The Logitech G Pro Invitational Series is the series that everyone wants to be a part of. The series still gets questions as to how to get involved

So far, the initial 40 drivers in the inaugural series have put on a great show after just two rounds. As we know though, only the top 20 get through. So for that one person in 21st, there will be heartbreak at being so close… yet so far. After each round we sit down and talk to that driver. This week, it’s Evolution Racing Teams Marcello Rivera!

Marcello, you are our driver “On the bubble”…….21st, the top 20 get through, have you been happy with how your series has gone so far?

So far i'm happy with how my series is going because ive got a lot of positives to take from it. unfortunitly i had a slow start to the series as well as missing a round due to being overseas has held me up a bit on the standings.

Before the start of the series, what were your goals? What does success in this series mean for you?

My goals at the start of the series was to have some top 10 finishes. so ive certainly accomplished that and i'm now looking to aim higher. I've now hit the 12 month mark since returning back to the sim after a number of years off. so i think that i still have a little bit of improvement left in me with the v8 supercar.

You have been very fast at a number of rounds, Pole at Spa and leading the first portion of the race was a huge indication of your potential, but you have also been caught up in some on track clashes, what is the secret to being able to avoid those incidents and bring the car home with a great result?

One thing that I'm slowly learning race after race is that its really important to know how to pick your battles. We are all hard racers in this series including myself, however there have been times when ive reflected on my raced and wished that i had of done a few things different. Like battling other drivers for too many laps therefore jeopardising our race either from damage caused by contact or overheating the tyres.

We head into the first endurance race for the Sandown 500, is your approach any different to usual or do you think you have a better chance of success in the enduros?

My approach is much the same as all the other rounds. just focus on myself and getting the most out of the car without focusing too much on what lap times other drivers are doing. being a endurance race doesn't affect me too much, just simply means ill have to stay focused for longer and if we can put it all together i think we can aim for a top 5 finish.

How important is it for you to make the top 20 so that you don’t have to go through the qualifying series?

I dont really want have to the qualifying series so ill be doing my best to finish off the season well with the endurance races.

And finally what are your thoughts on the series?

I've thorougly enjoyed the series from a driver perspective. I'm a really competitive person so the challenge of racing against the best v8 drivers in australia is just what i've been looking for.

Thanks for the chat Marcello, we wish you luck for future races and hope that you can get “off the bubble”

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It was only a few rounds ago and we were hailing the success of Vendavals Griffin Gardiner. He was Mr. consistent, sitting neatly in 6th championship position. Only a few short rounds later we find Griffin languishing down in 19th. We speak to Griffin to see what is going on and how the wheels have fallen off in the last couple of races. And more importantly, we find out if he can get back to where we all know he should be and is capable of.

Griffin, simply, what has happened? Where has your season come undone?

The last 2 rounds have definitely not gone to plan, but following an intense Eseries season, I just needed a break from the sim. I’ve also just finished building a new rig and that transition is taking a while.

We head into the endures and your co-driver Damon Woods is someone we don’t know a lot about, but how confident are you of returning to the top 10 at Sandown?

I am really confident heading into this Enduro Season. Damon is a really talented driver who I think has a big future ahead of him. He impressed in the Eseries Draft with limited seat time and I think we will be pushing the Top 5 at Sandown.

We know you and Jake Burton both drive for Vendaval Sim Racing in some capacity, do you guys work together or are you two singular teams operating independently?

When Jake joined Vendaval at the start of 2022, I quickly realised it was a golden opportunity to learn from and work with one of the quickest drivers in the country and since then, we have worked well together as a pairing.

What area do you think you need to improve on either with car or driver to return to your former solid and consistent performances?

I think I am still driving at a high enough level to get good results, its just a matter of time until I can get to grips with my new equipment, which Im hoping will lead to even better pace from myself.

Thanks for the insight but one last question, the top 20 get through to next season, you are currently 19th. Do you have any fear of dropping outside of that top 20?

Obviously its not a good feeling to be on the bubble, but I showed I have the speed in the first half of the season, so im confident Ill be able to get back up the championship standings and avoid the qualifying series.

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At the last round of the Logitech G Pro Invitational Supercar Series, the gloves at the top and of town started to come off. The heavy hitters started to get up close and personal as the series reached the halfway point. Ultimately it was Jarrad Filsell who got the victory, to the frustration of his closest rivals. Accusations were made, and tempers flared, but that just made the excitement build coming into round six at Hockenheim.

The final round of our European tour concluded with a double header, two back to back 26 lap races with a mandatory pit stop and a progressive grid. Qualifying would set the grid for race one and the finishing order for the first race would set the grid for the second.

In qualifying, it was the SSR/Boost Mobile duo of Brodie Kostecki and Jarrad Filsell locking out the front row. Madison Down would plant his TTR commodore in third ahead of rising star, Luke Rosella in his SSR Mustang. Ethan Warren, the second placed man in the championship secured a top five grid position and kept himself in the hunt.

Once again like at the last round, some big names failed to fire a proper shot in qualifying and would start in the pack. Josh Anderson, Ethan Grigg-Gault, Jake Burton, Andrew Gilliam, Richard Hamstead and Jordan Ross among the drivers to disappoint in qualifying.

At the start of race one, Kostecki would once again have problems launching the car off the line, just like at Red Bull Ring Brodie was immensely lucky not to get cleaned up as he sat stationary on the front row as the field streamed by. Filsell had no such issues, jumping to the race lead ahead of Down and Rosella. At the hairpin, it was Down with a massive move on Filsell to eventually take the lead after five or six corners of side by side action. At the conclusion of lap one, it was TTR’s Down, Filsell, Rosella, Bourke, Maloney, Rivera, Warren, Meyers, Anderson and 9ine 5ive Sim sports Dylan Rudd, who is continuing to impress against the big teams.

The race remained relatively quiet up until lap 11 with only a few on track altercations taking place. Pursuit’s Andrew Gilliam earned a penalty for spinning Vendevals Jake Burton from just outside the top 10. Shawn Mcnamara was also unlucky to have an off track excursion, escorted off unintentionally by Luke Mitchinson who was battling to keep his car under control on the exit of turn two.

Lap 11 is where Filsell made a defining move on Down at the hairpin with Rosella in the battle and the whole top eight covered by under three seconds. Rosella made a move for second on the next lap, unable to make it stick but giving Filsell the break he needed. But the train caught right up to the back of Filsell again with Madison making a move on lap 15 but running wide at the hairpin and letting Rosella through for second.

Pitstops would be vital as the undercut in such a tight pack would make you hero or zero. Josh Anderson amongst those who benefited from an early stop to jump a few competitors on track. When the stops had all happened, Filsell would retain the lead ahead of a recovering Down. Anderson had jumped to third on the track whilst Rosella, being the new up and comer amongst hard heads had his ears boxed and funnelled back to eighth.

In the end, Filsell would take the first win of the night for SSR/Boost Mobile Racing Whilst TTR were represented on the podium with both Down and Anderson who made an impressive strategy play in his Cooldrive Mustang. Bourke a big loser in race one, his SSR commodore unloaded amongst a TTR pack at the final turn, things were heating up for the final race of the night.

Filsell and Down on the front row, SSR versus TTR. It was going to be a cracker. Filsell got the jump, but Down was out for blood and made a decisive move on lap one to lead the field. Ethan Grigg-Gault had a fantastic start and put himself deep inside the top 10 battle in his Logitech G ERT Commodore. But it would all come to nothing as Hamstead was caught napping at the hairpin and missed his brake marker, EGG an innocent victim and ruining any chance of a good result. In a cruel blow for the Evolution Racing Team, his teammate Marcello Rivera was also caught up in the incident.

Madison Down and Jarrad Filsell continued to battle, trading paint again on lap four and keeping the following TTR cars in the battle. A pack of five cars at the front formed between Filsell and four TTR cars. Warren exited this group on lap six, trying to pass Filsell on the outside and being escorted to the grass. Anderson and Rosella began to close the gap to the top four cars, whilst Kostecki who started almost last was fighting his way through the pack, picking off cars almost every lap.

By lap 10, Down still had the lead with the top six cars separated by a little over 2.5 seconds. Rudd was in the top 10, showing impressive speed and consistency to hold position whilst Kostecki and Ross who both started off the back had made their way up to 15th and 16th respectively. Gilliam and Hamstead were also both recovering from penalties and made their way to the back of the top 10.

On lap 13, it all kicked off again at the front with Filsell attempting a pass on Down. Madison having none of it would immediately hit back and bring his teammates at TTR along to help him. Jake Maloney made an impressive pass on Filsell in the final sequence of corners and Madison was able to skip away just before the round of pitstops began. Anderson once again was an early stopper, but this time the train pitted a lot later which gave them a big tyre advantage heading into the final part of the race.

By lap 20, and after all the stops had played out it was a sea of TTR cars at the front. Anderson benefitting from the undercut was trying to hold on to his lead but Maloney and Down were chasing him down with a big tyre advantage. Filsell was fifth whilst Rosella followed from a distance. With two laps remaining, it looked like a TTR sweep of the podium, Maloney in third place held a healthy 3.5 second gap over Filsell. A mistake for Jake gifted Jarrad the final podium place with just two laps remaining, while behind a huge battle pack from sixth to 15th had formed, Rudd unlucky not to hold on to a brilliant top 10 position.

As the dust settled and post race penalties concluded, Madison Down and TTR had won the round. A brilliant hit back in the championship and a demonstration of the depth and competitiveness of TTR. Filsell was handed a penalty in race two putting him back to fifth position, whilst Rosella came in fourth. Anderson and Maloney would round out the podium making it a TTR 1-2-3.

The Overall results for the round fall the way of Madison Down with Filsell in second and Anderson rounding out the podium places. It was action packed and there was a lot of paint traded. But now we change tempo as we gear up for the first of our endurance races and welcome 40 co-drivers to the series for the Sandown 500 on the 1st of October. Tune in for a special Saturday evening broadcast to see the next instalment of the Logitech G Pro Invitational Supercar Series.

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WK&P lead pilot Blake Worboys finally cracked the code at Spa, bringing home his Mustang in an impressive seventh place.

His previous best of 17th way back at round one was surpassed with an excellent, level headed and advantageous drive to slice his way from 26th on the grid to a solid top 10 result.

A late race battle with SSR’s Brenton Hobson saw Worboy’s get passed the veteran and maintain a small margin all the way to the flag. This result is a huge boost for the small WK&P team from Wodonga, marking their first big achievement on the biggest stage in Australian sim racing.

Throughout the race, Worboy’s was consistent as his car looked after its tyres well and looked as settled as any through the ominous Eau Rouge, his best lap times in the low 2:19s, a reflection of the true pace Blake demonstrated throughout the race to beat some of the best operators home.

They turn their attention to Hockenheim now where the team will be looking forward to backing up this result before the endurance season starts in October. Watch for the striking green Mustang at the next round!

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