The season finale for the CMS rFactor 2 GT1 championship came to an end at SPA. With these great cars coming to an end of the championship, the fight was still on.
The CMS GT1 championship in rFactor 2 has been a great series. First and foremost congrats to those that attended the season. Here we have the full race report for the final race at Spa.
CMS NARS Official
There was magic in the air and a real sense of anticipation as 16 drivers, representing 7 of the 8 teams in the series, gathered at the historic circuit of Spa-Francorchamps for the final and deciding race of the Virtual GT1 Championship.
The weather was magnificent, promising the best possible conditions for racing over the day and night cycle that was to come.
Qualifying
With PROs Dan Kirby and Eduardo Beninca tied for the drivers championship, it was no surprise that they set the two fastest time in qualifying, with Kirby recording a 2:06.982 in his Ford GT, only a half second ahead of Beninca in another Ford. Brian Hall in his Corvette C6.R broke up the “Ford party” to take third in front of another string of Fords.
For the AM qualifying, it was another Ford, this time driven by championship leader John Maher, that took top honours at 2:09.605, to be followed by the Corvette of Lanny Hall and Lamborghini Murcielago of Ross Smith.
Race
With the drop of the green flag, what turned out to be 144 minutes of nono-stop action got underway. For the entire race, it was four PROs, Kirby, Beninca, Hall and Mike Parker in yet another Ford, that raced each other hard with each taking a share of the lead laps.
While Kirby had the lion’s share of the lead through the mid-point of the race, the fans were rivetted by the drama taking place for Beninca, who by the same point had been obliged to take two drive-through penalties but by L36 was leading the race.
Handing the lead to Mike Parker on L50 when he pitted for the final time, a third penalty cruelly broke the back of his challenge for the win, forcing him to settle for third only.
It was left to Parker and Kirby to battle it out for the win, with the lead changing three times in the final dozen laps before Kirby was able to put and then keep his rival behind to take the win by only 2 seconds.
In the AM race, it was the battle of Maher’s Ford GT against Lanny Hall’s Corvette C6.R with David Anderson’s Lamborghini lurking in the near distance. As with the PRO race, the AM lead changed several times over the course of the event, with each of the drivers getting to the front.
As the race wound down, Hall and Maher, in that order, had cleared a gap to Anderson but before the two had a real chance to test each other’s mettle in the final laps, Hall was handed a drive through penalty and Maher was away.
It remained tight, with only 10 seconds separating second place Hall from the class winner Maher, but it was enough. With a lap on his closest challenger, Anderson finished a comfortable third in class.
Post Race
There was many a longing look at the cars by both fans and drivers as the teams commenced the final packup and trip to the various home locations. With many positive comments on the racing, the cars and the competition, it is very possible that GT1 racing will make it’s way back to NARS in the not too distant future.
At the end of the day, there were three enthusiastic cheers by all the teams for the series team that had made it all possible:
Outlaw and George Angelidis for the GT1 car mod and updates
Corti for the Enna Pergusa track mod updated for this series
Ross Smith for all the visual supports – from car liveries to advertising and live stream of the race
Jerry Chen and Dan Kirby for their spectacular photos of the races
Don Fryman for his pinch hitting tech support whenever needed
And now, the final standings:
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS
PRO
4 wins over the season, including the finale at Spa meant that Dan Kirby was able to prevail for the Gold Cup with 187 points in a season long battle.
Eduardo Beninca claimed the Silver Cup with 166 points and 3 wins, falling just short in the all-important race at Spa when he and Daniel were tied on points going into the race
Brian Hall, with one win to his credit during the season, hoisted the Bronze Cup with 126 points.
AM
It was John Maher with four wins and 173 points that was the run-away winner of the Gold Cup and a sure promotion to the PRO ranks next season.
At 116 points, David Anderson picked up the Silver Cup in what was a tight mid-field competition.
The Bronze Cup went to Lanny Hall, who despite the fact that he recorded no wins in the season, sustained a strong string of results to find the podium at season’s end.
TEAM
With 339 points, B&M Racing (Eduardo Beninca and John Maher) were the undisputed champions of the team event.
It was Hall Brothers Racing (Brian and Lanny Hall) with 228 points for the Silver Cup that also put considerable distance between themselves and the rest of the teams.
Storm Rider Racing, despite some stutters at the start of the series, proved that they had the measure of the competition, scoring 155 points to secure the Bronze Cup.
It was an exciting season through all 9 races and congratulations to all our racers!
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.
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