Holgate wins (again) by less than 25 feet with close finish at Phoenix
by Donald Wayne Strout (04/09/2016)
Joe Branch challenges Holgate on last lap, Brad Walters follows behind at a safe distance for P3
The fourth event of the new 2016 iAdvance Motorsports Indy Elite Series (12 races—11 ovals and one street course in Long Beach) ran at the Phoenix tri-oval on Sunday, March 27, at 7PM EDT.
As usual the race was broadcasted live on RacespotTV http://racespot.tv/ as well as iRacing Live. http://www.iracing.com/live/ and can be seen at Phoenix race on youtube
20 iRacing drivers took the green flag at Phoenix International Raceway. Bradley Walters took his first pole position in the 2016 iAdvance Motorsports Indy Elite Series--Walters has started on the first or second row of every race so far. Christopher Demerrit was unable to compete at Phoenix. New Yorker, Nathan Bookbinder found surprising speed, joining Tim Holgate and Joe Branch, along with Walters in the two front rows at the start.
Tim Holgate, winner of the first two races, demonstrated his normal (dominating) race speed, pretty much leading the entire race. Close behind were Joe Branch, Bradley Walters, and Tim Doyle. Doyle and Walters battled for P3 for many laps. Doyle was taken out on lap 131 when another car hit the wall and spun down into Doyle. (See below)
Another disappointing late race incident...
Another disappointing late race incident...
Michael Peters, Bradley Walter's teammate spins the tires on the lap 144 restart, giving up his hard earned P4 position.
Perhaps the most impressive performance of this race was Michael Peters who started 20th (last) and moved throught the field to P4 by lap 144. Michael runs setups that he and Bradley Walters build together and it was clear that they had found many speed secrets to running fast at Phoenix. At the time of a green flag start, the leader usually can jump on the gas because his steering wheel is straight, but starting from 4th, usually your car needs a little steering as you are still in the corner, and going full throttle can be critical--spins like this happen often.
Team RFC member, Dan Lee Ensch sponsored by Komet Hockey Club takes P4, with Norway's Andreas Eik close behind in P5. Team RFC driver, Tim Miller finishes P6.
In the end the top three finishers were: Holgate, Branch and Walters. Close behind was Dan Lee Ensch, P4, Anrdreas Eik, P5 and Tim Miller, P6.
Top 10 Standings thru Race 4--Courtesy danlisa.com
One BIG question....If Branch could have run in clean air would he have been able to stay ahead of Holgate? Branch and Walters are "overdue" for their first win.
The series moves next to Long Beach, at 7PM EST. The Question for Long Beach is: Who is fast on street based road courses?
Series sponsors: http://www.iadvancemotorsports.com/ and http://www.ricmotech.com/
