The CMS NARS 2.4hr race at Daytona was a great turnout for the new Storm Gang Simulation mods in rFactor 2. Here we have the full race report.
We are very pleased to support CMS and the Storm Gang Simulation mod community in rFactor 2, recently they had their race at Daytona for a 2.4hr race. Thanks to their community, we have the full race report of the event.
Photo Credits: Jerry Chen and Daniel Kirby
rFactor 2: A Year of Hypercars and GTs Gets Started at Daytona with NARS at CMS
It was a great turnout of 42 drivers , 25 Hypercars and 17 GTs, to start the yearlong multiclass VMSC race series in the NARS. The first official race using the Storm Gang Simulation WSC 2022 mod, it was the best turnout seen in over two years and a strong indication of the interest that the mod has generated to date.
With so many cars on track, even with the space and passing zones that the Daytona road circuit provides, an action-packed race was guaranteed from drivers that are still working to come to grips with the full potential of so many cars news to the rF2 paddock.
Qualifying
To the delight of the crowd, it was veteran CMS racer, PRO Jon Uyan that took the overall pole in his Bugatti Bolide with a 1:31.605, just ahead of Daniel Kirby and Jason Whited in their Mercedes AMG1 and Aston Martin Valkyrie respectively.
Ross Smith showed that his strong season last year was no accident, taking another Bolide to 5th overall at 1:32:641 and claiming the HC AM pole over the Porsche 908-4 of Jerry Chen and the Valkyrie of Guiherme Bencke.
GT PRO Eduardo Beninca in his Lexus RCF took the overall GT pole at 1:43.316 ahead of the Lamborghini Huracan Evo2 of newcomer Zander Tallman and the Acura NSX of George Angelidis.
Taking the 5th overall spot in the GT qualifying and the AM pole at 1:45.201 was Ford Mustang driver Tom Nasella, picking up where he left off from last year. Erik Jacobs in his Lexus RCF and Paul Ibbotson in his Lamborghini Huracan rounded out the top three qualifiers in the GT AM field.
Race
It was a clean start to the 90 minutes of racing and the race quickly developed into several clusters of HCs and GTs as the race progressed. In addition to tense battles between the HCs and GTs as they raced around the circuit, the clustering led to some particularly spectacular moments, and heartbreaks, as groups of HCs worked through groups of GTs without losing time to each other.
In the end, the combination of track, still unfamiliar cars and high traffic loads took a heavy toll on the field, with 16 cars forced to retire over the 90 minutes of racing.
Some drivers however, found the track VERY MUCH to their liking, gaining good reward for good driving, good setup and not a little bit of good luck too!
The highest in that list was the eventual HC AM winner, Ross Smith in his Bugatti Bolide picking up 2nd place overall in the race for good measure. Staying with HC AM, it was the familiar face of Troy Uyan, returning to racing once more, who picked up P2 for HC AM in his Bolide, with Tom Aiken in his Lamborghini SCV12 taking 3rd in class.
Only 1 second ahead of Ross was overall race winner and P1 in HC PRO, Daniel Kirby. Colin Moore piloted his Koeniggsegg Jesko to P2 in class, while JT Tami cut a swath through the field to finish P3 in class and P4 overall after starting at the back of the HC field.
In the GT field, it was the display of speed and consistency that we have come to expect from Eduardo Beninca that powered him to GT PRO win in his Lexus, 45s ahead of P2 George Angelidis in his Acura NSX and a lap ahead of P3 in class James Walker in his McLaren 720s.
AM driver Erik Jacobs proved he had the consistency to go along with the pace by taking his Lexus to the class win (his first!) a lap ahead of Thomas DiLibero’s BMW M6 and the Acura NSX of Stuart Barge’s Acura.
In addition to their finishing points, drivers were also eligible for 2 “Hard Charger” points, earned by the driver gaining the most positions from flag to flag in class as well as 2 points to each of the 5 most consistent drivers in the race overall.
Hard Charger:
- HC PRO: JT Tami 20 positions
- HC AM: Troy Uyan 6 positions
- GT PRO: David Anderson 16 positions
- GT AM: Eugene Mazur 13 positions
Most Consistent Drivers:
- George Angelidis
- Eduardo Beninca
- JT Tami
- Ross Smith
- Sahil Mustac
The race also kicked off not only the driver championships but that for teams as well – pitting pairs of drivers 1xPRO and 1xAM from the same car class, against each other. Hot out of the blocks were a pair of GT teams – JB Motorsporst and HPD, with Howl at the n00n leading the HC pairings.
Post Race
The paddock buzzed before, during and after the race with the excitement that is generated by a new series and new cars to master. With 42 drivers and 11 registered teams, the expectation is high that the series will be keeping and perhaps even raising the bar on excitement and challenge as the year progresses.
With many familiar, returning and new faces in the series, it is guaranteed that regardless of the skill level, there will be competitive racing up and down the field!
Race Results:
drive.google.com
Series Standings:
drive.google.com
Liveracers:
cmsracing-com.liveracers.com/Results
Full Stream Replay
The next race in the series will be a 60 minute race at a location being selected by community vote – which track will come out as the favourite??? Come join us to find out!
NARS is a chapter of Champion Motorsports that uses the rF2 simulation to provide multi- and single-class racing for drivers of all skill levels.
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This great mod is brought to you by Storm Gang Simulation: a longtime partner of Champion Motorsports and a passionate group that is taking the modding world by storm.
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