Quantifying Qualifying - Looking at our 45
2025. A year that is about change, shiny new cars and an influx of new drivers. Over the last 3 years Qualifying has set us up to get into the season, but we’ve gone into the Q-Series generally knowing who to keep our eyes on and where the pace is going to come from.
Not this year.
Pace was absolutely rapid over the 3 nights of qualifying and it would be Synergy Sim Racing’s Brenton Hobson who would land the first blows on the overall timesheet.
Hobson would take the fastest lap for Barber Motorsports Park on night 1 with a 1.24.749, but the Zolder times would be led by the new kid on the V8 Block Kody Deith of Eclipse Simsports.
Deith and the Eclipse Simsports team will be worth keeping an eye on across the entirety of the season, and barring any issues in the short Qualifying season, will be among my top picks to make the Pro Series.
Night 2 of Pre-Qualifying would see not only the pace improve, but a big shakeup at the front of the standings.
Brenton Hobson set the early pace on Night 1
Only one driver would better the times from the first night of Pre-Qualifying from Zolder, Matthew Bowler from Evolution Racing Team would set the new benchmark of 1.30.684, but Kody Deiths mark of a 1.30.735 from the previous night would stand as the 2nd best time.
However, Barber Motorsports Park would be where the real action would pickup. The previous best would be “Eclipsed” (and yes, prepare for me to use that pun liberally this year) by nearly 3 tenths of a second. 6 total drivers would also improve on Hobson’s marker, and with all 6 coming from different teams. Dylan Birse (Eclipse Simsports), Emily Jones (Trans Tasman Racing), Matthew Bowler (Evolution Racing Team), Andrew Dyson (DPR Racing), Greg Favelle (Xcelerate Sim Racing) and Dylan Perera (Synergy Sim Racing) would put their times down ahead of Hobson’s.
This would move the Eclipse Simsport duo of Dylan Birse and Kody Deith to the top of the pile heading into the final night of action, and sitting more than comfortably enough to relax and begin focus on the Qualifying series if they chose.
Andrew Dyson was among the cars showing good speed in Pre Qualifying
I think it's quite critical at this point in time to mention how important to the health of the car and the series to have 6 teams able to put times to the top of Pre-Qualifying. In years gone by we’ve seen the same teams and drivers dominate. If one driver of a team is doing well, they’ve got their setup locked in and the rest of the team will follow. The new package appears to be leaning towards a more driver centric car, at least in qualifying trim!
Final night of qualifying would not see the electric times from the previous night from Barber.
Fastest from Barber on the final night of qualifying would be Emily Jones who would improve fractionally on her night 2 time. Setting a 1.24.516 she would be 5 hundredths faster than Damon Woods final time.
Zolder appeared to be where the focus was placed. Matthew Bowler’s time of 1.30.684 would be bettered by two drivers from the Eclipse Simsports crew. Dylan Birse would lay down the fastest lap across all 3 nights to top the sessions with a 1.30.483, but Damon Woods would be only 9 thousandths of a second behind with a 1.30.492.
The Eclipse Simsports trio of Dylan Birse, Damon Woods and Kody Deith would clinch the top 3 spots from Pre-Qualifying and show the electric pace that has seen them be targeted for high level drives in the world of multiclass and open wheel racing.
Eclipse Simsports claimed the top 3 spots in Pre Qualifying
Emily Jones would stand up to place herself strongly in contention for a main game drive. After being one of the most reliable co-drivers on the grid over the last few seasons, Trans Tasman Racing are likely going to be looking for new talent to be in a supporting role come endurance time.
With a podium to his name in 2024, Jobe Stewart would be the best placed of the Supercars and Super2 entries in 19th, with Andre Heimgartner (30th) and Richie Stanaway (38th) both managing to make the cut. Stanaway has spent a lot of time enjoying the Gen3 on iRacing and was offering a lot of open lobbies to drivers during the week the cars launched back in December. This just goes to show how intense and compact the sim racing field has become.
Well with the overall times across the field of 45 being 1.3 seconds, and the gap from 11th to 45th being 0.6 seconds its very clear we have our closest qualifying field ever.
Hayden Veld made big gains on Night 3 to secure his spot in the Qualifying Series
With February comes the Qualifying series. 4 short weeks, 4 opportunities to book an automatic ticket into the big dance. We saw last year that one mistake was enough to eliminate a driver and shuffle them back down the order.
Will anyone among the 45 get desperate in a pursuit for glory? Can you afford to miss the Qualifying Series?
Racing kicks off from February 5th and the track that farewelled the Gen 2 from official series racing.
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is fast, flowing and requires discipline. The grass and the fence come up way too quick should you get in deep!
See you all in a few weeks!
Check out the full results from Pre Qualifying by clicking the botton below:
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by Scott Rankin
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