iRacing – Champion Motorsports

CMS Wins at Daytona 24 in LMP2

Race Report by David Anderson

January 24, 2021 – The CMS Pro Team of Jordan Johnson, Chris Chmelir, and Chris Taylor were joined by Matthew Overton, Doug Hintze, and Andrew Cheslock to round out a six-man roster that took the win at the 24 Hours of Daytona this past weekend on iRacing. The team qualified fifth in the 30^th of 47 total race splits. No doubt, the largest sim racing event in history.

The team had a great start fighting up to 2^nd place in the opening laps but as night fell their luck would change. After a couple of close calls with slower traffic, a spin, and some miscommunication in the pits, the team found themselves back in 6th place but had high hopes of catching back up.

While contending with the challenge of consistently setting competitive lap times in constant traffic with slower […]

iRTES Round 1 at Daytona Road Course

Race Report by David Anderson

January 18th, 2021 – Round 1 of the Champion Motorsports 2021 iRacing Team Endurance Series (iRTES) is complete, and big congratulations to “Revo Satellite Racing” for the overall win and class victory within LMP2, as well as “Unified Racing” for their class win in GTE.

The race featured 36 teams taking the green flag and nearly all completed the race.

It was a very strong and overall clean start to the five-race season for iRTES.

LMP2

The Revo team piloted by Paul Darling and David Williams led 83 of the 93 laps in a dominant performance for the first win of the year.

They were joined by “CMS Pro Summit” and “Imperial Motorsports -Shake” on the podium in LMP2.

Paul Darling and David Williams

GTE

In the GTE Class, Justin Hess and Kurt […]

CMS iRacing Pro Teams Battles for Top 5 at Majors Phillip Island

Race Report by David Anderson

December 19th, 2020 – A hard days work, but worth it in the end as the Champion Motorsports iRacing Pro team overcame some serious adversity to earn a top five finish in Round 2 of the iRacing Majors Series Endurance Team Championship. Coming off tremendous finishes in Round 1 at Imola the team was bullish and looking to build upon two podiums the first race with a repeat performance at the second one.

Unfortunately things turned hard on the team early in the race as not one but both cars would sustain serious damage from over aggressive moves from the Prototype Cars making passes in the very large field. Chris Taylor behind the wheel of car two would have a heart breaking accident while leading the GT4 field which would cause major repair and drop the team out of contention of the remainder of the day. However, […]

GTE / GT4 Series at Oulton Park

Race Report by Tim Collier

November 18th, 2020 – The third to last round of the GTE/GT4 season has arrived and the series sees a trip to the United Kingdom’s tight and challenging Oulton Park Circuit.

After last week’s race cementing current championship leaders’ advantages, time is running out for other championship contenders to upset the current order and overhaul themselves to a higher position. But, with Oulton Park’s tight and challenging layout in combination with the series running GTE and GT4 cars together, one mistake, misjudgment, or an unfortunate turn of luck can be race ending.

Qualifying

Qualifying pole in the GTE class would be taken by championship leader Justin Hess with an impressive time of 1:23.901 which was .669 of a second faster than second place’s Jason Lundy with a time of 1:24.570. These two cars were certainly in a class of their own in qualifying as the rest of the field […]

Champion Motorsports iRacing Pro Team Takes Two Podiums at Imola

Race Report and Photos by Evan Wood & David Anderson

Let it be known the date was the 14th of November. A new dawn had formed and a new series, the MTEC series from iRacing Majors Series. Both CMS teams waited for the right conditions and put both cars on the front row. As the green flag flew at Imola it was apparent within minutes that patience and awareness would be a key to surviving. CMS team 2 jumped out with the lead as Chris Chmelir consistently put in fast times and built a steady 8 to 10-second lead. The momentum would shift however when a caution came out a few laps before the scheduled pitstop and driver change. Team 2 decided to pit under caution as p2 in class stayed out.

CMS Pro Team Car 1 Overtaking at Imola CMS Team Overtaking at Imola […]

GTE & GT4 Series at Phillip Island

November 4th, 2020 – The midway point of the season has arrived and a trip down south to the Australian continent precedes as the GT4/GTE series head to the famous circuit of Phillip Island.

With both championship leaders pulling a steady lead in their respective championships, would the challenging circuit enable a new order? It certainly looks so.

Qualifying pole in the GTE class would be taken by Jason Lundy with a 1:24.647 by a margin of .128 of a second to second place. Alongside him would start Richard Hibbs. Championship leader Justin Hess starting 4th, would this be the break needed to tighten up the championship in either’s favor?
Qualifying pole in the GT4 class would be taken Drew Lidkea with a time of 1:37.459 which would be .096 of a second clear to second place. Brett Stephens would line up second, championship leader Kurt Polter in third.

The race start would be […]

TCR/MX-5 Club Series at CTMP

Race Report by Tim Collier

June 10, 2020 – With only two races left in the season, a trip to the Great White North for the TCR/MX-5 Club Series to the famed Canadian Tire Motorsports Park as the series ramps up to set the stage for the season finale ahead.

Qualifying would set the stage for a gritty battle in the TCR class, with Brian Szabelski taking the pole position with JT Tami starting alongside on the front row. The MX-5’s would be led by Samuel Scott with points leader Kurt Polter taking second spot on the MX-5 grid.

The race start would be uneventful in the TCR class, with the field battling throughout the race for the top spot with four different drivers taking turns leading the race. Szabelski and Tami would exchange the lead early until Lap 5 when Miguel Antonio Alcrudo would take a turn upfront. Behind him, positions would […]

GTE / GT4 Cup Series at Detroit Belle Isle

Race Report by Tim Collier

June 3, 2020 – Throughout a season of racing, there are races that go beyond the battle between drivers to include the struggle with the circuit itself. Detroit Belle Isle street circuit is one of those places, with its tight confines, a mix of long straights and fast curves with the lack of run-off and tall kerbs, it only takes a moment to go from the lead to the hauler. For the GTE/GT4 Cup Series, this was race six of the season and set the stage for the final run to the championship.

Qualifying was no surprise once again in the GT4 class with Kurt Polter taking the top spot once again, this time by nearly two seconds! JT Tami would start alongside to lead the Porsche 718 Cayman field to the green.

Ahead of them, the GTE class pole was won by Miguel Antonio Alcrudo with a […]

TCR/MX-5 Club Series at VIR-North

Race Report by Tim Collier

May 20, 2020 – For this week’s TCR/MX-5 Club Series race, the haulers took a drive through the hills of Virginia to the famed VIR circuit where the drivers would negotiate the tight and twisty North Circuit layout. Weather conditions were ideal, and the lap times confirmed this would be a race where the least mistakes make the difference.

The qualifying session showed no surprise in the MX-5 class, where Kurt Polter put his Mazda on the pole once again, this time by a gap of half a second over Bryan Ortiz. The Audis however had quite the battle and in the end it was Kris Hudson winning the pole position by a mere 0.179 seconds over JT Tami.

With the grid of 6 Audis and 8 Mazdas taking the green flag, the battle throughout the first turn saw Hudson overshoot, and Tami takes the lead. As the […]

GTE/GT4 Cup Series at Road Atlanta

Race Report by Tim Collier

As the GTE/GT4 Cup season crests the halfway point, this week’s race took to the hills of Road Atlanta for the second endurance length event of the season. With the sun setting and the longer race length, nothing was for certain until the checkered flag fell.

The qualifying session was inadvertently limited to one flying lap, but it didn’t keep Kurt Polter from claiming the GT4 class pole once again this season, with a margin of 1.2 seconds back to Jason Lundy. In the GTE class, Humberto Roca took the front starting spot by half a second over Miguel Antonio Alcrudo, which would set up some crazy laps early in the race.

At the start Roca would lead the first 6 laps before encountering troubles, along with Alcrudo and Angel Ledesma and Miguel Alcrudo who also had issues early, and Rafael Sosa would take over the lead on […]

GTE/GT4 Cup Series at Brands Hatch

Race Report by Tim Collier

May 6, 2020 – On a beautiful Fall afternoon in England, the Champion Motorsports MX-5 Club Series met to take on the full circuit for the seventh race of the season. If there’s one thing about this series that proves to be true, even 30 minutes is more than enough time for plenty of racing action.

In the qualifying session, the TCR class would see Kris Hudson grab the pole by almost half a second with a lap time of 1:34.096, edging out JT Tami who would start alongside on the front row. In the MX-5 class, Samuel Scott would take the top spot from Kurt Polter with a time of 1:41.955, a half-second over Polter to lead the MX-5 field at the start.

The race start was smooth, with plenty of racing throughout the field, but upfront Hudson would lead the first two laps until Lap 3 […]

GTE/GT4 Cup Series at Mid-Ohio

Race Report by Tim Collier

April 29, 2020 – As the GTE/GT4 Cup Series hits halfway on the season schedule, the field would regroup at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for this week’s battleground. The tight, twisty confines of this circuit would create few passing opportunities between drivers, and between classes. With the sun setting low on the front stretch, the fight would last until the end of the 1-hour race time.

Qualifying in the GTE class would see Humberto Roca taking the front spot by two-tenths, while in GT4 Kurt Polter took the pole position in class by less than half a second. The start was clean through the first few turns, but it didn’t take long before spots started changing hands.

In the GT4 class, Polter would take off with Justin Hess right behind, and the two would stay close for many laps running 1-2 the majority of the race. In third […]

TCR/MX-5 Club Series at Silverstone

Race Report by Tim Collier

April 22, 2020 – As with last week’s race at the Historic Barcelona layout, this week the TCR/MX-5 Series would take a trip back in time to the 2008 layout of Silverstone’s Grand Prix circuit for a 30-minute duel in the sun.

With 7 TCR entries and 10 Mazdas, things were shaping up where qualifying would be very important as always, and Turn 1 a high-speed bend that would cause some to lose, and others to gain. In the MX-5 class, Justin Hess would grab the pole with a very impressive 2:11.479, and in the TCR class, it was Brian Szabelski on top again with a 2:00.281 lap, more than a second over the second-place qualifier.

The start was clean, but positions were definitely gained and lost between Turns 1 and 6, and upfront Szabelski would lead lap 1 with Dave Slee moving up to second and David […]

GTE/GT4 Cup Series at Barcelona

Race Report by Tim Collier

April 15, 2020 – One of the greatest things about GT racing is the fact that the cars have headlights because not every course is lit for night racing without them. This opens the door for duels in the dark such as the GTE/GT4 Series pulled off this week at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, running the historic layout.

In qualifying, the GT4 class top spot was the sole property of Kurt Polter once again winning that front starting spot by more than 2 seconds!! In the GTE class, Dion Smith would take the overall pole position by a half-second after leading the field in P1 as well. The start was uneventful, and as the GTE’s jockeyed in the dark to gain ground on Smith, there was also the possibility that some GTE’s would take tires and others would not.

Smith would lead the GTE class until […]

TCR/MX-5 Club Series at Laguna Seca

Race Report by Tim Collier

April 8, 2020 – As the TCR/MX-5 Club Series hits his stride, the teams headed to sunny California and Weathertech Raceway at Laguna Seca for the fifth race of the season marking the halfway point to the title. Another large field for both classes provided some great action on the track, and for some in the sand.
In qualifying, Brian Szabelski would grab his second pole of the season in the TCR class to lead the entire field at the start. In the MX-5’s it was Justin Hess grabbing yet another pole, this time by four-tenths over second place.

It was a clean start for both classes, and up front Szabelski would hold the lead for the first 5 laps of the race, with constant pressure from behind by Miguel Antonio Alcrudo and JT Tami. Hard racing all while negotiating class traffic would make passing for the lead […]

GTE/GT4 Cup Series at Spa

Race Report by Tim Collier

April 1, 2020 – Who doesn’t love Belgium in the morning? This week’s GTE/GT4 Cup Series race started with the sun just over the mountains and with quite a chilly track temperature to go along with a 34 car field and the endurance length race, this event was destined to have a very interesting outcome with tire strategy playing a large part of the final standings.

Qualifying went as usual in the GTE class with Humberto Roca nailing a fast lap of 2:13.673 edging out Angle Ledesma by a mere 0.067 seconds for the top spot. In the GT4, Kurt Polter put in a fast lap of 2:30.659 to take the pole position in class, with Justin Hess starting shotgun missing the pole by a few tenths.

The race start saw many drivers pushing extra hard to make up for qualifying woes, and by the end of the […]

TCR/MX-5 Club Series at Barber

Race Report by Tim Collier

March 25, 2020 – This week the TCR/MX-5 Club Series took a trip to Alabama, but not that big oval everyone knows, but the twisty Barber Motorsports Park circuit with its multiple elevation changes, corkscrews up and down, and few passing zones. As the mid-season stretch starts, the points battles and on-track duels are heating up, and there’s a lot of racing left to do!

In qualifying, it was Mario Teixeira snatching the TCR class pole by less than two-tenths to lead the entire field at the start. In the MX-5 class, it was Samuel Scott on top with a qualifying lap of 1:39.844 edging out second by 0.17 seconds! The rest of the field in both classes had many drivers almost setting identical times, foreshadowing the battles ahead.

As the green dropped, Teixeira would take the lead but an off-track on Lap 2 would put him down […]

GTE/GT4 Cup Series at Sebring

Race Report by Tim Collier

March 18, 2020 – The first race of a new season always brings about many questions…which drivers will excel, what’s the secret to saving those tires, and of course, what does it take to put my car in victory lane?! The questions were about to have answers as Champion Motorsports drivers, both new and seasoned took to the track at Sebring in the first official GTE/GT4 Cup Series race of the season!! The pre-season event two weeks ago at Road America was an awakening for many with the new Porsche Cayman GT4 as well as the updated tire models for all the cars in this series. The weather was warm, and the track a bit on the slick side with 34 drivers taking to the track!

Qualifying was a tight in both classes, with Humberto Roca taking the GTE and overall pole position edging out Angel Ledesma […]

TCR/MX-5 Club Series at Watkins Glen

Race Report by Tim Collier

March 11, 2020 – This week, the TCR/MX-5 Club Series headed to upstate New York to visit Watkins Glen International, using the full “Boot” layout in the first of two endurance events on this season’s schedule.

Times posted in qualifying indicated the track was getting faster as the clouds moved in, with Brian Szabelski putting in a sub-2 minute lap time to take the TCR Class pole position, and in the MX-5’s it was the same with Samuel Scott blistering the track taking pole by more than half a second!

The race start was uneventful, and the two classes began to file into line and concentrate on clean laps, and keeping the tires fresh for as long as possible. In the MX-5 class, Scott would take the lead from the pole and never look back for his first win of the season. Behind him, Kurt Polter moved up […]

GTE/GT4 Pre-Season at Road America

Race Report by Tim Collier

March 4, 2020 – With the release of the Porsche Cayman GT4 this week, it was time to put the rubber on the road and see how well it grips. Tonight’s pre-season race at Road America was a multiclass affair featuring the GTE class cars of iRacing on the track with it’s latest release. The new tire model for all the cars proved to be an additional factor for some drivers, but as usual many adjusted along the way and found the groove once again.

In qualifying Justin Hess would start on pole for the GT4 class with a blistering lap 1.2 seconds faster than his next closest competitor. Humberto Roca started up front in GTE with a 0.2 second gap back to second.

The race start had some interesting moments, but as predicted the racing was tight in both classes. After a few laps the field began […]