The CMS race at Enna Pergusa in rFactor 2 provided top action and challenges for the racers in the GT1 class.
With the CMS providing a great series of racing in the GT1 class in rFactor 2, the league visited Enna Pergusa for a challenge and relentless race.
GT1 is a great choice of race car to have as a league series, proving that cars of yesteryear are still highly respected and enjoyed in sim racing.
Mix that together with a well organised league and great racers and you have CMS, visit them today to check out the race rosters they have across various sim racing platforms.
Moving forward, we have the official race report from the league series and all the important information on how the race went at Enna Pergusa.
CMS official Race report
August 12, 2021 – From Portugal, the teams of the VGT1C made the short journey east across the Mediterranean to the island of Sicily and another circuit that gets scant attention – Enna Pergusa.
With championship battles intensifying and only 3 races left, the absence of PRO Jon Uyan of V.I.C.E Racing and AM title contender Jimmy Regan of Gone Broke Racing made for serious openings in all three sets of standings, if the other teams and 22 drivers that made the trip to Sicily were up to the challenge.
Qualifying
It was PRO Daniel Kirby that made the best of the course in his Ford GT to set the pole-claiming lap of 1:27.83, a full second ahead of championship leader Eduardo Beninca in his B&M Racing Ford.
JT Tami, the first non-Ford in the qualifying standings, slotted in at third, just ahead of the top AM qualifier, John Maher in his B&M Aston Martin. Paul Ibbotson and Ross Smith in their Lamborghini Murcielagos completed the AM top three, about a second behind Maher.
Race
At the green, PROs Kirby, Beninca and Tami streaked away from the rest of the field in a tight battle that thrilled the spectators lined along the shores of the lake. Behind however, chaos reigned supreme, captivating the onlookers as well, but for entirely different reasons.
By the halfway mark in the race, the scattering of recovered cars around the track or languishing on pitlane was evidence aplenty that many drivers had been too optimistic in their setups for the unique ‘brake hard/go fast’ challenges of the circuit.
Whether it was through catastrophic damage like that of Paul Ibbotson or an accumulation as was the case with John Maher, Pergusa was relentless in exacting a painful price from the drivers when they made a mistake in the constant procession of chicanes.
Some, but not many were able to emulate PROs JT Tami or indeed Eduardo Beninca, who both dropped off the pace in the early part of the race, but were able to regain composure and put in strong recovery drives to rescue points from a difficult race.
For the drivers that through either prudent setup work or patience on track (or both), the rewards were impressive. First among these drivers was Dan Kirby, who piloted his Ford safely, and at speed to take a well-deserved win overall and in the PRO category, almost a full lap ahead of fellow PRO driver Brian Hall.
Jerry Chen completed the PRO podium with a strong and consistent drive in the face of some demanding situations where as he put it “ it seemed that if you got within 5 feet of my nose, you were spinning.”
In AM, it was a rare Lamborghini 1-2 as SRR Driver Ross Smith and independent David Anderson drove with composure to take the top to spots as well as finishing 7-8 overall.
Hall Brothers Racing was able to celebrate a double podium finish with Lanny Hall overcoming adversity on an unforgiving track to take the final AM podium spot.
Post Race
In what turned out to be a bit of an endurance race compressed into 60 minutes, it seemed that the only thing that the race didn’t feature was the infamous plague of frogs that had descended upon a race weekend in the early years of the circuit.
The unusual combination of flat out sections and devilish chicanes showed no mercy, or respect for the championship standings of the drivers, claiming both the high and the low.
The mood in the paddock was decidedly tense after the race as reviewed their performance either ruefully or with sober calculation as they started to contemplate the two remaining races.
While no driver in contention for a podium spot saw their chances disappearing entirely due to the results of this round, it certainly tightened up the races in all three championships:
PRO
Kirby and Beninca remain in a very tight race for the top spot with Kirby continuing to gain ground on the leader. Hall has vaulted over Tami for the final podium position, but with only 7 points between them, it is not settled yet!
AM
while Maher and Ibbotson retain their 1-2 standing, their poor results at Pergusa have allowed several challengers to close the gap, principally Ross Smith and David Anderson who vaulted over Jimmy Regan.
TEAM
The championship reflects the changing fortunes of the drivers, with Hall Brothers, SRR and Gone For Broke all moving ahead of V.I.C.E, with only 23 points separating the three teams.
B&M Racing continues to hold a dominant lead and even if the gap has been steadily decreasing it would be a stunning reversal for them to have the team crown taken from them by series end.
The next two weeks will be telling as the teams first head to Brazil for the penultimate race at Interlagos on 26 Aug and then streak back across the Atlantic for the final stop at Spa. As always qualifying is at 9 PM Eastern and Race at 9:30 PM. See you there!
Live Racers
https://cmsracing-com.liveracers.com/Results/Result/5d8ad28f-f062-43fe-9211-aa4a5979431f
Stream
Broadcast by Ross “Tnadz” Smith
CMS offers a variety of racing throughout the week across a number of racing sims. The NARS chapter races Thursday nights (North American timezones) featuring concurrent championships with PRO and AM driver classes with a live broadcast on Youtube.
Find out more about CMS and NARS at https://www.cmsracing.com
Join us on Discord at https://discord.com/invite/4ckmjPX or watch us on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Kdp07PvIeW47f0_sM0emw.
CMS is a league partner with simrace247.com: CMS Community Sim Racing League – SimRace247
To purchase rFactor 2 visit: Studio-397 – Racing Simulation
About rFACTOR 2
rFactor 2 is a realistic, easily extendable racing simulation from Studio 397. It offers the latest in vehicle and race customization, great graphics, outstanding multiplayer and the height of racing realism. rFactor 2 features mixed class road racing with ultra realistic dynamics, an immersive sound environment and stunning graphics, perfect for top-level esports and a rich single-player experience.
Race against a field of AI cars, or in multi-player mode against others. rFactor 2 supports a full day-night cycle as well as dynamically varying weather conditions such as rain which dynamically builds into puddles. Tracks feature “real-road” technology that changes the grip as more cars drive on it. You can run full 24 hour endurance events and in multi-player mode, driver swaps are also supported. Everything can be customized by the community, including adding new tracks and cars, and a wealth of add-ons are available on-line.Working with several partners, rFactor 2 has been used in hundreds of esport championships all over the world – in particular McLaren’s World’s Fastest Gamer and Formula E.
rFactor 2 is also an evolving product, which will be updated and added to for many years, so the list of features will expand!
