It was Sean Campbell domination at Imola in the 2nd round of the IVRA GT Sprint Series powered by Heusinkveld. He won by nearly 18 seconds, although it wasn’t as big as the win for Prestanda NOMAD in Division 3, as opening lap chaos saw them gain a lead they wouldn’t give up.
The day started with quite a dynamic qualifying session, with Team Fordzilla first taking provisional pole before having it stolen by Sean Campbell, who improved on his own pole position multiple times. Adam Wulkowicz secured Division 2 pole for GermanSimRacing with 6th overall, and Element Sim Racing started from first in Division 3.
However, it was all change on the start. Tom Burns took the lead immediately for Team Fordzilla, GermanSimRacing put 8 cars between themselves and 2nd in Division 2, while Element Sim Racing got caught up in a monster shunt that took out many cars, giving Prestanda NOMAD a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
It all started when RSR were clipped by Quasar Sim Racing at Turn 3, and those behind couldn’t avoid being collected. Up front, Sean Campbell didn’t spend long waiting around, and retook the lead for Deltasport into Turn 1 on Lap 3.
Just behind them, the first of Maniti Racing’s problems for the day struck as they were forced off into the gravel at Turn 5. They rejoined alongside Valorous Motorsports, causing contact between themselves and Emil Wimbo who then reversed back onto the racing surface, taking out roughly three more cars.
Tom Burns had been trailing Campbell ever since he retook the lead, but that would change with a mistake at Turn 5, seeing the Porsche scrap the wall. Most heads then turned to Division 2, which would provide the entertainment for almost all of the race.
There was a four car battle for 2nd, but the iLiveries BMW’s spin at Turn 1 and Jason Dilworth’s rotation a few laps later left much less of a fight. Deutsche Payment Esports would eventually battle their way through and began to close the gap to leaders GermanSimRacing.
Meanwhile, the race winners from Nurburgring and points leaders, Delta V Racing, were having a disaster as they got a black flag for an infringement on the formation lap. This was compounded a few laps later when Division 1 points leaders Maniti Racing hit them, causing the latter to finish 15th.
As the pitstops approached, Campbell had a 9 second lead and not much changed through this phase. Afterwards, Niklas Schafer was able to begin reeling in GermanSimRacing for the Division 2 lead, and he was able to overtake them into Turn 1 with 30 minutes to go.
The last major position to settle was 3rd overall, and it would be Dominic Ollivierre who took it. This wasn’t without its controversy, as he went around the outside of Turn 1, giving him the inside for Turn 2, but contact was made with Sabelt Esports defending the position, sending them for a spin.
Ahead of all the drama was Sean Campbell, and in the end all three leaders had calm runs to the flag. Even Deutsche Payment Esports, who battled hard for the lead, had time to celebrate their Division 2 win, as did Prestanda NOMAD in Division 3.
There is still one race to go this season for the IVRA GT Sprint Series powered by Heusinkveld, and it comes at Daytona just a week before Christmas. All the teams will be hoping to end of 2022 on a high with that final race.