With lockdown resulting in no traditional racing happening the 2kcup put on a pretty sweet iRacing series that quickly attracted big numbers. 150+ drivers required multiple splits and I was there part of it.
Racing in the top split not only did I get to race 2kcup regulars for the virtual championship I also started one race on the front row alongside Shane Van Gisbergen and made a pass on Brendon Hartley into the Leguna Seca Corkscrew.
This lock down is crazy. I just went full send on Brendon Hartley. Like THE Brendon Hartley. ex F1 Hartley. Where do I go from here
A series with awesome moments but also massive frustrations.
The 2kcup iRacing series has the worst driving standards I’ve ever experienced. Whenever I race in the series my only goal has to been to keep it clean but still the trouble finds me. I’m the green/blue car people keep hitting
Despite the trouble, going into the final round I was second in the standings and with a double points final race I was still in with a shot at the title
Frustratingly it wasn’t to be as I was caught up in more trouble in the final round at Silverstone. Two races I did not enjoy thanks to accidents, finishing 14th and 20th. Eventually I would be classified 4th for the season frustratingly missing the podium.
Race broadcasts:
Round 1 races from Watsons perspective (there was no official broadcast until round 2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzy1dK_TzHw
Highlights vid from one of my rounds: https://www.facebook.com/monkeymatt.racing/videos/259809065156977/
Highlights vid from the penultimate round: https://www.facebook.com/monkeymatt.racing/videos/948498025620789/
News about the series:
Lot’s of NZ drivers lining up for round 3: https://www.velocitynews.co.nz/lawson-and-van-gisbergen-join-kiwi-stars-in-virtual-league/
Pre round 6: https://www.velocitynews.co.nz/2kcup-making-big-virtual-headlines/
Round 6 results: https://www.velocitynews.co.nz/van-gisbergen-clean-sweeps-2kcup-iracing-league
Finale Results: https://www.velocitynews.co.nz/lawson-claims-silverstone-double-while-watson-is-crowned-champion
Full iRacing Results:
Round 1 – Okayama: https://members-ng.iracing.com/racing/results-stats/results?subsessionid=31267176
Round 2 – Lime Rock Park: https://members-ng.iracing.com/racing/results-stats/results?subsessionid=31390016
Round 3 – Laguna Seca: https://members-ng.iracing.com/racing/results-stats/results?subsessionid=31524280
Round 4 – Summit Point: https://members-ng.iracing.com/racing/results-stats/results?subsessionid=31714148
Round 5 – Charlotte Motor Speedway: https://members-ng.iracing.com/racing/results-stats/results?subsessionid=31870359
Round 6 – Tsukuba: https://members-ng.iracing.com/racing/results-stats/results?subsessionid=32026216
Round 7 – Okayama: https://members-ng.iracing.com/racing/results-stats/results?subsessionid=32185575
Round 8 – Silverstone: https://members-ng.iracing.com/racing/results-stats/results?subsessionid=32474513
2KCup iRacing 6 Hour Endurance
Just before the final round of the season on iRacing traditional motorsport still wasn’t back so the 2kcup rallied again to host a special 6 hour Bathurst endurance with a huge field of 50 teams/cars.
With $3,000 worth of prizes, including $1,000 for the top team with a 2kcup driver I was super excited to team up with top talents from the Virtual Life Xperience esports team.
The original details doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xZ1hS-4b-UajcDGBrFgv5ZCKu1Cu7dZbaU6dWDEWuJQ/edit#heading=h.rp27ed1rl0hy
Motorsport NZ sharing it: https://motorsport.org.nz/2kcup-set-to-tackle-mount-panorama/
An article about the results: https://www.velocitynews.co.nz/lawson-and-stubbs-crowned-kings-of-the-mountain-in-6-hour-thriller
We made it! 6 hours of Bathurst done and finished 9th out of 50 in a field that included some of NZs best drivers. Proud of that. My team mates @VLX_Huezo and @Antal_Rafael were awesome. Big ups to @VLX_eSports for having me for the race
I’m still confused about how the strategy screwed us so bad thought. At one point we lapped Liam Lawson who went on to win, and we were leading with one stop to go. Somehow we finished a minute down 🤔 Proud of how we drove though. Fast and clean.
This didn’t help… 🤷♀️ (didn’t cost us a minute though)
Official iRacing Results: https://members-ng.iracing.com/racing/results-stats/results?subsessionid=32330030
Off the back of a big iRacing season, and ongoing as we slowly emerged from lockdowns and tried to resume normal life, 2kcup iRacing would continue into a second and third season but without so much fanfare. I opted not to keep racing after all the frustrations I’d had with the series.