How it all started
During the late summer of 2019 we gave it everything in a bid to qualify for the 6th season of one of the most successful iRacing leagues out there – NEO 24H Series. Robin, Joakim and Henrik were commited to succeed in the car they specialise in – the Porsche 911 Carrera Cup car.
After the most competitive pre-qualifying we have seen we managed to get our 10-lap average laptime and got 11th out of 16 places. Difference between P10 and P16 was less than a tenth…
Check this video where we celebrated this achievement and the fact that we prolonged our partnership with our main sponsor – BSR Tuning, who were kind enough to support us and covered the entry fee.
How it went
The series itself was impressive. Three classes – GTE, 911 Cup and TCR on 6 different tracks around the world. Race lenght between 6 and 12 hours. The best of the simracing teams on iRacing were present. A prize pool for the grabs. It was all there and we were excited to be a part of this.
We started with defying our goals. Being our first season in such a high-profile league we were after gaining experience; building up reputation of a solid and clean team and ambition to finish in the upper half of the table.
We had our ups and downs, some honest mistakes, some bad luck but we matured as a team and individuals. Coming to the final round we had all chances to get P5 in the total standings if we did good. Unfortunately, those chances diminishes after we got rear-ended during the openining laps as the aggression level and excitement was visible in the way our competitors drove. Our trademark Scandinavian coolness was not rewarded this time around. Still we fought back and finished 8th.
That meant we finished the season in P10 overall out of 17 teams in our class.
Let us hear from the heroes themselves
Joakim, team captain
“It has been a challenging and educational season. At first it was really tough to qualify for the championship. We gave it all we got and qualified as 11th. As the season started we found ourselves competitive in the midfield. Throughout the season we improved both our pace and our strategy. We were really happy when we got our season best result of P5 on Imola. After that result it felt like more top 5 finishes were in reach. But our race on Monza was a mess, as we got hit in the rear and our motor blew. In the last race at Barcelona it started really well with p3 in qualifying. But we got hit in the rear again and fell to the back of the field. We managed to keep it together and recover up to p8.
Overall we finished the season in tenth place. We showed some good pace during the season. And next year we will come back, hungry for more, with more experience and more to give.
Doing donuts after finishing 5th in the 6h of Imola at NEO 24H SERIES
Robin
“It’s been a tough season and the field in the series has proven to be competitive. We barely made qualifying for the series but Henrik and Joakim managed to get us in. I personally didn’t feel like I had the pace during the first half of the season. It wasn’t until iRacing released the new tire model for the cup car that I found more speed. Our fifth place at Imola really boosted us and from that P5 was a realistic goal for the upcoming races as well. We had the pace in the remaining races but mistakes and some unlucky moments didn’t give us the results that we wished for. Overall it’s been a great fun racing this series and after improving so much during the season I’m positive we can come back strong for the next one.”
John
“Personally, I didn’t contribute much this season, partly because I came in later and then had some bad luck with hardware. But I have learned a lot and realized, among other things, that it is important to start training early before a race in order to get together the hours needed.”
Georgi, team principal
“Firstly, I would like to thank our boys for the great effort. Just to qualify in one of the best iRacing leagues with fierce competition was a big achievement. We entered by knowing our strengths are a very well balanced line-up as well as the typical Scandinavian consistency and not cracking under pressure. We had our ups and downs and grew a lot. The goal was to finish in the first half of the table and we were 2 points shy of that. Now we look forward, practice and build iRating during the summer and come back for next season even hungrier!”
Looking ahead
Next season is announced and will feature the same classes plus the GT4 class. Qualifying is on 6th of September, again at Donington Park like last year.
We are all looking forward, until then, stay tuned and stay safe!
Our specialty – the 911 Cup car