Story and Images by David Anderson

May 9th, 2023 – Congratulations to Tristan Martz for pulling off the unbelievable and winning from P4 to P1 in the final few corners at Lemans in the 2023 CMS iRacing Team Endurance Series Porsche Cup Support Series. Tristan would drive a terrific race and also benefit from Miguel Colon, JT Tami, and Blake Reynolds all having issues literally in the final chicane coming to the checkers, which would allow him in a matter of feet go from a good finish to a great finish!

Tristan Martz (above) Takes the Win narrowly over Blake Reynolds at Lemans 

The 30 minute race did not disappoint and had many storylines throughout.  The race started with all drivers having to be conscious of fuel savings from the moment the race started, as doing an 8th lap which would indeed happen at Lemans made the fuel situation very tight for all cars to make it to the finish without having to take a splash and go. Some drivers were not able to do it but others benefited as they maintained the perfect balance between pace and fuel mileage in the race.

Championship leader Michael Parker suffered a serious setback on lap one of the race and had to come in for a 40 second Stop and Hold Penalty which would drop him to the back of the field in his most disappointing finish of the season through the halfway point.  This would open up the door for Blake Reynolds, Miguel Colon and JT Tami along with Tristan Martz to all have a great shot at the win.

However a couple of unlikely drivers would be the story for a majority of the race as Shane Norton and David Nelson would find themselves at the front of the field looking strong.  Both would eventually suffer set backs however, and other drivers such as Tristan Martz were holding a very consistent race and making minimal (if any) mistakes.

On the last lap defending series Champions JT Tami and Miguel Colon surfaced as what would look like the eventual winners. Charging to the front and having enough gas to make it the battle was on between these two pro level drivers. However, after the Porsche Curves Tami would send it in to the last Chicane to make one last lunge at Colon and the two would collide. This would look to give the win to Blake Reynolds who had also overcome some adversity to find himself in contention at the end.  However he received a slow down penalty and could not clear it having to lift at the S/F line to avoid a DQ and Martz was there to capitalize in a dramatic and amazing win.

JT Tami (right) and Miguel Colon (left) and above collide and come together in the final chicane at Lemans 

Coming into Lemans Michael Parker had an 18 point lead in the Championship but now leaves with only a 2 point lead over Martz as we head to Twin Ring Motegi next to start the 2nd half of the season in what is sure to be an amazing back half of the calendar and fight to the trophy!

Thanks to our series Sponsor Penguin r/c Simulation for their tremendous support of the series.

Results from Lemans

Points after Lemans

Race Broadcast