MUGEN Simracing has dominated so far the LMP2 class by winning in all three races and has come back to life in GTE as well with the success in the 8 hours of COTA
Road America, Indianapolis and Circuit of the Americas. Tracks have changed, not the name of the winning team in LMP2. MUGEN Simracing has displayed a great dominance in the prototype class. Efforts by front-runners ARMS Cyrba, BSR HydraTech and Wave Freem eSports have fallen short, and MUGEN can now count on an impressive 31 points-lead in the standings heading into 2022. It has been a completely different story in both GTE championships. In the overall standings, Wave Freem eSports leads with a 16 points gap to MUGEN Simracing, with the two HG Esports Blue Bolt entries tied in third after struggling in round 3. Let’s take a more in-depth look at what happened in November and December.
ARMS Cyrba and Wave Freem eSports fell short respectively in Indy and Austin
3 races and 3 wins – MUGEN Simracing has been unstoppable so far
In the 6 Hours of Indianapolis, MUGEN Simracing #49 was the first to take the chequered flag, ahead of ARMS Cyrba #42. The latter’s sister car, #41, was in the lead of the race before being forced to repairs. A screen freeze made Luca Martino hit the barriers entering the pits, causing the loss of the rear wing. Another heartbreaking moment for them, after scoring a DNF in the opening round in Road America, but they would eventually end up in P3, to collect some precious points.
While in Indianapolis Wave Freem eSports finished in P4, unable to recover from early penalties from the previous round, it seemed like it could be their day in the 8 Hours of COTA. A crazy race, with a red flag at the start and rain showers creating uncertainty between teams and drivers. In fact, towards the mid-point of the race, MUGEN decided to gamble and go for the slicks as Varkonyi took over the car from his teammate Szucs. But already during their outlap, rain started to fall down again, forcing them to do an additional pit-stop. When it looked like Wave Freem could stop MUGEN’s streak, Varkonyi went on a charge to recover all the time lost in the remaining 4 hours to get back in the lead and win once again.
Changing conditions helped Hyperion Esports to clinch P4 in Austin
Tough conditions gave the chance to outsiders to get an unexpected result. This has been the case of Hyperion eSports #44. After missing round 2, the Polish duo of Andrzejewski and Szwajkowski came back on track to get an outstanding P4. But, most importantly, they could become a threat to front runners in the upcoming races, even though a bit of pace is still missing, as they say. «This race has proved us we are still long way to be a race winning contenders» told us Andrzejewski. «Changeable conditions definitely gave us a favour because our pace at wet track was extremely good compared to the top tier teams. Unfortunately we didn’t fend off from mistakes. In the early stage of the race we had understeered into the wall on the pit entry which bent our steering. Initially, we thought our lack of pace was due the damages as well so we decided to stop for repairs which took about 5 minutes of stationary. From the full race perspective it did cost us a podium finish».
Three races and three different winners in LMGTE overall
Wave Freem eSports leads the LMGTE overall class, closely followed by MUGEN Simracing and HG Esports Blue Bolt
It seems like the LMGTE class has not found a dominating force yet. After the surprising, and well deserved, win by Panica Gaming in round 1, Wave Freem eSports #99 secured P1 with a comfortable margin in Indianapolis over the two HG eSports Blue Bolt entries, divided by the MUGEN Simracing Aston at the chequered flag. With Road America-winners Panica struggling at the back of the field, the second round of the championship already offered a change in the lead, with Wave Freem eSports on top of the standings.
After the 8 Hours of COTA, Wave Freem eSports kept P1, but it has not been smooth sailing for them. In the rain-affected third race of the season, it was MUGEN Simracing coming home with a win, ahead of #99. The latter was leading the race, before hitting the barriers in sector 1 and causing the second Full Course Yellow of the day. Despite the time loss due to repairs, Corazzari and Arisi managed to finish in P2, with the other WF entry, #126, rounding up the podium positions.
Five points separate LMGTE AM top-4 teams
The two Carloni Racing entries are in the AM title fight with MR Motorsport and championship’s leaders Tomelli Racing
If you thought the situation at the front in LMGTE overall was balanced, you probably haven’t seen the AM standings yet. Tomelli Racing, MR Motorsport and the two Carloni entries, Black and Red, are separated by just 5 points after 3 rounds. Once again, even in this class there have been three different winners. After taking the full points in Road America, 3DRAP could not repeat in the following rounds. It was Tomelli Racing claiming the win in Indianapolis, just ahead of MR Motorsport and Carloni Racing Red.
Tomelli are still leading in the standings, but the P4 they got in Austin meant that other teams could close the gap. This has been the case for MR Motorsport, winning round 3, and for both the Carloni Racing teams. The Black crew finished in P2 at the Circuit of the Americas, while the Red team got its second P3 in a row.
What’s next?
With the championship taking a tiny winter break, teams will already be back on track on the 15th of January, for the 6 Hours of VIR. The narrow American track will make its debut in EES history, as it has never been used before. Its tight corners will represent a tough challenge to face for drivers – cooperation between LMP2s and LMGTEs will be key, if everyone wants to come out safe from there. Will someone finally prevail on MUGEN Simracing LMP2? Who will step up in both LMGTE standings? We cannot wait to get those questions answered in 2022.
The chaotic 8 Hours of COTA on Pitlane TV [IT/EN]