Other ASRG Leagues

I’ve had to do a little digging, and the reasoning might raise eyebrows a fraction. 

Road Atlanta is our next pitstop on the journey to crowning the first champion of the Gen 3 era, but this round marks only the circuit’s second main game race on the Logitech G Pro Invitational calendar from the four years of the series. A track with this much attitude nearly races like a mini Bathurst, and it feels like we should have raced here more!

Road Atlanta boasts a short circuit length at 4.08km and lap times just under 80 seconds! Packed into this are intensely loaded corners, narrow approaches, massive elevation change and the constant pivots in direction that make this circuit so special.

To give you a true picture of the amount of elevation change, the total for the lap is 236 meters. Bathurst has 174 meters in change from bottom to top, doubling that for 348 meters over the lap. This roughly means 56 meters of elevation change per kilometer at Bathurst, and 59 meters per kilometer at Road Atlanta. All of a sudden Darrell Waltrip's 2011 quip naming the mountain a “geological oddity” meant he must not have turned many laps of this adrenaline thrilled Hall County-based circuit!

The winding rollercoaster second sector of the lap at Road Atlanta

This one is about challenges. It’s a challenge to get the thing to settle, to stop, to pivot and to settle again. We’ve got a low-grip roller coaster on our hands where passing opportunities come at a premium.

How about that Super Sprint format? It's back, baby! Two races, two starts and twice the mayhem! Similar in style to the format from Detroit Belle Isle, pit stops will be required on fuel for the second race, with the amount required being almost equal to the time stationary for a tire stop! Fuel saving makes your race position worse in Race 2, not better!

The last visit to this circuit for the main championship was our season decider in 2023, which required James Scott to overcome a mountain of points to beat Madison Down to the title. His hopes would go out the window on Lap 1 with a mega start and dive to take the lead at the first corner, only to lose everything at the top of the hill with contact, banging doors with Ethan Grigg-Gault and skating wide.

Since then, Scott’s trajectory has been much the same as the elevation change from this circuit, bit of up, bit of down. Can this be the opportunity he needs to recapture a bit of that speed he’s been missing of late? Unfortunately for the Chiefs Esports Club, it’s an overall lack of pace in the car which seems to be their detriment

With this second iteration of the Super Sprint format in 2025, we will get our opportunity to decide if it's been a success or failure. 

Detroit gives me hope, however, that race required a little bit of assistance to become what it was. Could we see another Safety Car in this one?

Could the Logitech G Safety Car make an appearance again at Road Atlanta?

Split qualifying is back! With the lap not boasting a whole lot of room, especially to get out of the way, the grid orders for this round will be set with a 25 minute qualifying session prior to each race. These will be divided up by Race Control to ensure each half of the grid gets 10 minutes to set a lap time with — hopefully — minimal interruption.

Points for the round will be split across the two races, with 1/3 place points on offer in Race 1 and 2/3 in Race 2.

The fuel window to get home is going to open at the end of Lap 5, but in earnest from Lap 6. With a short fire, lap deg will be minimal at best and clear air will dominate the strategy. Lobs Esports have shown on multiple occasions their desire to stay out long, but it could be their downfall this week; overtaking opportunities at Detroit earlier in the season required Filsell to up the tempo against the aggressively defensive Down, and Road Atlanta feels like there is more chum in the water than that.

My predictions for the Georgian hills are that we don’t get a Safety Car, which triggers some in the mid pack to get into pitlane right on the window I discussed before. You’re just not going to get a better opportunity to overtake.

Gear up race fans, it’s going to be feisty in Georgia! Elbows out racing could lead to huge accidents at multiple points across the narrow and twisting circuit. See you all Wednesday!

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The wave of the green flag on Wednesday night marked the beginning of the Logitech G Pro Invitational Series’ second half. 51 brutal laps of Circuito de Jerez lay ahead, with paint being traded before the drivers even reached Turn 1, and the crock pot of drama boiling over in the race’s final stages.

Despite the race distance being fairly sizeable, this round was the last of the Sprint format until December’s finale. A Super Sprint round and three Enduro rounds sit between this event and the season’s conclusion.

If you couldn’t make it on Wednesday night … make it next time. But as a bandaid fix, here is your race review from Round 7 of the Logitech G Pro Invitational Series to get you caught up!

Hairwidths Separate Front Row Once Again in Spectacle Qualifying

We’ve seen close qualifying sessions at every venue so far this season regardless of track distance. Jerez sits nicely in the middle of the selection of tracks we’ve visited thus far in terms of lap time, so the intensity was on right from the start.

Less than a tenth of a second covered the top three in the first run of laps, with the inseparable LOBS pairing of Andrew Gilliam and Jarrad Filsell leading the way on the provisional front row, followed closely by TTR’s Madison Down.

The beginning of Eclipse Simsports’ session was quieter than normal, with Damon Woods and Zach Rattray-White sitting in 9th and 16th respectively.

Dylan Rudd would find himself in 10th, with his Chiefs ESC teammates Griffin Gardiner and James Scott sitting in 7th and 8th for the time being.

Importantly for the championship story, Josh Anderson looked to be having a difficult afternoon in his search for a strong lap. The TTR driver’s 1:44.535 was only good enough for 27th with less than ten minutes remaining in the session. He would only improve enough for 12th come the chequered flag.

Gilliam and Filsell traded blows up the front, with Gilliam emerging victorious to claim the Playseat Pole Position by just half a tenth. It was Gilliam’s second pole of the season since the Feature Race in Detroit three rounds ago.

Madison Down spoiled the LOBS party up the front to separate Luke Rosella from Gilliam and Filsell, putting his TTR Camaro in third just 0.069s away from pole. Rattray-White and Moloney both improved their laps later in the session to claim third row starts, with Gardiner, Scott, Kuznetsov and Woods rounding out the top 10.

Scorching track temperatures greeted the drivers for Qualifying

Difficult Night Turns to Absolute Nightmare for Anderson

When the lights dropped, the front runners looked to get away cleanly. But it wasn’t long until the cameras panned back toward the grid slots with a monstrous incident unfolding before the start finish line.

Josh Anderson and Jacob O’Reilly would both have mediocre launches, with opportunity tempting Brady Meyers to split the middle. When that gap inevitably closed, Meyers would effectively pit maneuver Anderson and O’Reilly into one another. While O’Reilly was able to straighten up in the contact, Anderson was left horizontal in the middle of the circuit – that’s a formula that never ends very well.

In a calm before the storm, the field looked to be dodging the stranded TTR Camaro. But in the span of a few seconds, Anderson would be collected at tremendous speeds by three cars, including a final blow from his teammate Kurt Stenberg. Both Anderson and Stenberg were forced to retire with the damage, and the Safety Car was brought out immediately.

The race would resume on Lap 4 with Gilliam, Filsell and Rosella flying the LOBS flag up the front. The train of cars would settle into position with little angst or disruption for now.

Damon Woods would apply pressure to Jake Moloney a few laps after the restart, breaking a gap that allowed the Top 7 to break away ever so slightly.

An unforced error from Gilliam at the downhill hairpin on Lap 9 handed the race lead to Filsell for the first time of the afternoon. A neat recovery from Gilliam meant the switch of places didn’t cause enough disruption for any additional position losses for himself or his teammate Rosella behind.

Disaster before even reaching turn 1 on the opening lap

Mind Games and Gritty Tyre Saving Strategy Commences

With no compulsory number of pit stops and a bulky tank of fuel, making the one-stop work was crucial for a strong result. But it wouldn’t be an easy task when facing the blistering conditions and numerous high-load corners.

While the textbooks would say to keep on-track battles to a minimum on a strategy like this, that did not deter the field from putting on a number of enthralling scraps in the run to that critical lap. At the end of lap 19, Brady Meyers would launch down the inside of Dylan Rudd to claim 11th, with Wayne Bourke jumping at the chance to claim a place too – cleverly forcing Rudd onto the marbles at Turn 2.

Emily Jones would find herself under pressure as tyre life faded, fending off Jobe Stewart in the closing stages of the opening stint for as long as she could until eventually getting doored at the final corner in a traditional supercars scrap.

What On Earth!!!

At the halfway mark, the critical lap was at the drivers’ doorstep for the one-stop strategy. Overcuts were immensely powerful for now with the tyres so far gone.

On Lap 28, the sheer magnitude of the tyre wear reared its ugly head. Dylan O’Shea’s rubber was so far gone that he received a mechanical black flag. While everyone’s tyre wear is slightly different, this would surely be a gargantuan red flag in the minds of spotters at this stage of the race.

At the end of that same lap, Filsell would also receive a mechanical black flag; his tyres had officially thrown in the towel.

Filsell stayed out for an extra lap despite the black flag.

Scott and Rattray-White pulled the trigger on the pit stop, but Filsell, Gilliam and Down opted to stay out. With Filsell the only of the three with a mechanical black flag, he would limp his way around the lap, costing all three drivers chunks of time they were already haemorrhaging by staying out.

While Filsell would now be forced to pit, Gilliam and Down would continue on for one more lap. When everything had straightened out after the stops, Filsell would regain the lead of the race with Madison rejoining in 2nd. Gilliam, however, would lose a good chunk of track position and rejoin in 6th ahead of James Scott.

Tyre wear defined the end of the opening stint as the leaders all scrambled to make their rubber last

The Unstoppable Force Versus the Immovable Object

As the second phase of the race was well and truly underway, there were a few missions up and down the order beginning to materialise.

For Meyers, Woods, Bourke, Gardiner and Stewart, it was to scrap it out for a Top 10 finish.

For Rattray-White, it was to put the cap on a strong result as the lone Eclipse car in the Top 5.

For Down and Filsell, it was to win.

Down began chipping away at Filsell’s lead margin as the stint progressed. Gaining a tenth every few laps. By lap 35, there were two tenths in it; by lap 36, they were nose to tail in every sense of the word. At the exit of Turn 1, Down got his nose under the rear bumper of Filsell, spinning the championship leader off toward the barrier on the right side. Filsell would drop to 8th, recovering to 7th by the end of the race.

Down was handed a 15-second post-race penalty for the incident.

Contact between Down and Filsell at Turn 1

The Final Act

Excitement continued throughout the field with the battle intensifying again on the fringe of the Top 10. When Wayne Bourke had a shot around the outside of Dylan Rudd in the middle of Lap 42, the two drivers gradually moved themselves off the racing line and onto the marbles. That opened the door for Damon Woods to slot through into 11th with relative ease.

Dylan Rudd’s afternoon would only get worse after this battle, with a costly mistake on lap 45 that dropped him to 16th place after a trip through the marbles and eventually a gravel trap.

With one lap remaining, Luke Rosella launched down the inside of LOBS teammate Andrew Gilliam at the final corner to take the effective race lead. And there was no turning back!

Luke Rosella is a Logitech G Pro Invitational Series Winner in 2025!

With the penalty dropping Madison Down to 6th – notably, still just ahead of Filsell – Rosella and Gilliam would secure a LOBS 1-2 result. Rattray-White would come home third to secure his best result of the season, with Scott, Moloney, Down, Filsell, Meyers, Gardiner and Albert in the Top 10 with all penalties applied.

Luke Rosella holds on to secure his first win of 2025

Honourable Mentions

Brenton Hobson and Andre Yousiff were the biggest movers on Wednesday night, both moving up a whopping 17 spots from their qualifying positions come the chequered flag.

It was a promising night for ERT despite a lack of standout performances. Hayden Veld could only go up from 39th on the grid, and so he did, gaining 14 spots to move up into 25th. Beau Albert and Matthew Bowler also moved up 10 places each, with Lachlan Caple gaining 7 as well.

Brady Baldwin also enjoyed the best result of his V8PRO Series career with a rock-solid 16th place run.

Outside of Josh Anderson’s abysmal afternoon that I will avoid rubbing salt into, Ethan Grigg-Gault and Jobe Stewart were the biggest losers of the afternoon, dropping 15 places each.

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by Harrison Lillas

Whilst some might say the best parts of Winter are Football, the MCG, State of Origin, pumpkin spice latte’s and a nice fire, we’re taking a summertime swing to Spain and a track that created a lot of issues last season.

In the midst of the European summer, it’s hard to blame anyone for wanting to trade the Spanish countryside for the beaches along Spain’s south-west coast, especially with a luxurious glass of locally grown sherry in hand, from the picturesque region bordering the Strait of Gibraltar.

Tyre wear was the big ticket item in the series’ previous outing here, and it seems that element remains on this occasion; but Gen 3 rubber and its ability to plateau for an extended period of time are going to take a large portion of that away.

Speaking with Brian Borg and Jack Widdas of Racekraft Simulations about some of their early testing, there is a significant fall off in tyres over the first three laps before we hit the stabilisation point. From here, the tyres hang on to the end of the stint despite experiencing a tyre wear warning from the in-sim Crew Chief around 18-20 laps into the stint. 

The big thing to consider as we get into the race is track temperature. It’s going to be hot, really hot, 58°C hot! Bacon cooked fresh off the tarmac? Tyres certainly will be!

The other big factor after looking into some of the practice sessions is going to be the marbles off line. We saw them back in the Qualifying Series from Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, and I would expect the feeling to be quite similar here. Getting your overtakes done before the marbles build up will be critical, and anything after the fact will be a sight to behold

With last year’s event being the first time the series competed at Jerez, we got the first opportunity to witness the uniqueness of this race. We’re one of the few series that regularly talks about tyre wear – a byproduct of raw power, skinny tyres, and a lack of driving aids – and on that day, it was tested in full. 

The fastest race lap was set by Filsell with a 1:40.653, only three tenths slower than qualifying. But that was with a lightened car and later in the afternoon when the track had cooled significantly. The next best lap time was six tenths slower, an omen of more Filsell dominance to come.

The big one when crunching pace numbers is the average lap times, and Filsell was the only driver in the 1:43’s last time out. That's three seconds of tyre fall off on the average run, with rubber only degrading at a steeper rate after that.

Fuel tanks have also been expanded back to the full 133 litres, up from the gamble of the 40% tank at Spa. This pushes the max stint length out to 34-35 laps – which sits right on two-thirds race distance – and will only require half a tank of fuel, or around 64 litres, to get home.

This is where the strategy gain can be made. Points to consider:

• Tyres are covered by 20 litres of fuel, or approximately a nine-second stop.
• That tyre stop coverage leaves around 24 litres of fuel to be accounted for, managed through a combination of fuel saving and fuel drops across both stops. (20 litres x 2 tyre sets = 40 litres, leaving 24 litres remaining.)
• Running a light car at every opportunity is the way to go.

With this in mind, mathematically the best way to connect the dots is going to be pitting at the end of Lap 17, throwing 20 litres of fuel in the tank, pitting at the end of Lap 34 and then adding the remaining 44 litres.

Regardless, you are going to be in trouble if you have a car that is chewing through its tyres. How you manage that is going to be the name of the game come Wednesday night.

See you all at 7.45pm AEST on Wednesday for a taste of the summer in Spain!

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by Scott Rankin

Road America was the venue for Round 6 of the Logitech G Pro Invitational Series, and it delivered something out of nothing for one of the most spectacular race finishes of the season thus far.

NASCAR-style slipstream games from the beginning of qualifying all the way to the chequered flag meant careful decision making was a necessity for a strong result. So who took the best shots when it mattered most?

Let’s find out in this round’s Race Review from Road America!

Check-ups and Track Positioning Birth Chaotic Qualifying

Tracks with such an emphasis on straight-line speed always create interesting open qualifying sessions. With slipstream support offering precious tenths of a second versus going it alone, drivers will go to great lengths to find a spot under a competitor's rear wing.

Trans Tasman Racing’s Josh Anderson led the 39-car strong field around for the first run of laps, but abandoned his lap after coming through the last corner. When Anderson swerved into the lane immediately after, Griffin Gardiner and Dylan Rudd of Chiefs ESC were left as the first cars to set valid laps.

Synergy Sim Racing would find themselves in trouble, first with Dylan Perera’s engine giving up on the downhill run to Turn 8; then Brenton Hobson getting loose and spinning at the exit of Turn 11. While Hobson was able to minimise the damage and get back to pit lane for a reset, Perera’s qualifying session would be over.

Drivers were on the limit in Qualifying

With the bulk of the field completing their first laps, Brady Meyers emerged quickest with a 2:09.480. He was joined at the top by some of the biggest names in the category with Madison Down, Jarrad Filsell and James Scott all within just a tenth of a second. Andrew Gilliam would cross the line slightly out of sync with the field to put his LOBS Camaro in provisional sixth position.

The excitement continued for spectators even on the field’s cooldown laps. When Orbit Drop Bear’s Tyson Broad jolted to the right suddenly, Glen Postlethwaite had no time to react on his run down into Turn 3. The cars would make heavy contact, with Broad sent firing into the wall on the left side, leaving him without a front clip. No penalties were handed out for the incident.

At the end of that same lap, Jake Moloney would be looking to complete his first timed lap of the afternoon, but was met with a tight cluster of cars in the last two corners. With just moments to decide which way to go, Moloney pointed toward the grass and was immediately out of control. Moloney would fire into the last corner desperate not to hit anyone, but would slam into Luke Rosella. Moloney received a 10-second post-race penalty for the incident.

With the last run of laps completed, Jarrad Filsell would eclipse the board to claim his third Playseat Pole Position of the season in dominant fashion – topping his teammate Andrew

Gilliam by almost two tenths. Josh Anderson would spoil the LOBS front row at the last possible moment, crossing the line to take second place 0.182s behind Filsell. Gilliam, Meyers, Scott, Down, Moloney, Gardiner, Rudd and Bourke would complete the top 10.

Filsell leads from the pole into Turn 1 on the opening lap

Rain Rumours Crumble Away for Race Start

Rain was essentially a promise in the lead up to this round, with test sessions throughout the week spitting out moderate to high strength precipitation numbers that would throw the field into turmoil had it arrived in time for the race start. But it was nowhere in sight on radars come the gridwalk; this race would be bone dry to the chequered flag barring any stopagges.

That made things a little easier for championship leader Jarrad Filsell, who got off the line beautifully to hold the lead down into Turn 1 over his LOBS teammate, Andrew Gilliam.

Despite the long straights and heavy braking zones opening up the chance for lunges, the field would slot into their respective places without much trouble for the first lap. Up the front, Josh Anderson, Brady Meyers, Madison Down and James Scott would follow the lead pair and begin to build a small gap to the pack of cars behind.

Some drivers would look to make ground early. In the first four laps, Kobi Williams would move up six places; Zach Rattray-White and Adam Briggs would gain four; and Ethan Grigg-Gault would climb three to break into the top 10.

Fuel save looked to be more important than track positioning for now, with Madison Down seen among many to be holding the clutch in throughout the bulk of the carousel in a bid to save precious time in pit lane.

The field scramble for track position on the opening lap

Settling Period Draws Out Mistakes

At this stage, the leaders had broken into two distinct groups. Filsell, Gilliam and Anderson would lead the way, with a small gap behind to the next battle pack in Meyers, Down and Scott. The gap between the two groups would grow to around five seconds by the end of the first stint.

Zach Rattray-White and Jacob O’Reilly would be among the first to pit with an early stop on Lap 10. No response was seen from any of the front runners, but most of the field would complete their first stop in the next four laps.

In the midst of the field shuffling would be an uncharacteristic mistake from Brady Meyers, who would loop his TTR Camaro at the last corner to drop to eighth place on Lap 13. Surprisingly, he would decide against taking his stop on the same lap.

Dylan Rudd would pinch the fastest lap on Lap 14 — but there was still no movement from the leaders. Filsell would pit on schedule at the end of Lap 17, with the cars behind managing an extra lap by sitting in the slipstream. Hayden Veld would speed in the pitlane, putting a good result in extreme doubt.

When Andrew Gilliam rejoined the racing surface, he would find himself just behind Filsell, with an important gap behind to Down and Anderson.

Mistakes shook multiple drivers at this point, with James Scott having a moment on the marbles of Turn 1 on Lap 19, and Brady Meyers at the Kink of Turn 11 on the same lap. Grigg-Gault would pounce at the chance to steal fifth place from Meyers following the mistake.

With 14 laps remaining, Filsell handed the lead over to his teammate Gilliam down into Turn 1. Filsell had effectively led the entire race up to this point, so this was likely a play for him to save fuel and reclaim the lead come the second pit stop.

James Scott tours the gravel trap at Turn 1

Calm Race Breaks Open!

Cars throughout the field would now complete their second and final stops of the night. Meyers would stop early with 12 to go, the bulk of the field would follow in the next lap or two, then the leaders would come in with eight to go.

Despite Filsell dropping under Gilliam’s rear wing for the second stint, he would emerge behind his teammate on the way out pit lane. Andrew Gilliam retained the race lead!

With just five laps remaining, the script looked easy to read for the end. But when Jacob O’Reilly was caught by an accidental pit maneuver from Brady Baldwin at the last corner and sent hauling into the barrier – spectators and drivers alike knew an exciting race finish was upon them. With O’Reilly’s engine no longer having a pulse, he would be stranded in the middle of the track. The Safety Car was deployed immediately.

Efficient pacing meant the Safety Car would return to the pitlane with two laps remaining. Gilliam would pull the trigger early and get the race underway at the penultimate corner.

Late race drama brings the Logitech G Safety Car on track with only a few laps remaining

Filsell would ride the bumper of Gilliam for the entirety of the first lap but would hold position. Fighting prior to the last lap would be a fruitless affair that would only lose the LOBS teammates precious time, so Filsell held out his attack until the run down to the braking zone of Turn 5.

It was nothing doing out of Turn 5 for Filsell, but strong traction on the run up the hill to the bridge made for another nail biting moment. Still though, no dice! Gilliam retained the race lead with only two key overtaking opportunities remaining on the lap – Turn 8 and Canada Corner.

The threat behind was monstrous, but Gilliam held on through both. Whether this was a team play from Filsell or not, it was certainly a show for onlookers with the LOBS pairing claiming a brilliant 1-2 finish. It was an important night for Gilliam, who jumped to second in the championship over Josh Anderson, who finished third. The remainder of the top 10 would follow with Madison Down, Wayne Bourke, Ethan Grigg-Gault, Griffin Gardiner, Brady Meyers, Emily Jones and Damon Woods.

Honourable Mentions!

Glen Postlethwaite and Tyson Broad were among the biggest movers in Wednesday night’s showdown, with both drivers moving up 14 and 15 places respectively. A fantastic result for the two drivers who came together in that strange qualifying incident. Dylan Perera was also on the move and picked up the OG Gear Hard Charger Award, salvaging a good result after his engine failure in Qualifying.

Vermillion eSports’ Wayne Bourke had an impressive result too, moving up into the top five from 10th on the grid to claim his best result of the season so far.

The Safety Car didn’t help Kurt Stenberg, who plummeted from his starting position with 45 seconds worth of post-race time penalties. He was accompanied by Jacob O’Reilly as the two biggest losers of the night with 19 places dropped each. Jake Moloney also had a rough afternoon, falling from 7th on the grid to 22nd at the chequered flag.

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by Harrison Lillas