iRacing Daytona: Champions Coanda reign supreme

iRacing Daytona: Champions Coanda reign supreme

iRacing
Jan 25, 2021 6 Min Read Posted by Marvin Miller

Daytona has finished and the results are in. Here is what happened in the famous 24-hour race.

Photo Credit: Josh Rogers

Article updated on 26.01.2020 1:35 pm: Made several changes. Updated the totality of the splits as well as the role of Alonso in the race. We also made sure to correctly talk about which split Jardier and the team of NASCAR drivers participated in.

For over a whole day, the sim racing world was on its heels as drivers chased the top podium spot in the virtual 24 hours of Daytona race on iRacing. In three splits that started at different times during the designated weekend, teams battled their hearts out to bring their cars as close as possible to an endurance race victory.

After the start, the race was heavily delayed due to performance issues on the iRacing server. Racers took to the track a whopping four hours later than planned.

The race was divided into 47 splits, which were divided by iRating. iRacing implemented that due to the number of drivers starting at the Daytona event.

Record Champions defend

Coanda Simsport had an incredible track record at Daytona ahead of this event. From six events since 2016, they had won five. A staple in all of them was sim racing multi-talent Mitchell deJong. Adding to these immense stats was this year’s race as the trio of deJong, sim racing veteran Mack Bakkum and former Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup winner Joshua K Rogers. The crew put on a fantastic performance that led to a start-to-finish victory after Rogers secured pole position.

Rogers seemed very pleased to add another trophy to his collection. After successfully winning theĀ 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual last year, this is his next major endurance race coup.

Alonso and partners finish P2

Even though it was the day of sim racers, a hefty amount of competition from the real world drivers was certainly felt. The WTF1 Team of Fernando Alonso,Ā Rubens Barrichello,Ā Isaac GillissenĀ andĀ Olli Pahkala managed a well-fought second place in their split.

The double Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso took to Twitter to express his pleasure at working with his team. He is a real-life Le Mans winner and was narrowing in for the leading Coanda team during his race stint.

Jardier celebrates win in split

You may know him from our Tutorials about Assetto Corsa Competizione, but Jaroslav ‘Jardier‘ Honzik is a real contender in iRacing as well.

FIND THE PERFECT CAR IN ACC WITH JARDIER

GET YOUR GT3 SETUP RIGHT IN ACC WITH JARDIER

The Czech content creator put on a clinical performance in his split. He and his team managed to fight their way through a challenging field and win the P2 class.

American Racers shine

Another high octane victory was celebrated by a team of NASCAR drivers. Garrett Smithley,Ā Anthony Alfredo,Ā James DavidsonĀ andĀ Lando Cassill took home their part of the virtual Daytona glory.

The race proved to be severe throughout the 24 hours for the NASCAR racers, but a monster stint from James Davidson ensured them the victory. Davidson managed to push the pace and keep hold of first place in the P2 class until the end.

What was your favorite moment from this year’s endurance race at Daytona? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg!

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