LunatiK ARL GT Championship S5 : Race 7 Monza

The Wave Italy Apex Racing League GT Championship Season 5 resumed again on Sunday August, 8th at the Temple of Speed. North of Milan, Italy lies one of the most historic motorsports tracks in the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. A track known for its long straights where cars are able to get flat out looked like it was going to shape up to be a great race for the LunatiK drivers. McKenzie once again was showing his pace with his Ford GTE on the straights and was able to have a better qualifying seeing him in P18. David Bush followed in P20 and Nick Mathews in P27. Monza is known as a meme in the sim racing community for his long straight headed into a deadly chicane for turn 1. The meme did not disappoint as the lights went green to start the 25 minute sprint race as the field started barreling down the straight with their pedals mashed to the floor. Towards the front of the pack a corvette tried shooting the inside gap which led to him putting his car into the grass losing control as his barreled down into the leaders who were starting their turn ins into the chicane. This caused a massive wreck in the start of the field. The LunatiK drivers were forced to take the exit rode and incur a massive slow down for cutting the chicane. McKenzie hit some styrofoam boards which got lodged into his car causing him to lose massive amounts of speed on the straights. This caused him to pit after lap 1 dropping him in the standings incredibly. The race started to settle in and both Bush and Mathews kept their starting positions as they grossed the finish line in P20 and P28. McKenzie followed in P28, all three drivers missing the reverse grid cutoff. 

With all three drivers starting in their finishing positions, they hoped to gain more points as the 40 minute feature race was about to start. Race 2 did not disappoint with the Monza meme again as the reverse grid saw a mix of amateur and professional drivers battle for position heading into the first chicane. This cause a Porsche RSR to lock its brakes up super early sliding its way forward into the leaders who were about to start their turn in. This once again caused another pile up in the first chicane which caused all three drivers to incur some damage. With some aero gone from their cars the LunatiK drivers straight line speed was compromised but not enough for them to take their fast repairs. The drivers started to settle in as the race continued trying to hit their marks. It turned out to be a war of attrition trying to not get a penalty or slow downs for off tracks came into play during the longer feature race. This saw Bush finish in P13, McKenzie in P16, and Mathews in P20. A great result in the second race for the LunatiK drivers as they continue to try and score points for the drivers championship as well as the constructors championship. With a strong result in the feature race McKenzie moves his way back into P4 in the amateur division. 

The championship resumes in a week August, 15th as we head back state side for Road America. More pictures and up to date standings of the race can be found on Apex Racing League’s Website here.