Victory and pain

For the second consecutive year in the history of MAD Sim Racing Endurance, multiple team GT3s turned around on short notice and endurance fatigue following the whirlwind that was the iRacing Daytona 24, and entered the iRacing Bathurst 12 Hours. After the broad amount of time spent on Daytona, 12 Hours anywhere would otherwise be of no concern; Bathurst (or Mt. Panorama), however, changes the game entirely. The course is unique: on the lower elevation, it is quite straight forward, with long straights and 90 degree corners — it’s once you approach the climb of the mountain that the treathery begins. The walls close in, the runoff becomes nonexistent, and any wandering of attention can be ruins for a team’s podium effort. To make matters more complicated, the event begins in pitch black in an early virtual Australian morning, at a circuit with no ambient lighting. While Nurburgring certainly comes to mind for a moment, it is difficult to imagine any event on the calendar being more difficult than this one.

Bathurst continues to be the most difficult course and event for the team overall…but we still keep winning.

Co-Team Principal Tyler Beamon

Eight MAD Sim Racing Endurance entries began the Bathurst 12, and five completed it. The course was cruel, with long flawless runs destroyed by the simplist error on the mountain, or a blocked track in the unforgiving down-hill push. Through all of it, MAD Sim Racing’s drivers found success. In 2021, David Conteras, Bruce Perry, and Jordan Blake took the win in an MSR-E BMW. This year they returned to defend, with heartbreak and a DNF. However, the BMW again found success for the team. Veteran MSR-E drivers Axel Bijker, Bret Nordstrom, and newcomer Stephen Miok, who began with the team in the Daytona 24, brought home overall victory in the BMW GT3. MAD Sim Racing Owner Tyler Beamon commented, “Bathurst continues to be the most difficult course and event for the team overall…but we still keep winning. With each endurance event, the skills of our driver pool continue to be noticeably greater. You can throw them in any situation, and the knowledge of strategy, car control – you name it, they’re ready for it.”

With the victory in the Bathurst 12, MAD Sim Racing’s Endurance Team has now scored victory in each of the last three iRacing Special Events (Suzuka/Daytona/Bathurst). Next Up? Sebring.