After most of the CTech Motorsport / Virtual Pirtek Racing team had been at Knockhill as VIP’s courtesy of team sponsor Pirtek UK it was back to team practice as soon as the lads all arrived back at their homes across the UK. With the penultimate round of the TORA British GT eSports Championship fast approaching the team had little time to reminisce about their day at Knockhill taking in all the race action of the British Touring Cars. The team had only a matter of days to make final adjustments to tunes and strategies before they took to the track at Brands Hatch to compete in the penultimate round of the TORA British GT eSports Championship.
 
Sunday 20th August and with qualifying done and dusted the team all lined up on the grid at the brands Hatch GP layout. CTech Motorsport / VPR Team Principal and driver AnonCaliga sat on pole in the Lobby C starting grid for Virtual Pirtek Racing (Team One). Third on the grid was Ryanvxracing for VPR CTech Motorsport with ZX1 (Team Two). VPR’s OcR Brock occupied fifth on the grid whilst directly alongside was VPR’s Jayc1975 in sixth position on the rolling grid and on the row behind in seventh position was GMan555 for VPR CTech Motorsport with ZX1 (Team Two.)
 
Race one rolling start and the race gets underway and immediately VPR’s AnonCaliga begins to build up a lead on the pack behind who fight for position. AnonCaliga would continue to stay well ahead for the next nine laps until his front tyres began degrading sooner than expected causing him to under steer and take a minor trip across the grass just entering into Hawthorn Bend which gave the chasing pack just enough time to close the gap at which point AnonCaliga took his mandatory pit stop to renew tyres. Meanwhile VPR’s Jayc1975 complained several times about one particular driver from another team who continually rammed the rear of Jayc1975’s car seemingly in an attempt to try to spin the VPR Porsche off the circuit, however Jayc1975 being an established driver, than that of the driver behind, kept control of his number 210 Pirtek Porsche and carried on his race making up places easily before his mandatory pit stop. VPR’s Brock also had one or two bumps courtesy of another driver but being as they were minor didn’t affect his race and he was able to close a gap on VPR’s AnonCaliga struggling on fresh tyres after his pit stop yet team strategy would see the slower AnonCaliga move out of Brock’s way and allow Brock to gain position securing fourth by race finish.
Car 667 driven by GMan555 kept himself focused and apart from also suffering a minor coming together with another driver managed to secure himself eleventh position by the end of race one. AnonCaliga by race end took fifth position after making up positions after his pit stop and taking sixth closely behind was Ryanvxracing putting in one of his best performances for this round of TORA British GT, but also closing rapidly was Jayc1975 crossing the line in eighth position.
 
Race two, the final race of the evening, and grid positions would be the result of race one finishing positions. VPR’s Brock starting fourth, AnonCaliga fifth, Ryanvxracing sixth, Jayc1975 eighth and GMan555 on grid position eleven. The rolling start for race two was somewhat disarranged as all the rolling grid approached the Brands Hatch start finish line the pole car strangely decided to come to an almost full stop causing many cars to brake hard from the 80 MPH specified rolling grid pace to a sudden stand still at which point the pole car decided to begin moving, somewhat slowly, and the race got underway. VPR’s Brock showing decent pace kept in touch with the three cars ahead of him for the majority of the opening laps of the 21 lap race but the man on the move was VPR CTech Motorsport with ZX1 lead driver Ryanvxracing making up positions along the lobby until the first round of pit stops came into play. AnonCaliga was the first in the lobby to opt for an early stop due to his knowledge of his cars tyre degradation from race one. Upon re-joining the circuit AnonCaliga found himself down in ninth position but as the majority of cars ahead of him had not yet made the mandatory pit stop he planned on making up positions once they did stop and shortly after that indeed would be realised when the lead pack began darting into the pits for tyres and a splash of fuel. Ryanvxracing re-joined the circuit after his pit stop and again returned to making up positions, at one point Ryanvxracing closing fast on AnonCaliga almost made contact at Westfield Bend when AnonCaliga suddenly lost control of his Pirtek Porsche GT3 RSR veering right off onto the grass, luckily a near miss was as close as the two team mates came yet Ryanvxracing did however run off the circuit to avoid collision. Ryanvxracing would then go on to lead the race for several of the later closing laps before his lead would be lost seeing him drop back to his original race two starting position and then finally take second position by race end.
VPR’s Brock also had one of his best performances in the British GT series so far and took seventh by race end followed closely by team mate Jayc1975 in eighth position, GMan555 in tenth and AnonCaliga took a fourth position finish by race end.
 
Team Principal AnonCaliga added the following post-race: “I find it somewhat confusing that at least two of our guys weren’t put into lobby B with a chance at scoring some higher points, I really can’t grasp how TORA organise the lobbies especially when two GT4 cars set qualifying times a hell of a lot slower than certain other GT4 and GT3 drivers yet still end up racing in a lobby above, slower qualifying times yet scoring more points than drivers who are faster, makes absolutely no sense and it would be great if TORA or someone could clarify how that works exactly. I mean I get that lobbies need equal amounts of GT3 and GT4 machinery but surely the slower drivers go to a lower lobby.”
 
On team performance for this round AnonCaliga said: “Guys did a super job yet again. Few things we need to look at ahead of the final round of the season but all in all the guys really did great and the car, in my opinion, performed the best it has all season. We took a different approach at creating the tune for Brands Hatch and it was noticeable for at least two of our guys. With the recent server issues messing the car up from team practice to race day we had to really look at other directions of setting up the car to equalise the effects of whatever the server was doing to cars come race day and I think we have now got to grips with the issue, although it is unfortunate that only one final round remains of the championship and that round may also be the very last time VPR use FM6 as their chosen race platform due to the upcoming release of FM7 this October, therefore it would be nice to end the era of VPR racing on FM6 with a great result an on a high.”
 
With the collective points gained by team one’s two highest finishing drivers in the Brands Hatch round moves Virtual Pirtek Racing into third in the GT3 class team standings in the TORA British GT eSports Championship. Team two, VPR CTech Motorsport with ZX1 occupy thirteenth in the GT3 class standings.
 
SEASON FINALE DATE:  The TORA British GT eSports championship season finale will be held at Catalunya Circuit on Sunday 17th September. Check out the #CTechMotorsport #VirtualPirtekRacing British GT Season Finale Team Promo Video Below:

The TORA American Sports Car Championship (ASCC) sprint series came to an end last Sunday evening (6th August) with Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca being the backdrop for the two-hour season finale race. Virtual Pirtek Racing had all three of their blue edition #PirtekPorsche on track for Q3 qualifying and race.
 
For the final qualifying session of the series it was VPR’s Jayc1975 who took the top honours for the team by setting a 1:27.934 placing him 10th on the starting grid, lobby 2 for the race. VPR’s Brock was next in the trio to set a best time with a 1:28.151 placing him on the grid in 14th position in lobby 2 and finally VPR’s team principal AnonCaliga, not having a very good race weekend, placed 17th on the grid in lobby 2 with a qualifying time of 1:29.512.
 
The race got off to a fast start despite a minor two car collision shortly after the start finish line, none of the Virtual Pirtek Racing Porsche’s were involved or affected. VPR’s Jayc1975 was fast to begin making up places on the opening lap of the long two-hour race and seemingly found some hidden speed that kept him toward the top end of the GT class pack for the majority of the race despite his car suffering power and handling issues immediately after the first pit stop period. VPR’s Brock also made good progress throughout the race no so far behind Jayc1975 but it was AnonCaliga that seemingly chose the short straw for the team’s bad luck as his car changed in performance and handling after he was first to take one of four mandatory pit stops in the GT class. The number 360 car of AnonCaliga became increasingly difficult to turn into corners and although had the acceleration did not however have the top end speed that was evident in team testing and practice. Many people have stated recently that their cars perform absolutely differently from team practice to lobby racing, whether this is something related to the servers being prepared for the release of FM7 is unknown but it is becoming increasingly annoying after each team and driver put so much time and effort into their cars ahead of each race only for the car to perform in the opposite way it once had prior to race day. Many GT drivers also complained about the amount of inpatient and aggressive passing attempts being made by the leading prototype class racers. AnonCaliga reported having being shunted off track half way through the notorious corkscrew by a fast approaching prototype car and throughout the remainder of the race GT class drivers repeatedly vocalised their anger at the increasingly uncooperative and inpatient prototype drivers. Not all prototype drivers were to blame for the bad driving and overtake attempts as the majority of the P Class drivers were mostly respectful and mindful of the GT Class drivers and on the majority of occasions both classes and drivers worked very well with each other allowing each other enough space and forethought before attempting to pass.
 
As Jayc1975 carried on throughout the two-hour finale to hold his position ahead of his two team mates a sudden spate of lag outs began happening. Several drivers from competing teams suddenly lagged out of lobby 2 and then in a change of unfortunate luck VPR’s Brock lagged out around ten minutes into the final race hour meaning VPR’s AnonCaliga would then become the second points scoring driver for the team and with an ailing car it would be almost impossible to bring home any game changing points for the Virtual Pirtek Racing team. AnonCaliga carried on making an unusual and frequent amount of pit stops due to above normal amounts of tyre wear and by race end he would total almost twice the number of mandatory stops allowed for GT class per event.
 
Jayc1975 took home the most points in the season finale race for team VPR. Jayc1975 crossed the line taking 3rd in the GT class (13th overall) collecting 213 points toward the team tally. AnonCaliga despite car issues took 6th at race end in GT class (16th overall) and collected 203 points toward Virtual Pirtek Racing’s team tally and although an unlucky and uncharacteristic lag out for VPR’s Brock put him out of the race his efforts didn’t go unrewarded and he collected 199 points toward the team tally. In the end of season team standings after the drop round had been applied Virtual Pirtek Racing finished the season in 4th in the GT class with 2633 season points. VPR’s AnonCaliga completed the season placing 14th in the GT class driver standings with 1149 points after the drop round points had been applied. VPR’s Brock placed 17th with 1094 points after the drop round application and VPR’s Jayc1975 placed 19th with 1005 points.
 
CTech Motorsport / Virtual Pirtek Racing team principal AnonCaliga told the CTech Motorsport Media Team that he is “very proud of the entire team and all that they have achieved in this series and other race championships that the team are involved with. We may have missed out this time on a podium position but the team will get back to those days again very soon. I am increasingly inspired by my team guys each day especially as I got quite bored of Forza Motorsport and TORA racing for a while but our team made me get back into it and for that I’m grateful, it also helps when everyone in the team get on really well and have such a laugh.”
 
The CTech Motorsport / Virtual Pirtek Racing team’s next race event is the Brands Hatch round of the TORA British GT eSports Championship held in cooperation with the official British GT Championship. The three Virtual Pirtek Racing (team one) silver Porsche’s driven by AnonCaliga, OcR Brock and Jayc1975 will be accompanied by their team mates Ryanvxracing and GMan555 driving the dark chrome coloured Porsche’s of CTech Motorsport as team two. The Brands Hatch action gets underway on Sunday 20th August at 8pm. Before all of that however the team are being treated to a well-deserved break from virtual racing to be guests of Virtual Pirtek Racing team sponsor Pirtek Racing at this weekend’s BTCC round held at Knockhill.

This weekend will see the three blue editions of the #PirtekPorsche's racing for the final time as the trio compete in the final round of the TORA American Sports Car championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. VPR's AnonCaliga, OcR Brock and Jayc1975 all selected to qualify in Q3 which will see them set their best qualifying times just an hour prior the start of the final two hour ASCC sprint race this coming Sunday 6th August.
Once the TORA ASCC Sprint series championship has completed this weekend the team have a week with no team duties or scheduled until round 6 of the TORA British GT eSports Championship at Brands Hatch on Sunday 20th August where all 5 silver edition #PirtekPorsche's will compete. During the down time the guys are heading to Knockhill next weekend for some much deserved R&R as VIP guests courtesy of our main team sponsor Pirtek UK / Pirtek Racing. If you are also attending the Knockhill BTCC weekend then be sure to say 'hey' to the VPR guys if you should see any of them.
The Virtual Pirtek Racing team will no doubt be cheering on Andrew Jordan during the Knockhill rounds of the British Touring Car Championship. On behalf of all the VPR management and team we would like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsor, Pirtek Racing and Pirtek UK for the invites to Knockhill once again. We wish our sponsors, Andrew and West Surrey Racing the very best of luck for the Knockhill rounds of the championship next weekend.