Wave Italy Apex Racing League iRacing Prototype Championship – Nurburgring

Back by popular demand, a brand-new season of the Apex Racing League Prototype championship kicked off at the Nurburgring on Friday the 16^th of April. Buoyed by the popularity of the inaugural season, Apex Racing is delighted to welcome a title sponsor for season two – Wave Italy.

As per season one, drivers will have a choice between LMP1 and LMP2 machines. 4-wheel drive and biblically powerful hybrid powerplants make the LMP1 machines the fastest and most complex prototype racers ever built.

Dallara’s P217 makes do with rear wheel drive and a naturally aspirated V8 built by Gibson in Derbyshire. A near 600 horsepower output makes these pure-bred LMP2 machines a real handful on the limit.

RLR Abruzzi eSports are back in force for season two. Jan Korbs and Alexander Spetz locked out the overall front row in qualifying, demoting defending champion Alex Salmon to the second row.

Rick Jonk set the pace in the LMP2 ranks in his Race Clutch Dallara. Devotion Sim Racing ace, Jason Marechal, started off his second season in ARL Prototypes in fine fashion with an AM class pole position.

From the rolling start, Jan Korbs unleashed the full potential of his Audi’s electrified diesel powerplant to win the drag race to the wickedly narrowly hairpin at turn one. A confident Alex Salmon managed to poach second place from the slightly hesitant Alexander Spetz and locked onto Korbs. Spetz’s woes continued at the end of lap one when the RSR Abruzzi driver careered off the road at the final corner.

Korbs continued to hold firm in the lead throughout the opening half of the race. However, Alex Salmon lurked ominously behind. Approaching the halfway mark, Salmon pounced at the Mercedes arena and moved into the lead. Moments later, Korbs lunged to pit lane for his mandatory fuel stop.

Running another ten minutes deeper into the race, Salmon finally dived into the pits with less than twenty minutes left to go. Salmon re-entered the action two seconds ahead of Korbs. Another masterstroke of strategy from the defending champion.

Once into the lead, Salmon deployed maximum pace and charged to an opening win of the season. Korbs would have to settle for second on this occasion.

Exploiting the pole sitter’s advantage to the full, Rick Jonk sped to turn one in the lead of the LMP2 field. Once into a rhythm, Jonk was imperious. Within the opening quarter of the race, the Dutch ace had already amassed a five-second lead. By the flag, Jonk’s advantage over Timo Heyden had stretched to nearly twenty seconds.

Keiran Smart overhauled early class leader, Tim Perry, to clinch victory in LMP2 AM and fifth of all the LMP2 entrants.

Immediately after the action, several protagonists shared their thoughts with the Apex Racing TV broadcast team:

Alex Salmon: “That was awesome. It was a really good race. It’s good to be back. It’s a busier field at the front in LMP1.”

Rick Jonk: “It was an interesting race. Getting pole and the win was the best scenario and that was the goal. A good start to the championship.”

Tim Perry: “It was a really intense race. Everyone was right on my bumper the whole time, I had to eat up a lot of fuel and tyres!”

Next week, the Wave Italy Apex Racing League Prototype Championship heads to Hockenheim for the second round of the championship. Watch Live on Apex Racing TV.

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