9ine 5ive SimSports driver pairing Dylan O’Shea & Corey Macfarlane could be the pairing to keep a close eye on as we prepare to tackle Mount Panorama Bathurst on the 1st of October.

Pairing together for the opening round of the Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup at Sandown, both drivers shined across the 161 lap encounter, Leading multiple laps and fighting for the win in the later stages of the race against eventual winners Luke Rosella & Harley Haber. An eventual post race penalty would see the 9ine 5ive pair demoted from 2nd, dropping them to 17th after the flag. Although a heartbreaking penalty took away a incredible result, many have been left impressed by both Dylan O’Shea & Corey Macfarlane.

2023 for O’Shea in particular has been somewhat of a breakout year for the 9ine 5ive SimSports driver, multiple high level qualifying performances, backed up by strong race results sees the 9ine 5ive SimSports young gun well placed in the championship in 8th position heading to Bathurst.

Yes, there’s no doubt about it. Their form alone at Sandown is nothing to shy away from. On speed alone, this combination has proven they can be contenders across the whole race distance. If they can remain smart & calculated across the 1000 kilometres of Mount Panorama Bathurst, they will play a major factor late in the race.

O’Shea will definitely be the one leading from the front, providing extreme pace to match the best there is, while Corey Macfarlane will look to replicate his heroics from Sandown, keeping the car well and truely in the fight during his co driver stints.

Keep an eye out for the #19 9ine 5ive SimSports Mustang of Dylan O’Shea & Corey Macfarlane at Bathurst!

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Breaking news out of the Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup overnight with Hayden Veld completing a mid season switch from Synergy Sim Racing to the Evolution Racing Team.

The 20 year old Victorian has suffered from a difficult initiation to the series ranks in 2023, with a timely move to Evolution Racing Team hopefully providing a fresh start for the remaining rounds of the season leading into 2024.

Currently 33rd in the championship standings, Veld’s best result came at Belle Isle during round 7, completing an excellent drive from the rear of the grid in race 2, crossing the line in a comfortable 7th position. This form continued through to the first endurance race of the season which saw the driver of the #053 paired alongside the experienced Glen Postlethwaite. Running inside the top 10 all race long, a late incident would unfortunately see the pair classify as a DNF. Although the result didn’t reflect the speed of Veld, it definitely didn’t go unnoticed.

As we prepare for round 8 of the Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup at Bathurst, many will place high interest in Hayden Veld to see how he gets on with the Evolution Racing Team.

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Madison Down came in clutch at Sandown on Friday the 1st of September, delivering a podium alongside Corey Shepherd in a crucial race for the championship title.

Taking full advantage of a difficult night for James Scott, Down Powered his Trans Tasman Racing #77 Commodore to a 3rd place finish, while title Rival Scott battled home to finish in 7th position after contact with the #89 Synergy Sim Racing Commodore of Fawzan El Nabi on lap 58.

Final results from Sandown see yet another swing in an intriguing 2023 championship battle, Madison Down now back into the points lead with a 27 point advantage over James Scott as we head to Mount Panorama Bathurst in under a months time. With everything to play for, it will be interesting to see how both teams fair at Bathurst, with high emphasis put on both primary & co drivers to deliver on race day.

Down will arrive at Bathurst hoping to build on a strong second place finish in the 2022 instalment of the great race, while Scott will look to turn around his Sandown struggles with a strong result.

It’s fair to also point out the success of both co drivers around this venue also, Corey Shepherd proving he can be the difference behind the the wheel of the #77, while Shane Van Gisbergen can bank on his knowledge and expertise around Bathurst, with plenty of success in his Supercars career as well as in the simulator.

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News today has broken with the announcement front running Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup team Pursuit Sim Racing will disband with immediate affect. The announcement has come after the most recent round which saw Belle Isle winner Andrew Gilliam place 15th in the Sandown 500.

Founded in July of 2018, Pursuit Sim Racing have forged a path as one of the most successful Australian/New Zealand based Sim Racing teams, Winning Multiple Races across various high level series, including The Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup. Also known for their strong developmental capabilities, Pursuit has been a part of building the fledging Sim Racing careers of numerous young drivers, who have gone on to taste success across multiple racing categories.

Although the now defunct Pursuit Sim Racing outfit won’t be active and functional, it’s drivers are set to take on new paths in their Sim Racing careers.

Where will they go you might ask?

Well as you might of guessed the news doesn’t end there. Speaking with founder & Manager of Pursuit Sim Racing Mike Talijancich yesterday evening, it’s clear there’s plenty more to the puzzle, with some exciting news that came to light.

Mike Talijancich explains his feelings about Pursuit Sim Racing’s closure, and the future that lies ahead for both himself & his drivers.

“Early on after establishing Pursuit Sim Racing I aspired to help develop drivers in the sim to find success at the highest level in both the sim and the real world of racing. Over the last 5 years we have kept building our skills to the point where we are finding success in all the Australian sim racing series in which we compete, notably Andrew Gilliam most recently taking his maiden win in the Pro Invitational series.

But we have also recently stepped into the realm of international competition with Jobe Stewart qualifying to make the PESC contender series, something that has been a long term goal of mine, to see our drivers progress too. The success doesn't stop there with drivers now competing in the real life Super 2, Super 3 and S5000 series in Australia, 2 of our drivers have also started a career in motorsport engineering for Australian Supercar teams of which I might add all came from connections built from sim racing.

New "Altus Australia" cars will replace Pursuit Sim Racing on the grid in 2023

We are now at a point which I would say confidently the team is the strongest it has ever been, but you may ask why disband now? Well for me it is all about momentum and the goal to see drivers compete on an international level. One could say we are almost starting all over again.

So even while we are disbanding as a team, it does not end here. We will be working with Altus Esports to create Altus Australia in what would be more of a domestic side of Altus, bringing support for drivers to take that next step to become international competitors.

I have a lot of respect and share a lot of the same values as Simon Feigl, the manager of Altus who has given us a huge opportunity to expand on what his team is currently. While I am sad to see the end of my own team, the original motivation when I created Pursuit was to bring another team into this community, competing for podiums and wins which is one reason why I believe this move works so well.

While you will no longer see Pursuit Sim Racing compete, we will be bringing Altus back into the Australian Sim Racing community and I promise you that we are not here to just participate. we will be in Pursuit of the top spot the podium in the Pro Invitational for the rest of this year and in the future!”

The Logitech G Pro Invitational Cup thanks Pursuit Sim Racing for their contributions over the last two seasons, and welcomes Altus Australia to the 2023 instalment of the series.

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