Maniti Racing have become the first team to secure an IVRA championship as they won the GSI Endurance Series in the GT3 category. This is despite the 12 Hours of Fuji coming up next month, as their 173 point lead is an unassailable one after their win at Motegi.
There was drama for both GT3 Pro title contenders, while GTP is reduced to 4 teams that can win the championship now. Maniti Racing also retain the championship lead there with their race win over Urano Esports who sit 90 points behind in 2nd.
It started off excitingly with Emil Wimbo stealing pole position away from Maniti Racing late on in GT3 Qualifying, which was very different to GT3 Pro, where Obsidian Racing grabbed pole with their 2nd lap of the session. In GTP, it was a shootout between Dylan Scrivens and Mats-Thorge Huthsfeldt, that the Urano Esports driver won to take pole.
Just like they did in Monza, Valorous Motorsports saw their pole position turn to disaster as they were hit by Asetek Simsports Visceral following a stack-up at the start, earning the latter a penalty. However, unlike Monza, Valorous didn’t receive damage, although Maniti Racing did take over the lead.
The drama would continue to come early on too, as Niclas Laubisch for Urano got into contact. He fit the back of Impulse Racing at Turn 1, and spin around during a battle, which cost them 7 minutes of mandatory repairs.
A dramatic Safety Car ensued, with Treq Esports pitting just before in GTP to give them the lead. Some of those who pitted had contact on pit lane as there was confusion when Pit Lane opened, and 7 of the GTP runners were sent to the end of the line, while every GT3 Pro and GT3 team pitted.
With Urano Esports down in P22, Impulse Racing had a great chance to gain some points back on the 4-time race winners, but they themselves had issues around Lap 50, putting them a lap behind Urano. The first green flag stops of the day in GTP saw Geodesic cycle through to the front, with an overtake for first in GT3 Pro seeing Maniti Racing taking over from Visceral.
This happened around the pitstop phase, from which Tempus Simsport didn’t actually put any fuel in, causing the 2nd Safety Car. Geodesic pitted from the lead so Urano restarted out front, creating an alternate strategy phase where Maniti Racing, who overtook Urano not long after the restart, were exchanging the lead with those who did take the chance to pit.
Eventually, the pace of Maniti and Urano rendered the strategy differences redundant. Meanwhile in GT3 Pro, Obsidian Racing made the unorthodox decision to pit from the lead under that Safety Car and so they dropped way down.
At the halfway stage, Maniti Racing’s GT3 entry confirmed that Satellite Racing would have to finish in front of them on the day to keep the title alive, with other championships remaining relatively unchanged. And just as this news came in, Satellite had contact with the World of Simracing GTP that spun right in front of them, and put them 4 laps down.
Elsewhere, Asetek Simsports Visceral tried to keep their championship hopes alive by short fuelling just before the points, and they would lead at halfway, but by the end of the day they would be 188 points back. With 91 laps to go, Yoep de Ligt had eventually caught Maniti Racing and began battling for the lead.
This culminated in contact at the Turn 7 and 8 sweepers, causing both teams to spin but continue in first and second. Sim City Racing’s stationary GT3 Pro entry slowed proceedings again shortly afterwards, allowing everyone to pit and calm down.
GTP and GT3 were unchanged, but in GT3 Pro Visceral were the only team to pit, meaning that Glacier Racing had most fuel on board and thus the quickest final stop, something that other teams would have to bear in mind for the rest of the day. The only thing that changed in GTP was Urano’s drop to 5th, although it wouldn’t be long before they were back on the podium.
After a tactical blunder earlier in the race, Obsidian Racing staged a comeback in the final hours by taking the lead again with 70 laps to go, and this held until around 18 to go when Glacier Racing made their shorter final stop, and came out in front. In GTP, Urano had taken a 10 second penalty for their contact with Maniti Racing earlier, but had rescued 2nd place by 6 laps to go.
Meanwhile in GT3 Pro, Glacier Racing were being caught rapidly. Once Obsidian were behind, it wasn’t long before Marko Nurmela got his line wrong through Turns 7 and 8, allowing Sergio Gurdiel Ferreiro to take the lead, and eventually the win too.
Out front though, Maniti Racing won the race ahead of Urano, extending their championship lead to 90 points before the final race, while GT3 Pro saw Urano extend their lead by 7 points on the day, despite finishing a few laps down.
The story was in GT3 though, as Maniti Racing confirmed themselves as the first IVRA champions of the season, as they now have an unassailable lead over Archer Brothers Esports, who moved up to 2nd. With 3 race wins and no finish below 4th, it really is no surprise for a team with such a great history of success in IVRA.
However, there’s still a lot riding on the 12 Hours of Fuji for the other categories in one month’s time in the final round of the GSI Endurance Series by IVRA 2022/23.