey and keen to have a crack at his Stone Brothers’ team mate. Slade passed Madden around the outside into Four, to nail sixth place. Cox fancied his chances on Madden as well, until Madden made it all too easy for him by sliding off at Turn Nine.

On Lap Five, McLaughlin nailed McCabe into his favourite spot, Turn Four, which put Van Gisbergen in plain sight. Now it was Van Gisbergen, McLaughlin, McCabe, Broekman, McLeod, Slade, Cox, Whatmore, Riches and Woodhouse doing a great job to be in the top ten. Vouch was next, with a small gap back to Harris who was trying to conserve tyres but all the time with some serious attention from Emerson.

Ouch. Harris gets hit by the Mafia.

On Lap Seven, Emerson locked up the brakes into Two and sent Harris into the gravel. Harris extricated himself into 19th, to see a penitent Emerson scrambling through the grass at Four. “Not my finest hour” said Emerson. Meanwhile, Harris got caught up in a race-long scrap with Leach, Strickland, Dodimead, Madden and Black which was “worth the price of admission” according to Wayne.

On Lap 11, McCabe spun out of third place at Turn Two. While he was waiting to rejoin a hapless Cal Whatmore spun off in sympathy an collected the XSG Falcon. Turn Two was becoming quite the Bermuda Triangle. They both waited like a couple of Melbourne motorists in a traffic jam, which McCabe admitted was quite comical, until he rejoined in 20th. It was actually not far from twelfth, the field being so compacted back there.

By mid race distance in the 25-lapper, McLaughlin was trying his trademark Turn Four move on leader Van Gisbergen, but The Giz was wise to his tricks. It raged thus for, more or less, the entire race, allowing the inseparable trio of Broekman, McLeod and Slade to close in a touch and enjoy the action. In sixth was the impressive Riches, having trumped Cox who was now seventh, then Woodhouse, Vouch and Fullerton finally into his customary top ten. Madden was a little lonely in 11th, but Leach, Harris, Black, McCabe and Dodimead were having a nuclear-sized conflagration from 12th through to 16th.

"You talkin' to me?" McCabe ignores the warning on Dodimead's rear wing and sizes up 14th place

“The racing is twice as hard as last season already, and it’s only just getting started…”  - Mitchell McLeod

Despite all the pressure from McLaughlin, Van Gisbergen hung on for the win. Broekman showed his class in third from McLeod, who could not mount an offense. “I was starting to rely on the guys in front of me taking each other out…I didn’t have the pace to even think about making a pass.” Slade threw everything but the kitchen sink at McLeod; “I tried to come on strong and make a pass just couldn’t get it done” He finished 5th. Next was Riches, Cox, Woodhouse, Vouch and Fullerton.

Last season’s champion McLeod summed up the sentiment well: “…The racing so far this season is twice as hard as last season already, and it’s only just getting started…”

The two V8 Supercar stars up front may think that’s the way it should be, but there are several fired up sim racers who will have something to say about it.