Ryan Scott Hamilton and Ayden Refaie have clinched the final IVRA title of the season for Prestanda NOMAD in the IVRA GT Sprint Series powered by Heusinkveld. It came during the final round at Bathurst, where they manoeuvred a season-high two Safety Car periods to finish 2nd, which was enough to become champions.
Coming into the race, Prestanda NOMAD only needed a Top 5 to secure the Division 3 championship as they held a 37 point lead, but including them, there were still four teams in contention. Pole position only made this equation easier for them, with Alex Bennett stealing overall pole from Sean Campbell fairly late on, and Deutche Payment Esports taking Division 2 pole in 4th overall.
The opening lap at Bathurst is well known for becoming a roadblock, but it was very clean on this occasion, with only 3 out of 34 starters having to pit on Lap 1. It was difficult to pass early on, and so the top positions would remain largely the same until the first Safety Car of the race.
It was caused by Spencer Reitsma, who had a spectacular crash at Skyline. He lost control at the first right hander, slamming into the wall and spinning around right in front of the oncoming traffic. Although no other cars were caught up, it was very close to being a huge pileup.
The green flag would wave again with over an hour to go, and Jason Dilworth challenged for the Division 2 lead immediately. Deutsche Payment Esports were able to hold him off, and the top positions would again be unchanged until the pitstops.
By 50 minutes to go, most of the top contenders had pitted, but as he pitted one lap before most, Sean Campbell was able to jump everyone and get into the lead. Alex Bennett’s stop was slower for Maniti Racing, and he went from 1st to 3rd.
The second Safety Car came out over 10 minutes later when Jason Dilworth, who was still running 2nd in Division 2, had a VR failure and was forced to pull over. On the restart, Prestanda NOMAD would also lose the Division 3, although it could’ve been intentional as they knew that a win wasn’t necessary to take the title.
Nick McLaughlin would take advantage of this into The Chase with 12 minutes to go, firing down the inside to little Prestanda NOMAD defence. From there, the divisions wouldn’t change leaders anymore, as Sean Campbell took his 6th win of the season at Bathurst.
Division 2 would be won by Deutsche Payment Esports, with Precision Racing Esports winning in Division 3. It wouldn’t be enough to overturn the championship though, as Prestanda NOMAD’s 2nd placed finish would see them hold on by 26 points.