A Thrilling Week On iRacing Pt. 2: Madness At Mosport! FalkenTyre Sportscar Challenge Race Review

The FalkenTyre Sportscar Challenge has been an absolute blast to compete in - 30 minutes of unadulterated chaos.

The moment the GT4 pack calms down a wave of LMP3's come buzzing from behind to add another whole element into the race.

After an absolutely CHAOTIC opening round at Oulton Park, the series calmed down slightly at both Watkins and Long Beach.

Series Results Thus Far (All positions in GT4 Class)

Round 1: Oulton Park (Split 2/3)

Q: 7th/17th

R: 5th

Blog: https://www.kabortmotorsport.com/post/falken-tyre-sports-car-championship-round-1-oulton-park Round 2: Watkins Glen (Split 4/7)

Q: 17th/20th

R: 5th (8 Retirements - 7 DNF | 1 DSQ)

Round 3: Long Beach (Split 1/2) - Top GT4 Split

Q: 14th/19th

R: 15th

Round 4: Mosport (Spilt 1/2) - Top GT4 Split

Q: 12th

R: 9th

The Race

For the second race in a row - from the amount of drivers that signed up to race, I knew that this was going to be another tough top-split race.

Whilst I only finished 9th in class (spoiler) - I both qualified and finished higher than I did at Long Beach - and from memory - I didn't get lapped by the leader either.

I had qualified right in the meat-grinder of the pack - right in the mid-pack where there's usually little to no escape if someone wrecks up ahead - with many cars in a small amount of space - things were bound to go wrong.

One Down...10 to go...

The opening lap was...bittersweet - making up two positions over the course of the lap - then losing two more in the meantime - starting Lap 2 exactly where I started it.

The two drivers who did pass me had a great tussle/fight for 10th in class - before they tried to go side by side around/down turn two and the driver on the outside...ran out of road - ended up off-roading and ended up out of the equation.

P8 was the next of Mosport's victims - him losing the back end at turn 1 and hitting the wall on the inside - before being passed by me - I was now in the Top 10 (10th) of Top Split - for an absolute noob like me - this was big stuff.

Sure, it was the only GT4 split - but we've all got to start somewhere.

Next on my list was the other car who passed me on the opening lap - on lap 4, he too met his demise - out-braking himself in the final section of the track, gifting 9th in class to me.

I'd stay in 9th until Lap 7 - before P6 would spin up his rear tyres at Moss/ "Turn 5C" and spin into the inside wall - his bumper locking with the wall and trapping him against it - leaving him unable to escape.

On Lap 8, P6 went wide at Moss Corner, spinning into "Turn 5B".

The only problem was...he decided to rejoin the track just as I was approaching the very corner he was re-joining at!

Up Lap 8, I was just about managing the gap to the car/s behind...before I had to slam on the anchors for this...numpty - both managed to get a much better run out of "Turn 5B" (the corner I'm going through) - had more speed going onto the straight and on the straight itself - and both managed to nip past in the braking zone at the end of the straight.

My next position would come on Lap 11, when the orangey Mercedes (in photo) put a wheel on the grass under braking and slid very wide at Turn 2.

On Lap 12, I'd return to 8th.

Other than some sketchy passes by the LMP3's - it would be a pretty uneventful few laps until Lap 19, when the GT4 ahead would carry too much speed into The Fateful Turn 2 and slide wide - this being enough for me to power on by into a brief P7, before having a HORRIBLE exit out of 5B - Aspray behind having the momentum to get alongside, but finished the job under braking at the next corner.

Lap 21. Another Lap. Another sub-par "Turn 5B" - and another position lost. To motivate me - I told myself "If I had a chance of battling them, I would be - but the fact they're driving off into the sunset shows they aren't a battle worth fighting".

And just like that, the incredibly dramatic race was over.

I was the only Aston in the race - The Top 8 all being Mercedes AMG GT GT4's - the highest of 3 BMW's being in 11th.

As a result, I was given +9 iRating - every little helps as they always say!