Ward, Broekman Lead The Way

Week Two brought the GRAND-AM Online Sports Car Series to Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI, where the famous 4.048 mile (6.515 km) circuit hosted 50 minute online races every other hour for sim-racers to enjoy.  The Riley Mk XX Daytona Prototype saw fewer entries this week, 572 entering a race, 265 placing a qualifying lap, and 58 completing time trials.  The McLaren MP4-12C GT3 was slightly more popular with 661 drivers entering a race, 311 placing a qualifying lap, and 77 completing a time trial.

Riley Mk XX Daytona Prototype

Topping the standings for the faster of the two classes this week was David Ward (England), scoring 193 points.  Ward started from the second position in Saturday’s 3288 SoF race and took the lead on Lap Three when erstwhile leader Juha Pyy was forced to retire following an on-track incident.  Ward then held the lead until the end of the race to take the victory with a 30.334 second advantage over Pawel Bienkowski.  He also competed in five other races throughout the week with a perfect score to total six wins.

Although the McLaren MP4-12C GT3s have livened things up, the Riley DPs are still cars to beat in the GRAND-AM Online Sports Car Series.

Taking second place this week was Bienkowski (Central Eastern Europe) with 185 points.  Sunday’s 3255 SoF race saw Bienkowski start from the outside front row and take the lead from George Sandman on Lap Two.   Never looking back, the Pole charged to the checkered with a 2.543 second advantage over Sandman.  This race earned him with 198 points, but was later averaged with a lower scoring race to drop him to P2 in the weekly standings. Bienkowski also competed in four other races throughout the week scoring one victory, two second place finishes, and an eighth place finish.

Concluding the Riley podium was last week’s winner, Richard Kis (Central Eastern Europe) on 184 points.  Kis only competed in one race throughout the week where he started Sunday’s 2976 SoF from the pole position and led flag-to-flag to beat David A Jensen by 10.259s.

Rounding-out the top 10 in class for Week Two we had Sandman (California), Marcin Skrzypczak (Central Eastern Europe), Richard Sobolewski (Celtic), Jim Shedlick (Carolina), Sebastian Cron (DE-AT-CH), David A Jensen (Scandinavia), and Erik Andre Nordby (Scandinavia).

McLaren MP4-12C  GT3

Occupying to top spot in the McLaren category was long-time iRacing.com V8 Supercar series front runner, Rens Broekman (Benelux) with 268 points.  Broekman started from the outside front row in Sunday’s 4352 FoF, but dropped to  fourth place after an incident with Norbi Kiss (Central Eastern Europe).  Broekman regained second place by to Lap 11, took the lead from Paul Ilbrink eight laps later and held the lead to bring home the victory.  Broekman competed in three other races throughout the week, scoring two more victories and a second place finish.

Filling the second step of the podium this week was Oxxo Energy Truck Race Team’s Kiss with 248 points.  Kiss started from the pole position in  Sunday’s 3555 SoF and never looked back, leading every lap of the race to bring home the victory.  The only other race Kiss competed in was the one mentioned above where his tangle with Broekman dropped him to a 12th place finish.

In the short time it’s been available, the McLaren MP4-12C GT3 has become one of iRacing’s most popular cars.

Taking the last step of the podium this week was iRacing.com World Championship Grand Prix Series driver Paul Ilbrink (Benelux).  Ilbrink started from the third position and inherited the lead after the Kiss/Broekman get together.  Although Broekman would retake the lead, Ilbrink was able to bring his McLaren home for a second place finish.  He also competed in one other race throughout the week, scoring a fourth place finish.

Rounding out the top 10 in class for Week 2 at Road America were Ief Vangenechten (Benelux), Neville Stewart (Celtic), Klaus Ellenbrand (DE-AT-CH), Mathieu Labbé (Eastern Canada), Fredrik Follestad (Scandinavia), Julien Oligo (France) and Kimmo Suominen (Finland).

Overall, this was another successful week for the iRacing.com GRAND-AM Online Sports Car Series, a welcome turn-around from last season.  No doubt, the McLaren has injected some real energy into the series – along with many highly talented sim-racers.  Next week we head to the UK and the Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit.  The 3.194 mile (5.14 km) circuit has hosted many famous series such as Formula One, British Touring Car Championships, etc.  We are expecting great racing as usual from this series, so check back next week for updates on Silverstone.  Also keep your eyes on inRacingNews.com for updates on other series throughout the service, and many other informational articles of interest of any race fan.

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