Streetley Crowned Champion, Carla Takes Victory

Week 12 of the iRacing.com Skip Barber Series visited Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia, USA.  This circuit was perfectly built for the Skip Barber at 1.98 miles (3.187 km) in length with 10 turns.  The lap begins down a long main straight with hard braking just like many other tracks we have visited this season.  This caused a lot of first turn carnage during the week, mostly as the result of honest mistakes.  Drivers then fly down to a fast left hander with a deadly sand trap on the outside which was the cause of many 1x incidents this week.  You then flow down into a tight section of left and rights, and a fast right hand corner to finish the lap.  I say this track is perfect not only for the Skip Barber because of my personal opinion, but the statistics also lead us to believe it.  We saw 907 sim-racers enter a race session, 420 record a qualifying lap and 197 complete a time trial.  These numbers are among the highest we saw this season.

More than a dozen of the 900+ iRacers to tackle Summit Point in Week 12 jockey for position into Turn One.

Tommaso Carla (Italy) scored the most points this week, earning 256 points in the 4499 SOF race which saw him started from the fourth position, move his way into third on Lap 11 and then take the second position two laps later.  Carla held second position to cross the stripe 1.187 seconds behind the eventual race winner, Kenneth O’Keefe (Eastern Canada).  Carla also competed in three other races throughout the week, scoring three victories.

Paul F Grillo (Celtic) was next in the week’s standings, scoring 235 points in the same 4499 SOF race in which he started and came home third.  Sounds simple right? Not at all.  Throughout the race Grillo had a great battle with Carla and Marc Mercer (England).  Grillo passed Mercer for the second position and held it for less than two laps before it was taken away by Carla again.  He then held third position to cross the line 1.576 seconds behind the leader.  Grillo also competed in one other race during the week, where he took the victory by 0.193 seconds over the series champion, George Streetley (England).  We had the chance to catch up with Grillo after his third place finish . . .

“I was fourth in the Division 1 championship with a remote chance to snatch third if I scored very high points this week” he said. “Saturday came; I pushed the Skippy very hard around Summit Point, great combo, and ended up .001s behind Kenneth’s qualifying time.  Started third on the grid behind Kenneth and Marc, grabbed second spot from Marc and then out-braked myself into T1 chasing Kenneth. This allowed Tommaso to squeak passed and I had to settle for third,” he concluded.

“Grabbed second spot from Marc and then out-braked myself into T1 chasing Kenneth.” — Paul F Grillo

Norbert Sulzer (DE-AT-CH) came home third over all this week, scoring 231 points in 4006 SOF race which he started from the outside of the front row and brought home the second position.  Norbert competed in three other races throughout the week, scoring two victories and one second position.

The remainder of the top ten for Week 12 at Summit Point Raceway included O’Keefe (Eastern Canada), Xavier Busoms (Iberia), Marc Mercer (England), George Streetley (England), Victor Nandez (Iberia), Kevin Vaughn (Texas), and Michel Dudognon (France).

A long straightaway, tight Turn One, regular elevation changes and an assortment of tight, fast and medium speed corners, Summit Point is an ideal locale for the Skip Barber Series.

With the conclusion of 2012 Season 4 of the iRacing.com Skip Barber Championship, George Streetley (England) was crowned the overall champion.  Ramon Sprecher (DE-AT-CH) brought home the second position and Norbert Sulzer (DE-AT-CH) was third.  Paul F Grillo (Celtic) gave it his best shot to take the third position in the standings, but he ended up just shy in the fourth position.  The remainder of the top ten included Samuel de la Fuente (Iberia), Kevin Vaughn (Texas), Luca Zanetti (Italy), Xavier Busoms (Iberia), Wojciech Rabsztyn (Central-Eastern Europe) and Victor Nandez (Iberia).

We had the chance to catch up with the series champion, George Streetley.

“Thanks to Tommaso, Kenneth, Ramon, Paul, Norbert and many more for some great racing along the way.” — George Streetley

“I’m delighted to win my first overall championship, and feels great to know I’m the first British driver to win the series” he said.  “It’s been such a great season, thanks to Tommaso, Kenneth, Ramon, Paul, Norbert and many more for some great racing along the way.  There really is no wonder this is one of the best series on iRacing,” he continued.  “There are some great drivers in this series, I am by no means the fastest, but it goes to show that consistancy goes a long way”.

Streetley plans to try his chances in the Star Mazda series next season, and we at inRacingNews.com wish him the best.

With the end of the season, we now have a week of rest and relaxation for some to take a break before getting back into the seat for next season.  Others may take part in the Week 13 races or spectate some bottom split Street Stock races hoping for some entertainment.  Whichever you choose to do, be sure to check back here to follow the 2013 Season 1 Skip Barber Series after the first week of racing at Summit Point Jefferson Reverse.  Also keep your eyes on inRacingNews.com for updates on other series throughout the service, and many other informational articles to please the interest of any race fan!

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