Nijmegen, the Netherlands – December 10, 2020 – This coming weekend, IVRA competition will see a first in its combined history as the ClubSport and Endurance Series will race on the same weekend, at the same track. Along with the two Club Cup races, the 2.4 Hrs of Barber ClubSport race will run on Saturday while the 2.75 Hrs of Barber Endurance race will run on Sunday. Together with the two Club Cup races, there will be a combined 6 hours and 20 minutes of racing action across the weekend, in addition to the practice and qualifying sessions leading up to the weekend. As usual, all four races, as well as the ClubSport and Endurance Series qualifying sessions, will be broadcast by our friends at Racespot.
All three series so far have had an exciting opening phase to the season. As we enter the third round at Barber Motorsports Park, and teams and drivers are finding and settling into their rhythms as the season moves forward into its middle portion, it is a good time to take stock of the championships in all classes. While all races so far have seen their fair share of action, incidents, good and bad luck, we can look back on a good start of the first full season of IVRA competition.
The Endurance Series teams were dropped straight into the deep end back in October, as the longest race of the season opened proceedings. The 12 Hrs of Spa would run into the night, and the night proved to be a fickle mistress. A late-race Safety Car with just over 30 minutes to go, after the No Luck eMSport Corvette found itself upside down in the Stavelot gravel trap, mixed up the order in every class and set the scene for two very close finishes in both GTE classes. The late Safety Car certainly woke up the Race Control team, who were struggling after a long race with constant action and the clocks approaching 4 o’clock in the morning.
The second round of the season proved to be a hectic sprint round. The 4 Hrs of Phillip Island needed 7 interventions from the Safety Car, compared to 5 at the thrice longer Spa race. While it was a battle for survival for some teams, there were those who were able to turn others’ misfortune into their own advantage. PND Racing was the reason for the first Safety Car early in the race, another car to roll into a gravel trap. After being righted by the virtual marshals, and ending up a lap down in the process, the Italian squad went on a mission. Using the Safety Cars to their advantage, they clawed their way back up the order, back onto the lead lap, and astonishingly, into the lead which they consolidated into an impressive victory.
After two races, the standings are still close in every class. In LMP PRO, newcomers Team RSO lead after winning at Phillip Island, with Spa winners Alpinestars Geodesic Racing in second after a disappointing second race. Another new entry, DeltaSport U4K, are in third with a small gap to Hellracers in fourth. After a mechanical DNF at Phillip Island, defending champions Torque Freak Racing find themselves down in sixth, but they will know that with five races still to go, anything can happen.
In LMP AM, it has been the PND Racing show so far. After running at the front for a majority of the 12 Hrs of Spa before finishing third and winning Phillip Island as mentioned before, they lead the standings – but not by much. Rusty Spatulas are not far behind in second, and Spa winners Fiercely Forward are in close pursuit as well. However, the LMP AM class has proven to be somewhat unpredictable so far with the wide range of driver skill behind the wheel, so it’s anything to play for still. It may well prove to be that consistency trounces ultimate pace in this class.
GT PRO is proving itself once again as an excellent racing class, not just on track but in the standings table as well. It’s the closest championship battle of the four, with only fourteen points separating first and third. After a shaky start to the season – they copped a penalty for jumping the start at Spa – Team Heusinkveld came back strong with a win at Phillip Island to lead the standings. The margins are tight though, with Maniti Racing only six points behind while Team Eleven are in third, a further eight behind. Team Eleven dominated the 12 Hrs of Spa in the class, being the only team to score a perfect 150 points between the four classes, but an untimely exit at Phillip Island means they will have to regroup for Barber. Lotema Racing Team could have been another player in the championship based on their performance at Spa, however an error in their registration for the Phillip Island round meant a no-score. They are back on the grid at Barber and will be looking to pick up where they left off at Spa.
As with LMP AM, GT AM has been wildly unpredictable. So far, Fiercely Forward has made the most of the first two races, but both Usagi Racing in second and QUASAR SIM RACING in third remain well within striking distance. QUASAR SIM RACING seems to be betting on consistency over speed with two fourth place finishes so far. A team who will be thinking about what could have been is AOD Racing, who have scored a second and a win so far, but with two different cars. In each race they have had success with one car, while the other recorded a DNF. If they can get their finishing rate up from the current 50%, they may well become a championship contender towards the end of the season. They certainly have the pace in either car.
The ClubSport Series started two weeks after the 12 Hrs of Spa, with the first of three 2.4-hour long races. Road America played host to a dynamic season opener which saw more classic ClubSport Series battling, albeit a little overly aggressive at times. Another late race Safety Car threw a spanner into the strategy works for some teams, whilst others reaped the rewards of stopping early. Club Cup also started on the same day, as a support series to the ClubSport Series. And as is often the case with support series, the action was just as good as what we would see in the main race. The long straights of Road America offered plenty of slipstreaming opportunities for the small Mazda MX-5s, and race 1 delivered a three-wide finish straight out of the box. Race 2 started with an unfortunate pile-up at the front of the reverse grid field, but was nevertheless another excellent teaser for what the remainder of the season can offer.
Only just over two weeks ago, the ClubSport Series and Club Cup returned for the second round of the season at COTA. It was somewhat calmer of a race in terms of Safety Cars this time, with only two during the 4 hour long ClubSport race. Nevertheless, there was a similar amount of action in what proved to be another busy race for the Stewards. Club Cup proved once again to be an excellent addition to the roster, with both races full of hard but fair racing. The start of race 2 saw 8-wide (!) into T1, which somehow everyone got through without contact. The shorter track layout used for the Club Cup races, turning left mid-way through the Esses to rejoin halfway down the back straight, offered a new challenge for the drivers, which they mastered very quickly.
In the Cup class, Fiercely Forward lead with a significant margin of 45 points. The battle for second place remains close though, with Hugh Jass, Impulse Racing, NAB Racing and Alpinestars Geodesic Racing all covered by just fourteen points between them. Each of the six podium finishers has had varying luck so far in the two races, so different players may well still emerge over the course of the season. In fact, if we look at each podium finisher’s performance in the race they did not finish on the podium, the best finish is Fiercely Forward’s P6 at COTA after winning the Road America season opener. Only a third of available points have been handed out so far, so it’s anything to play for, especially with such variance in results.
In the Sport class, a clear two horse race is emerging between mydays Erlebniswerk and Hugh Jass. 17 points separates the two teams so far, with a huge gap of 78 points to SRN Motorsports in third. From them to Haith Motorsport in sixth it is only another 9 points, so even though it looks like the battle for the championship will be between the Porsche of mydays Erlebniswerk and the BMW of Hugh Jass, it’s anyone’s guess for the remaining positions in the standings. SRN Motorsports could have been right up there, had they not made a mistake in registration for Road America. Similarly, PNUmatik Motorsports had a good start to the season with a third place at Road America, before struggling at COTA.
Standings are closer in the TCR class, with Team Heusinkveld leading a pair of Full Send Racing entries. Impulse Racing is only a single point behind the second of the Full Send Racing cars and will be looking to split the two and even jump them later on. The racing in the class so far has been classic touring car action, complete with trading of paint and leaning on bumpers. The 4 Hrs of COTA proved to be a first for IVRA TCR competition: it was the first race without a Full Send Racing car on the podium.
In Club Cup, the main players are starting to emerge as well. With four races complete and eight still to go, Yearone Racing’s Soichi Ishimaru leads the standings with a win and two second places. Phoenix Racing eSport’s Dustin Herröder and R70 Team’s Nacho Gaspar are the other two drivers currently over the 600 point barrier. Chris Whalley, another Yearone Racing driver, could well have been up there with his team mate if it were not for a no-score at the second COTA race. Szybki Racing are another team who have had a good showing so far, with a combined five podiums across their four drivers. Clifford Ebben, racing for Simucube ineX, only joined the series for the COTA event, but made his intentions clear with a win in the second race.
This weekend, all three series will race at Barber Motorsports Park. The ClubSport Series and Club Cup will take their usual time slot on Saturday, while the Endurance Series field will have to wait an extra day until Sunday before they too can enjoy the Alabama track. A total of 68 drivers are registered with teams in both the ClubSport Series and the Endurance Series. While not all of these drivers will be driving in both races, there will be multiple drivers doing double-duty this weekend. In addition to those drivers, another 8 drivers are registered in both Club Cup and either the ClubSport or the Endurance Series. So all in all, it’s going to be a busy weekend for a lot of teams and drivers!
