After a month of racing the stage was set as we headed to Mount Panorama Bathurst for the final round of the 2023 Logitech G Pro Invitational Qualifying Series. A championship looming, and qualification places still up for grabs, All was to play for over the course of the 33 lap encounter.
DPR’s Dylan O’Shea again would prove to be the star of qualifying around the 6.213 kilometre precinct, placing a strong 2:03.1 securing pole position over championship leader Dylan Rudd of 9ine 5ive SimSports. Pursuit Sim Racing driver Jobe Stewart made a return to competition for the final round, sticking his #35 Commodore comfortably in third position with 9ine 5ive SimSports duo Ric Kuznetsov & Bradley Rattew rounding out the top five at the conclusion of qualifying. Other strong performances in qualifying included Michael Talijancich, securing his best qualifying position of the season in 12th, followed by WK&P driver Harrison Dengate who found himself starting out of a competitive 13th position.
O’Shea would convert from pole position, making a solid getaway clearing the nose of Dylan Rudd well before they arrived at turn one. Stewart on the other hand, struggled to get off the line from third position, seeing the Pursuit driver fall into 5th position behind Bradley Rattew & Ric Kuznetsov.
It was a clean getaway for the majority of the field until Brian Borg & Michael Talijancich found trouble before they made it across the start line on lap one. Talijancich, unable to find a gear as the lights went out, found himself stranded on the grid as cars around him got underway. Brian Borg completely unsighted, slammed into the rear of the #777 Pursuit Sim Racing commodore putting an end to Borg’s day before it even began. With the flame out in the engine compartment, the #017 Mustang would be left with no choice but to retire, becoming the first of many casualties over the course of the race.
O’Shea would continue to control the field at the front for the opening laps with Rudd still on his tail. Kuznetsov moved himself up into the podium paces early, with Robert Gibbs also showing excellent strength in the opening laps gaining four positions in the opening two laps.
"A championship looming, and qualification places still up for grabs, all was to play for over the course of the 33 lap encounter"
Further back trouble continued to brew in the mid field. Brett Loxton found himself involved in his first incident of the night on the end of lap 2, placing a move down the inside of the ailing Talijancich which saw the two make contact on the apex of the final turn. Paul Young became the innocent victim in this, finding himself facing the wrong way. Regathering himself he would rejoin the race, only to find himself buried at the tail of the field.
Green flag racing would only last for a handful of laps after this, the caution flying early on lap five for an incident up mountain straight. Loxton again finding himself in the wars, rotating the Fishy Motorsports entry’s of Michael whiting & Michael Angus ultimately retiring both entry’s to the pit lane and cruelly ending the pairs chances of finishing inside the top 20 for the 2023 Logitech G Pro Invitational qualifying series.
With the caution flying, the field made the decision to transit the lane at the conclusion of lap 5. O’Shea would lead the field down the lane for the first time with Rudd, Kuznetsov, Gibbs & Jobe Stewart all following suit. DPR’s Andrew Dyson made a net gain in the first compulsory pit stop, gaining 4 positions on the exit of the pit lane promoting him up into 11th position as they resumed behind the safety car. Adam Briggs also did a nice job in the first pit cycle, jumping Sandown winner Bradley Rattew moving into 9th position.
The safety car would move away from the field at the conclusion of lap 7, Dylan O’Shea taking control of the pace ahead of the restart. Racing would resume off the exit of Murray’s Corner, O’Shea waiting until the last moment to get racing back underway.
A well timed restart from Robert Gibbs allowed him to challenge Jobe Stewart for 4th position after the restart, attempting to craft a move around the outside of Griffins Bend. Unfortunately this attempt lasted all but a moment, Gibbs finding himself out of the groove in the marbles fighting for grip, resulting in being shuffled a position down the order with Shawn McNamara capitalising on Robert’s misfortune.
With racing well underway again the field started to settle into a rhythm as they approached the middle of the race. The fight inside the top 20 was close, Matthew Bowler leading a gaggle of cars which included the likes of Thomas Freeman, Christopher Ireland & Bailey Fridd that were only separated by a couple of seconds.
Meanwhile, the battle between O’Shea & Rudd was beginning to heat up, trading fastest laps on a number of occasions after the first safety car restart. All came undone for Rudd though on lap 16 with an ambitious move into the chase on O’Shea, firing off the road and rejoining in 6th position, ending his challenge at the front for the time being.
Josh Muggleton was the next to make a critical mistake while comfortably sitting inside the top ten on lap 18, with a violent spin on the exit of Forrest Elbow narrowly avoided allowing Adam Briggs, Bradley Rattew & Andrew Dyson to make their way past dropping Muggleton back outside the top ten into 11th for his troubles.
The second of the compulsory pit stops were set off by the back half of the top ten lead by Dylan Rudd. All taking the opportunity to transit the lane at the beginning of lap 21. Excellent timing from Rudd placed him back on circuit in clean air, allowing him to get to work on clawing the gap back off Dylan O’Shea. Adam Briggs and Andrew Dyson weren’t as lucky, rejoining into the circulating traffic of Sebastian Varndell & Tyler Blackburn who were yet to take their final pit stop taking them out of the equation.
"The second of the compulsory pit stops were set off by the back half of the top ten..."
O’Shea and Stewart would stretch their tyres out to the conclusion of lap 22, boxing with the intention making up the ground on fresher rubber. For O’Shea, this decision would prove costly, Rejoining the race well behind the new effective leader of Dylan Rudd, who made his tires switch on from the outset of his final stop, Jumping five cars in total to jump to take control of the effective race lead by lap 23.
Rudd would be able to breathe a sigh of relief a number of laps later though with the caution flag flying for the second time on lap 24. The cause of the caution was Tyler Blackburn, who’s night would end with an engine expiring on the exit of the cutting, coming to a rest entering Reid Park.
The field reset behind the Logitech G safety car before we would see a seven lap sprint to the flag resume on the begging of lap 27. Rudd made an opportunity to break away from the outset, opting to restart the race early off the exit of the chase, pulling his teammate Kuznetsov along with him.
O’Shea’s day went from bad to worse on lap 29 trying to make an ambitious pass work into Griffins Bend on Rehan Liyanage for fifth position, ultimately demoting him to 10th we’re he would end his day.
The pace of the field behind was no match for the strength of Dylan Rudd though, who managed to lay down lap after lap, containing his margin to Kuznetsov and the field behind, crossing the line to take the race and championship win by a margin of 0.6 of a second. An excellent achievement for Rudd, whose been the class of the field over the course of the 2023 Logitech G Pro Invitational Qualifying Series season. Kuznetsov, Stewart, McNamara & Liyanage would round out the top five five as they crossed the line, along with Briggs, Rattew, Dyson, Gibbs and pole sitter O’Shea rounding out the top ten.
Dylan Rudd has stamped his claim by winning the Championship title and the race in the final round, can he continue this run of form leading into the Logitech G Pro Invitational Series? Keep up to date with all the latest as the build up to the 2023 Logitech G Pro Invitational Series begins!
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