 The Lionheart Retro Series presented by the DMLC Racing Channel is set to return to World Wide Technology Raceway today for the HyperX Gateway 150. This will mark the 4th consecutive year that the series has seen the famous 1.25-mile oval. Gateway is unique in that turns 1 and 2 have 11 degrees of banking which is quite different than turns 3 and 4 which have 9 degrees. This presents itself for a real challenge for both the setup designers and drivers as each end of the track requires a different approach.
New for 2020 the setup has been designed to remove much of the snap oversteer that the Lionheart Retro Series drivers have come to experience with the Lotus 79 on the ovals. This has presented a car with much more understeer than previous runnings at Gateway. Aero wash this season is also eliminating any evidence of pack racing this year and drivers will have to us all their skill to setup passes and make them stick. The previous race winner Marc Cohn and two-time race winner Adam Blocker will not be in the field for tonight’s event. This once again is setting the stage for a first-time winner at Gateway. This season has already produced 6 different winners, with one of them coming from series rookie Matt Taylor with his impressive win at Twin Ring Motegi. Gateway is similar to Motegi in that both ends of the track are not identical and not easy to master. Can Taylor once again find the speed needed to reach victory lane? Qualifying will certainly be crucial to success with the setup provided to the series for this week’s event. Chris Fowler has shown some great pace in qualifying starting on pole in the first of two warm up races. Ryan Otis has posted the fastest official qualification time so far this week and will certainly be looking for the pole to aid in securing a good finish as well as extending his championship points lead over Sage Karam. Finally fuel strategy will likely come into play as some drivers will attempt to stretch the fuel to make it on one stop. Estimated fuel runs are near 56 laps so cautions will need to happen in order to make that a reality. In terms of history with incidents Gateway has had its share of them with a series high of 11 in 2019 for a total of 40 laps under caution. Tune in 9/17/2020 live on the iRacing eSports Network courtesy of the Global Sim Racing Channel to watch the cars and stars of the Lionheart Retro Series presented by the DMLC Racing Channel at the virtual World Wide Technology Raceway. Race link: https://youtu.be/E_4kowJqGhs For more information on HyperX and their products visit www.hyperxgaming.com For more information on the Lionheart Racing Series Powered by HyperX visit www.lionheartracingseries.com
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