With the championship decided, and just qualification for the 2025 season to be decided, the final race of the year, and an era, was finally here.

To send off the Commodore Brenton Hobson would be amongst a few drivers bidding farewell to the car that they’ve spent the last 5 years mastering. Hobson’s “Farewell Holden” livery would sum up the occasion.

Qualifying would be hotly contested with several drivers throwing down quick laps early that they wouldn't better across the extended session. Luke Rosella and Madison Down would be amongst this group.

Ultimately, this would be the closest qualifying session in the history of the series and one that will be nearly impossible to beat again. James Scott would manage to set a 2.16.206. Not to be outdone, his fellow Lobs Esports driver Jarrad Filsell would match the time to the thousandth of a second, and beat it by two ten thousandths of a second.

Brenton Hobson with a special "Farewell Holden" Livery for the last round of the Championship

So it would be another Jarrad Filsell pole position which would take him to a third of the poles for the year with four, ahead of James Scott, with Luke Rosella and Madison Down on the second row. Notably, Blake Worboys would have issues and be unable to set a qualifying lap forcing him to start from the rear of the field.

Madison Down would struggle to get the car away from the grid and drop several spots on the opening lap. The usual chaos would ensue on the run through Eau Rouge and Radillion for the first time.

Hobson would make contact with Jacob O’Reilly and get spun in front of the field at the fastest part of the race track, collecting Matthew Bowler and ending his night. Hobson would continue, but without a draft and with damage to the car.

The race would then settle down with not much movement inside the top 10, and with everyone saving fuel before the first round of stops would be kicked off by Shawn McNamara looking for the undercut on lap 12. Ethan Grigg-Gault’s Evolution Racing Team Commodore would be the last of the cars to pit in the first cycle at the end of lap 18.

The field would be shuffled a fair bit as the fuel numbers were quite varied up and down the field.

The run through Eau-Rouge

Zach Rattray-White would be on target for his best night of the season to convert good speed and growth into a top 10 and auto qualification for 2025, but that would come at the cost of Shawn McNamara, as his undercut failed to create the track position he needed heading into the final stops of the year.

Filsell would kick off the final round of stops with 10 laps to run, and would be followed a lap later by the bulk of the top 10.

Grigg-Gault would jump Filsell on pit exit, but the effective race lead would change hands multiple times on the run along the Kemmel straight. Paint would be traded at the chicane and down the hill through Rivage before Grigg-Gault would finally get the spot over Filsell.

James Scott would turn spectator as he wasn’t able to get close enough to join the battle initially.

Filsell would take a few laps to set up Grigg-Gault before finally getting the move done with 6 laps to go, and with a fair bit of bravery around the outside of the entry to the Les Combes chicane. Scott would sense an opportunity and try to get to the inside of Grigg-Gault on the run down the hill, not quite able to pull the car up and make slight contact. He’d slot back in behind Grigg-Gault.

Rattray-White and Beau Albert would have a stash for the ages with a couple of laps to go. Albert would get the job done and nick the spot on the run to Eau Rouge, but then it’d be fought for all the way down the straight, both drivers would cut the chicane after running deep and bring Griffin Gardiner and Robbie Gibbs into the equation.

Grigg-Gault battles with Jarrad Filsell late in the race

The series, the championship and the Gen 2 era would all be brought to a close with a win for the driver who took out the inaugural Logitech Pro Invitational title as Jarrad Filsell would take the flag.

James Scott and Ethan Grigg-Gault would come to blows in a last lap, last corner incident that would earn Scott a 5 second post race penalty and demote him from the podium, which would elevate Grigg-Gault to second and Madison Down to third.

Blake Worboys would drive an overtaking masterclass to come home with 14 spots gained to 18th.

And that would be all she wrote, Gen 2 off into the sunset to welcome the introduction of the new cars. Holden waves goodbye, as we welcome Chevrolet to the fold.

The finale to 2024 seemed fitting, but boy it leaves me hungry for next year. Everyone’s worlds are about to change in dramatic fashion, and I cannot wait to be back for 2025 to dive into Gen3 and the drama of the Qualifying series.

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by Scott Rankin

Its time. We’ve outlived the real-world ZB Commodore by two years, but the time has finally come. 

Originally announced in December 2013, the engine production for the Commodore ceased as of the 20th of October 2017. Whilst the V8 Supercars chassis and engines lived on until the end of the 2022 racing season

The bigger bodied, wider curved rear end of the ZB Commodore has been with us since the Season 1 2020 update (released in December 2019), and whilst I may be a Ford fan, I must admit I feel a very profound sense of loss to see the tail end of the Commodore.

We’ve already crowned our champion, so now all eyes turn to the “Battle for the Bubble”.

The Vermillion eSports driver of Zach Rattray-White will be the centrepiece of this battle yet again. There’s been some brilliant speed across the journey, and the improvement has been a sight to behold, but he’s yet to make a finish inside the top 10 and this will likely be his goal heading into the final round. Consequently, he also would do enough with a top 10 to finish in the automatic qualification spots.

Mathematically only 4 drivers below the cut line are still in contention for qualification, but realistically its a “must win” scenario for both Brenton Hobson and Marcello River who sit on 1288 points. They both are required to outscore all the drivers ahead of them by 116 points, and that’s before we get into the complicated situation should Shawn McNamara and Tom Freer both manage to move their way into being the bubble driver.

Brenton Hobson joins Marcello Rivera as long shots at making the top 20 with only one race to go

The story for McNamara and Freer is a lot easier of a task. McNamara sits 12 points adrift of Rattray-White, and Freer is only 18 further back for a target of 30 points to 20th. Getting into the on track scenarios this looks like 3 spots to tie it up for McNamara and 8 spots for Freer and is likely to be a big focus of the discussions tomorrow night.

Ahead of the bubble and still required to put points on the table sit 7 drivers. Adam Briggs, Josh Anderson, Blake Worboys, Jake Burton are a part of the calculations but realistically just require to hit the 75% marker to put points on the board. Ian Ford is the next driver in the equation and he will require a mid to high 20’s position to lock himself in.

Here’s where we stop looking at drivers that are “all-but” locked in. Beau Albert sits 92 points ahead of the bubble and Jake Moloney is only 38 points ahead of McNamara’s total. 21st is all Beau Albert will require to be locked in for 2025, but Moloney will require a 7th place finish.

I know there’s a lot of data to cover there, but for 2025 it becomes a lot more important than it's ever been. We’ve finally got confirmation we’ll be moving over to the Gen3 chassis, and we begin to encounter the new variables. There’s always a trick to be found with new cars and you don’t want to take a run through the gauntlet of the qualifying series in a new car if it can be avoided.

The picturesque and historic Spa hosts the finale for the 2024 Season

How about the location to bid adieu to the Commodore? We’re off on a spa vacation…. Sorry Circuit de Spa Francorchamps… Bugger, I’d already got my headphones in and put my feet up.

2022 Results

Qualifying  - Marcello Rivera 2.17.498
Race  - Jarrad Filsell
Format  - 39 Laps - 273km

2023 Results

Qualifying  - Jarrad Filsell 2.16.593
Race  -  Jarrad Filsell (post race penalty promoted James Scott to the win)
Format  - 39 Laps - 273km

2024 Format - 35 Laps - 245km

Both races that we’ve run at Spa have finished with winning margins under half a second, which shouldn’t be surprising given the drafting nature of the track.

Last year there was a bit of controversy as Filsell received a 15 second penalty in the opening laps for contact with Brady Meyers for the race lead. He elected not to serve the penalty across the duration of the race in a hope of challenging it post race. That didn’t work out and began a long slide through the remainder of the season that saw him return to the stewards box multiple times, and eventually be forced to the qualification series for this year.

The 3 biggest things about Spa are:

1. Big Lap
2. Big Speeds
3. Big draft trains

There’s so much opportunity to get some fuel saving if you can’t make your way forwards and the front of the field is going to form into its usual draft train aspect. You don’t want to lead early.

From the mid section of the race you’ve got to be position well when the strategy starts to open up.

Stops will start around Lap 13, but you could go very late as well with a lot of ease to catch and pass cars.

As for my predictions? Well… its pretty easy. The guy who’s won the race on the road and has been the fastest driver this year comes in as the favourite. Since we were here last 18 months ago, Jarrad Filsell went on a downhill slide into a redemption year. He’s my pick again just based on his dominance.

I’d be very nervous in Zach Rattray-White’s shoes, and he will know he’s going to have a camera on him all night long. He’s had a fun race already this week where he’s let the hair down and that's probably what he needed to set himself up for a big Wednesday night.

Shawn McNamara has got to pull something out here. The big issue with that is he’s a quiet consistent driver, not one for the big occasion and big performance when it’s required. His pace is still great, but this could be the last time we see him in the Logitech Pro Invitational Series if the younger talent coming through eliminates him from the qualifying series next year.

I’ll see you all Wednesday night for our final race of the season, but I’m not done with content for the year.

We’ll be live as usual from 7.45pm Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time to send off the Commodore in spectacular fashion.

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by Scott Rankin

2024 has been wild. Its had moments that have rattled all of the top contenders, or rather the expected top contenders. So it seems fitting that the penultimate round is the track most likely to shake that up again.

A concrete canyon can create calamitous chaos of colossal consequences. Try saying that 10 times fast whilst putting in a lap, and you have the beginnings of understanding how difficult a race start is at Detroit Belle Isle.

Yes, its back, the street circuit that had consequences last year for a large chunk of the field. The only difference to 2023 is that it came before the endurance races, and left drivers with 3 rounds to get their points in order.

Dylan Rudd will be riding an absolute high on his way into this round. 2 races to go, over a race win in terms of points lead, and the ability to crown our 2024 champion prior to the final round! What could go wrong? Oh… I said it, didn’t I?

Walls, they are everywhere! Pace? That's found by being against the fences and using every millimetre of the road! Setup? You’re going to need to have a car that handles a lot of 90 degree turns, bumps, kerbs, all of it.

In 2022 this track sat in the same slot on the calendar. The difference this time around is that we’ve got 2 years of history in the rearview mirror and an understanding of the “bubble” to automatically qualify for the 2025 season and what that means for our drivers. For the bulk of the field that will be the focal point, and when you look at the numbers everyone from 13th placed Jordan Ross to 23rd placed Shawn McNamara has a realistic shot of being in or out.

For the rest, they’re going to need some dramatic numbers to find themselves not facing a run through the gauntlet of the Qualifying series in what we expect to be an unknown quantity in Gen 3. Tantalising! I love it!

That leaves us with a street circuit race that is going to provide a strong chance of someone being relegated, someone pulling a result from nowhere, and a championship on the cards all at once. Can you sense why my anxiety kicked up a few notches when this track got announced during the Bathurst 1000?

2023 Results

Format - Sprint Round - 2x 28 Laps (105km)
Pole Position - Brady Meyers 1:29.292
Race 1 Winner - Andrew Gilliam (first race win in the series)
Race 2 Winner - Madison Down
Round Winner - Madison Down

2022 Results

Format - Regular Round - 60 Laps (226km)
Pole Position - Jarrad Filsell 1:27.524
Race 1 Winner - Jarrad Filsell

Historically this is an event you have to navigate with precision on your way to a title. Navigating Race 2 last year correctly led Madison Down into the enduros with a bit of a comfort buffer he was able to build on and look to secure a title. 2022 saw Jarrad Filsell assert his dominance to win the title one round early.

Dylan Rudd will be looking to do that here this year, and by my math a 10th place finish guarantees him the title, with an 11th requiring a win from the only other contender in teammate Andrew Gilliam at both this race and the next.

Working in Gilliam’s favour is that he has been among the best driver’s at this track 2 years running, including his first win in the series in 2023. This is where we first started to really see the best Gilliam has to offer, and with that in mind it's very tough to go past his potential to win this race.

Andrew Gilliam is second in the standings and has form at Belle Isle

Synergy Sim Racing always tends to claim a speedy car on the more bumpy circuits and this will be the perfect opportunity to test their mettle. Jordan Ross, Adam Briggs and Tom Freer are the only three SSR cars that currently sit inside the automatic qualification positions for 2025. Ross and Briggs realistically just need to make it to the 75% marker of the race to earn their slots for next year, which will be at the end of 55 laps. Tom Freer sits 86 points ahead of the bubble so he will need to finish somewhere around the mid 20’s to place himself into a strong position before he focuses on finishing the race at Spa.

Critically, the driver who sits just on the inside of the bubble is Zach Rattray-White. His points total of 1308 is 32 behind the leading Rookie in Beau Albert, but based on trends I do expect him to more than outscore that difference over the remaining two rounds. For the chasing pack that then means their marker only becomes the Vermillion Esports driver if Rattray-White ends up in an incident, and don’t automatically count that out.

To the race and my thoughts on it. Well…Drama. This race has had its fair share of ordeals, trials and tribulations. Sometimes it feels like smacking your head against a concrete barrier as you try and make your way forwards, and other days you might just find yourself on the outside of the track boundaries, partaking in a beer with the race fans whilst you think back on the night that could have been.

Predictions time!

1. Open with the “safe” option, we will see the Safety Car and it will impact the running order of the field.
   
   
2. Luke Rosella had some banter with me the other night that suggested that there has been some work on Lobs Esports engine program. I still expect 1 Lobs car to not make the finish line at a minimum. My gut feeling is saying Griffin Gardiner, he’s been quite lucky of late and it's probably his turn.
   
   
3. Tempers and temperament will be tested in the mid field. Leaving your run to find yourself inside the automatic qualification positions to the final round is too late. The only problem with this prediction is that the drivers that are in contention are also the level heads in the field. Probably going to get this wrong.
   
   
4. Least overtakes of the season. Difficulty is high, but tire deg tends to be a bigger factor in the current package. This is the longest race we have run here at an expanded 73 laps, or 275km, could that lead to drama when someone runs super long on the stops?
   
   
5. Dylan Rudd has never had this level of pressure on him before, nerves or a small mistake gets the better of him and the championship goes to the final round. I’m not doom and glooming this prediction, I just think he doesn’t do enough to get the job done here. Pitstop/strategy mistake, under driving the car too much to score the points leads to a minor error. Mathematical possibility style stuff whereby the result is Gilliam must win and Rudd must not finish, but its still not over until Rudd banks at least 149 points from the remaining two races.

Dylan Rudd will be hoping to wrap up the championship at Belle Isle

Out of all of the races for the season this tends to be the one most worth watching. The biggest change to these cars in the last several years is the New Damage Model, and if there is ever going to be a place that tests this system it's going to be Detroit Belle Isle.

Join us Wednesday night from 7.30pm AEDT over on our streams to find out if we can put the championship to bed, or if it goes down to the decider!

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by Scott Rankin

After 2 support categories, qualifying and our one shootout of the year, here we stand on the back side of another Bathurst 1000.

This one just about had it all, drama, champions bowing out early, unexpected moments at critical junctures and the very important middle bit where everyone spends their race putting together enough in race miles to “buy their ticket to the end”.

The top 15 Shootout on Saturday night was the perfect way to kick off the on track action for the majority of the main drivers. I am normally the kind of person who doesn’t enjoy the shootout, but this was one for the ages. Head over here to go watch.

The pole position lap would be set by the second car to run, Brady Meyers, who was unable to show his true pace in the qualifying session earlier. As it would turn out, Brady would happen to run during the best conditions of the session early on and would manage to set his time during a calmer period, after which a strong headwind would kick up on Conrod Straight and reduce the possible top speeds through Australia’s fastest straight and corner.

James Scott would set a lap 13 Thousandths of a second back from Brady for the outside of row one for the big dance on Sunday.

161 Laps of the toughest tarmac in Australia awaits

One Thousand kilometres. One hundred and sixty one laps. The greatest piece of motoring real estate this country has access to. Eighty two of the best drivers this country can offer the endurance racing gods, and the only thing separating them from glory would be the next six hours of trials and tribulations.

The early running would be setup by most of the main drivers, who would be electing to get a stint out of the way early in order to allow the co-drivers to get them to lap 89, whereby it would be back over to the main drivers to the end.

James Scott would get the launch around the outside of Myers and steal the lead on the run to turn one. He would lead until the first Safety Car period of the day on lap 11, which would trigger first rounds of stops and the openings of the first strategy cards to be played by teams.

Co-drivers would be placed aboard a few cars at this early point, with most of the field electing to leave their starting drivers in. Critical changes would be to put Emily Jones, Ethan Warren and Thomas McMillan aboard the #8 TTR, #22 TTR and #94 Lobs eSports cars. Thomas McMillan would be a very late call up midweek to play co-driver to Jarrad Filsell.

The safety car made it's first appearance on lap 11

We became aware of an update to the #7 car at this period as well. Ethan Grigg-Gault would unfortunately find himself becoming badly ill across the course of the weekend, with co-driver Brad Ryan standing up to the challenge and taking on a bulk of the early efforts to try and rest Grigg-Gault for the end of the race.

McMillan from here would be boxed around the ears for the next 10 laps until he would pit in an attempt to get him out of an angry pack that looked set to explode into a race ending incident at any moment.

Kobi Williams would find himself in an interesting stoush with Harley Haber as Kobi would try to put his stamp on the battle and check up a host of cars in a fight for 16th place.

McMillan would be the first retirement of the day on lap 33 when an early downshift would grenade the engine of the #94 Lobs eSports car he would be sharing with Jarrad Filsell. With the amount of points on offer during the Trueforce Endurance Cup races this would have the added effect of ending Filsell’s run at championship glory too.

Engine blown and early exit for Filsell and McMillian

More pit stops and another drama as Hayden Sell would climb aboard the #19 entry he would share with Dylan O’Shea. Sell wouldn’t be aware of the location of the stricken McMillan car which was placed just at the exit of pitlane. Leaving the lane he would collect that car and end their day.

A long green flag run including 2 pit cycles would begin from here before the next Safety Car on lap 96, with the co-drivers doing the bulk of the hard work here. Supreme stints from Ryan Wood (partnering James Scott), Emily Jones (partnering Jake Burton), Ethan Warren (partnering Brady Meyers) and Dylan Birse (partnering Griffin Gardiner) would see these 4 move their way to the front of the standings and leave themselves in prime position for the run to the flag.

Of the top 10 cars at this point only Ryan Wood and Dylan Birse would be left in on co-driving duties as the teams elected to put primary drivers in for a thrilling final 3 stints to the flag.

A dark horse had been trending towards the front all day long. That of Sebring race winner Robbie Gibbs and up and comer Lachlan “Kid Capable” Caple had driven and strategized their way to 6th place on the road ahead of several extremely strong cars.

Ryan Wood would be passed by Jake Burton who would attempt to take off and disappear down the road on lap 106. Burton would have a slight strategy disadvantage after pitting earlier than the rest on the previous cycle and would need to try and build a margin to assist his chances of a victory.

Luke Rosella would start his charge towards the front of the field and in the penultimate stop would be one of the later drivers to come to the lane. This would set him up with a lesser amount of fuel to add at the final stop and would be critical to the end of the race.

From this point on it would be a mix of different fuel strategies and stop times. Brady Meyers would come to the lane with 42 laps to the end of the race and pit to come out in behind a group of early pitting cars including Josh Anderson, Fawzan El-Nabi and Ric Kuznetsov. El-Nabi and Kuznetsov would make contact going 2 wide into Reid Park with El-Nabi scraping the wall and collecting Meyers. Both drivers would recover without significant damage, but they would lose 10-15 seconds from the lead pack and effectively end their shot at a race win.

A scary moment at Reid Park involving El-Nabi and Meyers

Madison Down would throw a short fill a the car with 40 laps to go and attempt to force the hand of everyone around him. 

One of the interesting stories was Dylan Rudd and Gianni Lutzu. Lutzu sped into the pitlane on Lap 74, and this would drop them to the tail end of the field. Between serving the penalty and lap 130 they would drive back to 12th place. This is critical for their championship hopes as this would be the biggest opportunity to pull points back on our Championship leader.

Final stops would come through and leave Luke Rosella leading from Madison Down, but Rosella had underfilled to get the track position. Griffin Gardiner would also manage to place himself in the front trio and would swap paint with Down multiple times in the final stint as they raced for a Bathurst victory.

With the front 3 racing hard and trading paint Andrew Gilliam and James Scott would drive their way back into the lead pack.

Finally the move would be thrown from Madison Down at Murray’s Corner, but the defence from Rosella would be stout. In the process Down wouldn’t be able to get to the throttle early enough and Griffin Gardiner would dive down the inside on Lap 150.

In the dying laps the battle was on between Rosella, Down and Gardiner

The battle would continue to rage to the final lap of the race, but that would be the final throw of the dice we would see.

Luke Rosella would back up from his Sandown 2023 victory and manage to take a Bathurst 1000 win alongside Richie Stanaway for Lobs eSports. Griffin Gardiner and Dylan Birse would take 2nd place, with Madison Down in 3rd.

After 7 hours of coverage on the mountain we got treated to another blockbuster.

Jarrad Filsell would lose his opportunity to win another championship.

Co-drivers would prove key in the middle segment of the race for track position at the end. Strategy and Fuel Saving would prove key to being in the right place at the right time at the end.

Multiple “tickets to the end” would be bought, but only the ticket of Rosella and Stanaway would get punched to the top step of the podium!

Rosella and Stanaway crowned Bathurst Champions

The inaugural Trueforce Endurance Cup would also be won at the 1000, with the points required to overhaul Dylan Rudd’s lead achieved by Rosella. Congratulations to Luke Rosella and Richie Stanaway on both the 1000 and Endurance Cup victory!

That's not the end for 2024, we still have to decide our champion and our next race is headed to one of the most treacherous circuits to go racing at.

Join us on the 23rd of October from 7.30pm AEDT as we go Street Course Racing from Detroit Belle Isle. Will the concrete canyon bring our championship leader unstuck and open the doors for a last minute steal from the chasers? Be there to witness the action!

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