Lionheart Speedway Series iRacing Gateway 200 Report

The 2022 Lionheart Speedway Series in iRacing continues as round 7 sends sparks flying for the Gomez Sim Industries Gateway 200.

The Lionheart Speedway Series recently visited the World Wide Technology Raceway in iRacing, round 7 had it all for the Gomez Sim Industries Gateway 200.

Written by Darren B of simrace247.com

Top 5 On The Grid

1. #8 Taylor
2. #31 Showen
3. #28 Branch
4. #72 Forsythe
5. #14 Nunez

Here we go, another packed grid of 33 cars are getting into position for the formation lap, Green Flag! A clean opening lap by everyone as the cars get up to speed for 160 laps of high speed action. Branch moves up to second, Nunez is driving defensive, the Team Simrace247 Driver is driving well under pressure. Lap 11 sees us back to racing action after an incident on lap 7, the top 10 is getting dicey as drivers are pushing to work their way through. Taylor remains out front with the top 5 covered by 1 second. With the cars and drivers getting back up to speed the field is getting divided into packs of cars and individual battles.

Lap 20 Top 10

1. Taylor
2. Branch
3. Showen
4. Forsythe
5. Nunez
6. Wood
7. Hassert
8. Wood
9. Malone
10. Anzaldo

The top 5 are breaking away, with 6th to 11th all in very close proximity of each other, this is going to get feisty. how will be patient, who will manage the car better, this is going to be interesting albeit in the early stages. We are now entering the phase where lapped cars are going to play a big part in the outcome from here on in. Anzaldo is working his way through the pack in a calculating manner, he looks fast but not overstepping it or taking risks.

Lap 24 Big Crash, Yellow Flag

Coogan tags the back of Carter who loses control of his car, spinning him around with Hacker having nowhere to go and slamming into him, that was fast and messy! And to be honest, it could have collected more cars in the melee. The pit window is open and the majority of the field pit in, hopefully, everyone topped off enough and is ready for the green flag. Lap 29 gets us racing again, Jasper, Demaegd, King and Goodman opted to stay out under the yellow flag and lead the field, Branch passes Taylor for P5.

Forsythe is looking fast and calculated in P7, he tags the back of Taylor, lets see if his car is damaged. Taylor moves up to 5th, and Forsythe is pressuring Branch. Nunez is going for the move on Showen, who goes defensive, some great driving here is on display from the Lionheart Speedway drivers. Demaegd takes the lead and the yellow flag is out on lap 41. What appears to be netcode, Mussleman loses control and slams the wall hard with Beard getting caught up in the crash. More drivers enter pit road. The start of lap 46 gets us back under green flag racing again, the strategy is well and truely out the window now after having multiple yellow flags, the engineers and drivers will be working them calculators hard.

Lap 50 Top 10

1. Taylor
2. Forsythe
3. Nunez
4. Fowler
5. Rigney
6. Moll
7. Anzaldo
8. Jenkins
9. King
10. Jasper

This is hotting up to be one hell of a race and we are only 50 laps in, Forsythe and Nunez are on the tail of Taylor with Fowler charging behind, the top 4 are covered by half a second. Cars are racing 4 wide further down the pack, this is intense. Branch, Goodman, Oster and Jasper are proving why this is why Lionheart is one of the greatest sim racing leagues in the world, Wagner joins the party, Wood is there all fighting for P10, incredible racing! Showen closes up to the group, he will want a piece of this action. 10th to 17th is amazing racing and a real battle royale.

Lap 56 Yellow Flag

You would think with that close battling, it was going to end in tears, but the incident involved. Dupre tags the back of Malone just enough to upset his car slightly, Short taps the back of Dupre and sends him into a spin and the wall. Whilst the yellow is out, cars enter the pitlane, Jasper spins it down pit road as he leaves his box. Lap 61 and once again we are back racing again. Coogan, Rigney, Nunez, Moll, Jenkins, Moll, Anzaldo and Forsythe are in a fierce battle for 1oth place, such good racing is going on. Branch is out front in the lead with King and Oster in hot pursuit. Lap 77 brings out the yellow flag again as we see the stricken car of Jenkins in the middle of the track, what appears to be netcode again, Nunez is close to Jenkins, but direct contact is not made.

Once again, cars come down pit road for fuel and tires except for Jasper. Lap 82 and its green flag, king leads. It could have been a disaster at the front as Branch, Oster and Wagner almost pile into each other, that could have ended badly.

Lap 85 Top 10

1. King
2. Branch
3. Oster
4. Wagner
5. Goodman
6. Wood
7. Fowler
8. Showen
9. Coogan
10. Nunez

What a race this is turning out to be, it is always good to see different drivers getting in the mix, the Speedway series always rolls the dice, it’s fast, it’s furious, it’s anyone’s for the taking. The top 6 are covered by 1 second, the yellow is out again on lap 88! Its Fowler! he makes side contact with Showen who was riding up the track. Lap 93, green flag.  King is squeezing Oster on the Outside, he does not want to give up his P2 position. Wagner is in the popcorn seat and may want to keep an eye on this for a few laps. Oster moves up to second. Lap 97 and the car of Forsythe is flying through the air and lands on the side wall, yellow flag! Its that part of the track again where we have seen netcode issues, Nunez was alongside Forsythe but contact was not present. Lap 102, lets get racing again.

As mentioned it appears netcode is being a gremlin for many in this race, a shame because we are seeing some great racing. Oster goes for the lead, Branch holds the lead, King gets involved, Wagner joins the party, its fierce! further down, the battle for 6th rages on, Goodman, Moll and Showen are having a real tussle. Oster takes the high line to get a run on Branch for the lead, he skims the wall and makes it stick, King scuffs the wall! Wagner passes and gets a run on Branch. King has got damage, he is falling down the pack, Wagner moves up to second, what a race! Andrew wood moves up to 3rd, its all happening.

Moll is making moves as he sends it up to P4, Nunez is on the move and slips up to P7.  Whilst that is going on Wood moves up to P2, Wood goes for the lead, and Oster maintains P1. Yellow flag on lap 117, Coogan rides up the track and slams Branch hard into the wall causing a big crash and collecting Malone in the incident. We see a large number of cars come into pit lane, this could be the last stop of the race. Lap 122 gets us under green flag racing again.

Lap 122 Top 10

1. Oster
2. Wood
3. Wagner
4. Moll
5. Goodman
6. Showen
7. Nunez
8. Coogan
9. Rigney
10. Taylor

Can we get a run to the finish, let’s see what happens. the cars are up to speed, is anyone going to start taking risks now, who is going to start the fireworks. For now, the top 10 train is working as a draft unit, Taylor moves up to P8. Oster has opened a slight gap of 1 second out front, Wagner wants to keep in touch with him and moves up to P2. Moll moves up to P3, it all seems a bit calm at the moment, nothing too risky as the laps click by. Nunez is looking to make a move on Showen for P6 and makes it work. Wagner has caught up to Oster, the top 3 are bunched up. Nunez is lining up Goodman for a move, Nunez up to P5, Nunez up to P4, Moll takes the lead.

The team simrace247 driver Nunez is in contention for a podium fight, Wood moves up to P4. Taylor is on the move and slips up to P6. Wood moves up to 3rd, with a sweet move on Wagner, Wood keeps the momentum and shuffles up to second, Oster takes it back, less than 10 laps to go, its prime time! Wood goes for it again, he makes it stick, P2 for Wood. Taylor passes Nunez for 5th, this is tight racing, Moll and Wood out front have got some air back to Oster in 3rd, the podium fight is on with 6 drivers within a second. Moll takes the lead, Taylor and Wagner fight for 4th, great scenes in the closing stages. Taylor and Wagner make slight contact in the battle for 4th, Nunez seizes his moment and passes them both. Nunez has got the speed and fuel, he is catching Oster in 3rd. It’s the final lap, Wood is holding off Moll, something has happened behind them! Moll takes the lead! Taylor runs around the outside of Nunez and slams into the 14 of Nunez after bouncing off the wall.

But Who Won In That Dramatic Finish?

After an exciting finish to the race, Dean Moll has won the Gomez Sim Industries Gateway 200. What a battle to the end after a packed yellow flag race. Speaking in HyperX victory lane, Moll speaks on the race ” This one surprised me, I didn’t get a lot of laps in for practice, but I know I am very good at fuel saving, I will take the win”. A superb race that had it all.

Finish	Team	Driver	Class	Start	Laps	Interval	Laps Led	Inc	Pts	Bonuses/Penalties
1	#23-Synergy Motorsports	Dean Moll	DW12	20	160	–	10	0	62	(+1) Led a lap (+1) 0 or less Incidents
2	#64-Synergy Motorsports Black	Andrew Z Wood	DW12	8	160	-0.105	6	0	57	(+1) Led a lap (+1) 0 or less Incidents
3	#3-Dark Horse Racing	Matt Wagner	DW12	14	160	-1.962	0	0	51	(+1) 0 or less Incidents
4	#99-Powerslide Motorsports	Michael Goodman	DW12	28	160	-3.184	0	4	47
5	#31-Powerslide Motorsports	Tony Showen	DW12	2	160	-3.764	0	4	45
6	#29-Team RaceVerse Sunset	Shane Coogan	DW12	16	160	-3.981	0	8	43
7	#04-JD eSports	Gabriel Wood	DW12	6	160	-5.637	0	0	42	(+1) 0 or less Incidents
8	#00-Synergy Motorsports Black	Mike Rigney	DW12	13	160	-7.049	0	0	40	(+1) 0 or less Incidents
9	#59-4D Sim Racing	Samuel Reiman	DW12	9	160	-7.078	2	0	39	(+1) Led a lap (+1) 0 or less Incidents
10	#14-Team SimRace247	Luis Gonzalez Nunez	DW12	5	160	-10.025	0	12	35