ineX Racing - Sim Racing Team

ineX Racing Merges with LowLandLions

Sunday, 18 September 2011

What comes to mind when you hear the words ineX Racing? Do you think of Master's of Endurance, or maybe the Drivers World Championships... Maybe something else?

From this day forward we expect something totally different to come to mind. It's no longer about race to race accomplishments. It's about what we did to get here, and how the future of ineX Racing has changed in a way that even we could not have imagined.

Since ineX Racing's introduction on April 16, 2010, it's been nothing short of a dream for many of our drivers. We took the series title in the Masters of Endurance and International Grand Touring Championship endurance series, just to mention a few. We amassed a Live for Speed league record of 103 race wins and 194 podiums in just 201 race starts. We have drivers in both the iRacing.com Nvidia Series and the NASCAR iRacing.com Series World Championship. We will also have a number of drivers obtaining Pro licenses at the end of this season. We've worked hard to maintain our success on track, and we've worked equally hard on bringing a diverse and large amount of media to the public in productions that include in-car race broadcasting, video productions, race articles and more.

Despite the possible future success of ineX Racing, the doors at the shop are closing for the last time... We are happy to announce the merger of LowLandLions and ineX Racing.

The LowLandLions is an organization of professional gaming athletes. Over the last couple of years the "Lowlands" have spawned a great deal of talent, and we are proud to be a part of it. Racing under the wings of a well structured organization such as LowLandLions will give us the support we need to perform to the best of our abilities. Lowlands is sponsored by a number of companies including Sennheiser Communications, PureTrak, Hostbasket, EA Sports, Western Digital, Mad Catz, MSI, Playseat and many more in which we will proudly have the opportunity to promote.

Though it pains us to leave the ineX Racing image behind, we as a group understand the importance of this decision. We will strive to carry on the ineX Racing name, and the website will continue to run until our two year anniversary. Until then we look forward to racing under the LowLandLions flag and we will put forth all our efforts to see that we will carry their name into the future just as we have with ineX Racing. We're looking forward to a long, bright future with LowLandLions.

http://www.lowlandlions.com

Jake Stergios gets a podium finish in the Drivers World Championship

Thursday, 15 September 2011

Jake Stergios gets a podium finish in the Drivers World Championship

Round 15 of the iRacing Drivers World Championship arrived at the notorious Road America circuit, a location composed of many long straights and medium-high speed corners. Lapses of concentration are fatal due to the small margin for error with the combination of low downforce, heavy braking zones and lack of run-off areas. Whilst the championship battle heated up with the resurgence of Hugo Luis' recent strong run of form, ineX Racing stood anxiously seeing their man Jake "The Snake" Stergios compete in DWC for the 5th time this season. Vincent Staal would be absent from the race however on the back of his strong 4th place finish at Spa. Despite teething troubles making the qualifying setup, Jake still managed to take 13th on the grid, but in a bullish mood approaching the race. 47 laps would be a high demand for the drivers, and with most of the drivers opting for a 2 stopper, many battles would have to be fought on the track, as opposed to the pit lane.

The start was crucial, and due to the extremely close competition and competitive nature of the drivers, first lap incidents almost seem inevitable at times. Even names such as Greger Huttu, Jesse Nieminen and Atze Kerkhof suffered in the first lap scrap, with the latter being forced to retire after a contact with the reigning champion. No such problems for Jake though as he avoided the mess to slot comfortably in 11th place by the end of the first lap, already pushing very hard for the top 10. Before too long, the tough nature of this track took its toll with many high-profile names such as Ilkka Haapala, Ben Cornett and David Williams retiring in quick succession, allowing Jake to climb up through the field despite a heavier fuel load than some. By the end of the first stint he had already climbed to 6th place. Despite the pressure being on, Jake continued on where others failed. A committed overtake on the inside of Aleksi Elomaa secured 4th for the New Englander. A short time later, with the demise of former championship leader Klaus Kivekäs brought Jake into a podium position. Through all the troubles the only man who could threaten the podium was Richard Towler. Jake built a sufficient gap for the last leg however allowing for a controlled finish to bring the car home to a sensational 3rd place against a hugely established field - even holding the fastest lap of the race until the penultimate lap.

By the end of the race, Jake had a thirty plus second cushion ahead of the cars he initially qualified behind, owing to his pace and developing an uninterrupted, consistent groove on the race setup to even drive an incident free race. The result now sees Jake lie in 28th place in the DWC standings, despite taking part in less than half the races of some of the drivers higher up the table. The top 25 now looms large, and the opportunity to gain an automatic DWC license for next season. Directly after his strong performance, here are Jake's words about his race:

"I was 36th in points going into this race and needed a good finish if I wanted to get closer to the top 25. So I played this race very conservatively, not trying any aggressive maneuvers early in the race. I did a 1:34.056 in qualifying which was .1 off my best, but still fast enough for 13th on the grid. Fortunately the race was not full with DWC licensed drivers and some pros, myself included, made it.

I got a good enough start to maintain my position and pass Richard Towler as he bogged down. After the first lap I slotted into 11th and stayed there for a while, battling with Richard Towler, Ilkka Haapala, Aleksi Elomaa, Dom Duhan, and Alberto Baraldi. I found myself in 6th position when it was time for the first pit stop, due to the bad luck of many other drivers. I was able to pass Baraldi in the pits after going 1 lap longer of fuel than him, which put me in 5th position.

I drafted up to Aleksi and overtook him on the inside of T1 for 4th place. Shortly after Klaus had a hand cramp and crashed after driving one handed, which put me into 3rd place. At the point the gap to 1st place was about 25 seconds and I kept it there for the rest of my second stint.

For the 3rd and final stint I had a 10 second gap to 4th place and just cruised home to get my first ever podium in the drivers world championship".

The team are delighted with Jake's result and with the strength of field F1 races at Zandvoort approaching this Sunday, the team yearn for more good results in the GP Series, with Rudy van Buren, Simon Cattell, Thomas Arends and Nolan Scott all pushing for the top 12 and an opportunity to secure Pro licenses. With this in mind, the team hope to continue progressing and to support the recent strong performances from Jake and Vince. The next round takes place at Okayama in a devastating 83 lap endurance, but we look forward to the challenge and hope our drivers continue their good form.

ineX Racing secure International GT Championship title

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Four teams approached the final round of the International GT Championship season with mathematical chances of still winning the title. But, providing ineX Racing finished the race it looked like a straight fight between ineX and The Danish Racing Team (TDRT) for the championship glory. The season - shortened to just four rounds showed much promise for boosting activity and inducing competition, but the final round held at the AS28 open configuration would be the main focus now - consisting of many high speed and tightening radius corners providing tough challenges to the drivers.

LFSCART Season Finale - ineX crowned Team Champions

Wednesday, 07 September 2011

After eight races compromised of many twists and challenges, the 2011 LFSCART championship would be decided at Kyoto GP Long in a 45 lap race, with four contenders - Jarl Teien, Robbin Heijerman, Sampsa Jurvansuu and ineX Racing's Simon Cattell still eligible for the championship glory. The situation stood most likely that if one of these men won the race, they would be crowned champion. Matti Wentjärvi and Phil Diaz would move to the ineX Racing first team in hope of consolidating the ongoing teams championship battle with rivals Genuine Racing and achieving positive results after a run of difficult races. Simon, Matti and Phil would qualify 5th, 7th and 16th respectively. ineX Racing's recent recruit, Finn Mikko Meriluoto would still race under the name of Cookie Racing, however nursing a hangover - he started 20th, hoping to avoid the connection issues than plagued his previous LFSCART race.

Problems with the start application resulted in a rolling start which increased the gaps between the cars as the race resumed green flag conditions. Simon and Matti made great progress off the start to quickly dispatch of championship leader Heijerman in the opening laps, with Teien holding position in 2nd and lowest championship contender Sampsa Jurvansuu holding 7th place. Meanwhile Diaz would drop down to 14th on an extremely light fuel strategy after a series of spins and collisions before almost running out of fuel on lap 10 put him out of contention dropping to 22nd before ultimately withdrawing. Mikko's disappointing qualifying would be compounded by running wide on the formation lap and now starting from a net 25th place. Despite avoiding all the mess on lap 1, a series of mistakes in the opening stages of the race left the Finn not only fighting a hangover, but also the same traffic too. This would include making a record number of passes on Lims Chebbi - four within the first 10 laps before settling down in 17th and even pumping quicker lap times than some of the top 10 runners.

Heijerman's race would go from bad to worse after losing ground in the opening laps. A mistake in Wentjärvi's draft left him facing the wrong way in the high speed Turn 7. After dropping down to 16th, things wouldn't get better for the Dutchman; hoping for a safety car which didn't happen, he would ultimately be lapped after a long damage repair. With Jurvansuu unable to catch the top 5 it looked clear that the championship would be decided between Jarl Teien and Simon Cattell. The two would run nose to tail along with Matti and Joe Holmes for the entire first half of the race in an intense battle for second position with road specialist Jarno Lehikoinen leading the race with a big margin of eight seconds before his pit stop. However, it soon became evident that both him and 3id team-mate Joe Holmes were running on unusually shorter fuel strategies than both Matti and Simon, giving them great pace and comfort at the start. On lap 23 both 3id drivers pitted for fuel and tyres - this would be a crucial part of the race, as the seemingly dominant unchallenged Jarno was under pressure from his rivals, despite driving on his own for the entirety of the race. Matti was able to extend his stint to lap 25 and would pass Holmes in the pits as a result of some fast lap times. At the front, the dueling duo of Teien and Cattell continued to tour the circuit. Who would be the first to blink? The answer: both of them.

Both championship contenders pitted at the end of lap 27 - a series of quick in laps would see both exit the pits ahead of Lehikoinen, closing the eight second gap in just four laps. However, Jarno immediately made a move on Cattell - adapting to the cold tyres and heavier fuel load. This proved a very costly event, costing him two seconds before he would eventually pass Lehikoinen entering the oval section two laps later. Meriluoto meanwhile continued to make gains. After breaking the 2:04 barrier much earlier than the nearest ten cars ahead of him, he continued to make up ground. Despite making it up to 12th at one point - he dropped to 17th where he would stay for most of the race after his pit stop after a mistake in the fast Turn 7 damaged his right front suspension significantly. Now, with the positions settled - with Teien leading, Cattell 2nd, Lehikoinen 3rd and Wentjärvi 4th, it was a 15 lap sprint to the flag. Fatigue amongst these drivers was evident, but one slip-up could prove costly with the high speed nature of the track and looming perils such as gravel traps and "sleeping policemen". With a three second gap seperating himself and the championship, Cattell drove maximum attack to catch Teien. The two traded their fastest laps before meeting on lap 42 out of 45 - for the first and final time of the second stint. After a cunning switchback, leaving Cattell unsettled - Teien retook the lead, forcing a mistake on the Englishmen before 100% driving again until the finish line. Teien won the championship by just three tenths ahead of ineX Racing's Simon Cattell. Jarno Lehikoinen completed the podium for My3id with fellow Finn and ineX Racing's Matti Wentjärvi finishing 4th after a strong outing, just ten seconds off the victory and almost taking the fastest lap on the final lap of the race. Despite the troubles suffered by Meriluoto, he would remain on the lead lap after a strong end race performance despite his damage to finish in 14th place.

ineX Racing were crowned team champions after a long, hard season - but nevertheless would like to thank NDR for organising this intensely competitive season and we look forward to the next one.

After eight races compromised of many twists and challenges, the 2011 LFSCART championship would be decided at Kyoto GP Long in a 45 lap race, with four contenders - Jarl Teien, Robbin Heijerman, Sampsa Jurvansuu and ineX Racing's Simon Cattell still eligible for the championship glory. The situation stood most likely that if one of these men won the race, they would be crowned champion. Matti Wentjärvi and Phil Diaz would move to the ineX Racing first team in hope of consolidating the ongoing teams championship battle with Genuine Racing and achieving positive results after a run of difficult races. Simon, Matti and Phil would qualify 5th, 7th and 16th respectively. ineX Racing's recent recruit, Finn Mikko Meriluoto would still race under the name of Cookie Racing, however nursing a hangover - he started 20th, hoping to avoid the connection issues than plagued his previous LFSCART race.