Lionheart Retro Series iRacing Extravaganza at Michigan

The mother of all races to the very end, the Lionheart Retro Series in iRacing put on a stunner at Michigan.

If there was ever a race that gave you goosebumps, this was it, the Lionheart Retro Series in iRacing put on an absolute masterclass of a race that had a showdown that many cannot match. Pure class, pure racing to the very end, Lionheart at its finest! Everyone involved on track, you put on a real show that will be remembered, and if there was ever a race of the season, you just got nominated.

Written by Darren B of simrace247.com

Top 5 on the grid in the Gomez Sim Industries Michigan 200

1. #99 Sirois
2. #28 Daniels
3. #19 Ragan
4. #43 Roberts
5. #08 Guyon

Another great turnout for the Lionheart retro series, 26 cars are ready to race, green flag. Here we go, a clean opening start by everyone as 100 laps await. Slipstream city builds up to speed, Ragan jumps up to second. Here comes Taylor, early speed and precision, up to P2, he hunts for the lead straight away as Sirois and Taylor dominate the racing lines. Forsythe is coming to the foreground and leaps up to P3. A great opening few laps from the drivers, Lionheart founder Anzaldo enters the top 4  and looks slick.

Malone is in the mix as the lead position jinks from driver to driver, Malone and Anzaldo have both gained 10 places from their starting position, exciting racing at Michigan as drivers go 3 wide.

Lap 10 top 10

1. Forsythe
2. Sirois
3. Malone
4. Taylor
5. Anzaldo
6. Wood
7. Wenzen
8. Ragan
9. Valenzuela
10. Daniels

Packs of cars running 3 wide through the pack, this is some fast and disciplined racing from the drivers, this is anyone’s race. It may be early but if this is the theme of the race, we are in for a good one, 25 cars are covered by 2.3 seconds, amazing. The leader board is shuffling like it’s a pitstop window, it’s flashing from driver to driver repeatedly, Anzaldo takes the lead, Malone takes the lead, Ragan takes the lead, you get the idea, brilliant.

This is a fine example of drivers racing at high speed in close proximity, the top 16 is covered by 1 second. Those engine temps and aero wash in the mid pack must be crazy, 23 laps in and the race is clean so far, for a while I was admiring how great the drivers are in this series on track. A fine example of sim racing, professional, fast and consistent.

Lap 25 top 10

1. Malone
2. Ragan
3. Anzaldo
4. Forsythe
5. G. Wood
6. Roberts
7. Sirois
8. Wenzen
9. Guyon
10. Daniels

The tussle for the race lead and positions is ongoing second after second, lap after lap. The top 25 are covered by 2.2 seconds, this is anyone’s game, someone in that pack is having a blast with fuel saving. Lap 33 sees the first of the early entries into the pitlane, this may be a good call as only a couple come in, they will want to avoid the traffic jam. A yellow flag on lap 34 at the final turn on pit road entry, Anzaldo and Valenzuela are involved in separate incidents, Valenzuela gets clipped by O’Brien. Many drivers come into the pits under yellow.

Lap 38 and we are back to racing, Malone and Nunez who pitted early are now at the front of the pack, Nunez takes the lead, the Team Simrace247.com driver is back in the groove. Meanwhile, Sirois gets a penalty, and Taylor takes the lead. The pack is a bit more spread out after the pitstops and safety car phase. here we go again 3 wide at the front with Taylor, Wenzen and Daniels.

Yellow flag on lap 44, that was a fast one, Fowler, Nunez and Malone are involved, they were running four wide on track. Malone and Fowler collide with Nunez being the victim. Lap 48 starts the green flag racing once again, Taylor leads.

Lap 50 top 10

1. Taylor
2. Forsythe
3. Daniels
4. Rodriguez
5. Anzaldo
6. Wenzen
7. Guyon
8. Ragan
9. Roberts
10. Hardin

The field is now covered by two packs, it is a lead pack of 11 cars covered by 0.6 with the chasing pack being led by Herrick who is 1.2 seconds behind. It’s still a race of chance and opportunity as the positions in the leading pack swap around, Herrick is still leading the chasing second pack and making some ground up slowly but surely, he is approaching the 1 second distance to Hardin in P11.

He is now in the draft and closing quickly, here comes the chasing pack to tag onto P11, a great job by Herrick, many who were following him need to give credit to his catch up pace and ability. Lap 71 sees Ragan come into the pits for the final top-up of fuel, who else will come into soon, Taylor pits in. Scary moments as O’Brien slams on the anchors and fishtails entering the pits before the speed limit line. The pack starts to shuffle up with the pit entry sessions, as everyone has made their pit stops, Graaf is leading.

Its going to be a battle royale to the finish, Graaf, Rasimas and Lanini had timed their pit stops to perfection are now covering the top 3, and have a gap of just over 1 second to the chasing drivers of O’Brien, Rodriguez, Taylor and Hardin. We know the draft has been very strong here at Michigan and the chasing drivers need to get into contention.

15 to go top 10

1. Graaf
2. Rasimas
3. Lanini
4. O’Brien
5. Taylor
6. Rodriguez
7. Ragan
8. Hardin
9. G. Wood
10. Daniels

O’Brien and those around him need to work as a chasing draft pack, if they battle amongst themselves, they will lose momentum and the leading trio will be sailing away. 10 laps to go, can they close in for race winning contention, Graaf still leads out front, 8 to go. Fowler is a lapped car that is helping the chasing pack, they are drafting him, is this the momentum those from P4 onwards needed? the pack is now bunched up, Hardin and Rodriguez wreck, a yellow flag with 6 to go. green flag, its going to be a 2 lap shoot out, Graaf nails the perfect restart, the speed is building, its the last lap, 6 cars do battle four wide, 6 wide at the line, incredible, who gets it!

Victory in the Gomez Sim Industries Michigan 200

Before we get to the winner, get this, the top 5 were covered by 0.055. Now if that does not raise an eyebrow, i do not know what will. So, who won….Chris Lanini takes victory by 0.006 of a second, absolutely amazing. Speaking in HyperX victory lane ” That was the closest finish I have ever been involved in and I didn’t know if I had the speed to get it done”. He also makes a point of he was ” Impressed by how the others kept it together” eluding to the close call fury for the race to the line. What a race, what a finish, this is Lionheart!

Finish	Team	Driver	Start	Laps	Interval	Laps Led	Inc	Pts	Bonuses/Penalties
1	#92-GRAAFix LC Motorsports	Chris Lanini	9	100	–	1	0	62	(+1) Led a lap (+1) 0 or less Incidents
2	#8-Mad Werx Motorsports	Matt Taylor	10	100	-0.005	30	0	57	(+1) Led a lap (+1) 0 or less Incidents
3	#98-GRAAFix LC Motorsports	Tyler J Graaf	8	100	-0.034	18	0	52	(+1) Led a lap (+1) 0 or less Incidents
4	#19-Elite West Racing	Christopher Ragan	3	100	-0.053	19	0	49	(+1) Led a lap (+1) 0 or less Incidents
5	#04-JD eSports	Gabriel Wood	15	100	-0.054	1	3	46	(+1) Led a lap
6	#28-4D Sim Racing	Luke Daniels	2	100	-0.113	0	0	44	(+1) 0 or less Incidents
7	#68-GRAAFix LC Motorsports	Mike Rasimas	13	100	-0.117	7	4	42	(+1) Led a lap
8	#88-Raven Motorsports Silver	Adam Frazier	24	100	-0.596	0	0	40	(+1) 0 or less Incidents
9	#45-Mad Werx Motorsports	Michael A O’Brien	6	100	-1.022	1	8	38	(+1) Led a lap
10	#08-Raven Lavoie Motorsports	Alex Guyon	5	100	-1.207	0	3	35