Orion Race Team

iRacing 2009 Season 1 Awesomeness!

April 30th, 2009

The Orion Race Team had an absolutely banner season in Season 1 of 2009 in the iRacing Championships, winning 5 overall championships, even while missing many of the team's top drivers. Claudio Rondeico led the way in the Daytona Prototypes, iRacing's newest championship series. In 10 starts, Claudio took an amazing 6 wins, winning the championship by over 50 points! Claudio wasn't the only Orion member to find success in the Prototypes. Shawn Purdy took 1st overall in the Daytona Prototype Time Trial Championship, with Peter Read close behind in 2nd.

The Radical Championship was more closely contested, but it was between two of Orion's very own drivers: Brian McDaniel (in his first season with the team) and Shawn Purdy. The duo pushed each other week in and week out, working together to help each other find more speed. With one race to go, Shawn looked to have the championship in the bag when the team took the grid at Watkins Glen, locking out the front row. But, a bad start by Shawn and a turn 1 pile up set Shawn back considerably, giving Brian a huge lead on the first lap. Shawn put his head down and sliced his way through the field, managing an amazing 7th place comeback. Unfortunately for Shawn, Brian won the race, and, due to the huge strength of field, was awarded 246 points. This unexpectedly put Brian in the overall lead for the Radical Championship, with Shawn trailing just 13 points behind. It was an exciting finish to an amazing season.

Florian Godard was simply unreal in Season 1 2009, as he not only took 2 overall iRacing Championships (the Advanced Solstice and Legends Road Racing divisions), but also finished in the top 10 in 6 other iRacing Championships, and 11th overall in a 7th! Florian was on fire. Look for him to win many more championships next season. Here's a summary of his results for the season:

- 1st Overall Advanced Solstice
- 1st Over Legends Road Racing Season
- 3rd Overall Skip Barber Series
- 4th Overall Advanced Legends
- 4th Overall SK Modifieds
- 6th Overall Late Model
- 6th Overall Chevy Silverado Trucks
- 7th Overall Star Mazda Championship
- 11th Overall Chevy Impala

Taking a break from racing, but keeping sharp by doing time trials, Ilkka Haapala took the overall Star Mazda Time Trial Championship with nearly a perfect score, earning 798 out of a possible 800 points. Ilkka showed his raw speed, even if he isn't regularly attending racing events in the service. Peter Read also had a strong season, finishing well in several series. He finished a strong and close 2nd place to teammate Florian Godard in the Advanced Solstice Championship, 2nd to Shawn Purdy in the Daytona Prototype TT Championship, 4th in the Mazda TT Championship, 7th in the Advanced Legends, and 11th in the Skip Barbers.

Needless to say, the team was very pleased with the results, but don't expect us to rest on them. Next season, look for the possible return of drivers such as Leandro Schmidt and Davy Decorps, even stronger results, and even more championships! As always, we'll be posting setups and replays along the way, so check back often.

Congrats to everyone involved in this amazing iRacing season, and thanks to those who supported us. Here are just a few names we could not have accomplished these milestones without: Julien Dill, Shawn Purdy, Ilkka Haapala, Florian Godard, Cliff Cockrell, Claudio Rondeico, David Sirois, Peter Read, Szabocs Balog, Frosty St.Clair, Al Garry, Brian McDaniel, and Chris Gennarelli.

MIRL Runner Up

April 28, 2009

The MIRL CART 95 season concluded this week with Chris Sommerfeld having a tough race at Indianapolis, finishing 8th. Despite winning 4 of the last 6 races, including 3 in a row, Sommerfeld could not overcome the large deficit that came early on and had to settle for 2nd place Overall. Chris finished 2nd in the Road Course Championship and 6th in the Oval Championship. Sommerfeld will attend MIRL season 11, starting in May.

Orion gets real! (or do they?)

April 1st, 2009

"It's a good thing to have friends, without knowing someone who worked at MSR we would have never got this shot" said Frosty St.Clair at the test with Orion Race Team drivers and Beyer Racing last winter. "We didn't want to announce anything until we knew more from Beyer, but things are looking good now" continued St.Clair.

Last winter David Sirois, and Leandro Schmidt, both who have real racing experience, flew into Houston to take a spin in the Beyer Racing DP at MSR Houston, a track just south of Houston, TX. In talks between St.Clair and local long time friend Michael Mills who works at MSR, there was a lot of speculation on if a sim racer could realy go fast in a real race car. Thus the test was organized through Mills, and the results were pleasantly suprising.

Jeff Beyer was very suprised and pleased at the lap times the sim racers were able to churn out, and may even look to enter a 2nd car in a race or two in 2009 to possibly place one of them in the drivers seat. We don't want to jump the gun too much, but things do look positive. Stay tuned for more information later in the month!

Happy April Fools everyone!!

ORRion gets Dirty

March 21, 2009

The Orion Race Team has entered a strong driver line up for the 2009 MNRL ORR2 trucks championship. Ilkka Haapala, Frosty St Clair, and Chris Sommerfeld will all drive Chevrolet pickups in this 10 race season, hoping to finish well in the points. Four wheel drive trucks drifting sideways over huge jumps, and fender bashing side by side around every corner promises to be an exciting season. Stay tuned, or enter now at www.mnrlonline.com! First race is March 26th.

New League, New Driver, Same Result!!

Monday March 16th, 2009

After a long, tough fought season, Chris Sommerfeld followed in Gennarelli's foot steps at MNRL by taking the championship in style. After getting taken out of the 2nd to last race, and also losing the points lead, Sommerfeld fought back in the final round.

Chris had to not only win, but score maximum bonus points or, have championship rival John Graf have issues. Sommerfeld was able to score bonus points for the pole, carrying 160 LBS that was an impressive feat in itself. But the race looked bleak as Paul Valentine was on a no stop strategy, and led the most laps. With only one lap left to go, Chris was too far back to make a challenge.

But, Paul had used up every bit of his tires and it was all he could do to keep his car on track. Chris was able to catch and pass a wounded Paul, to take the win. But the championship wasn't over yet, if Graf finished 2nd he would win the title with Chris not leading the most laps. After some bad luck at the previous race, some good luck came Chris' way as Paul was able to hang on for 2nd place, giving Sommerfeld the championship!

This marks Chris' 2nd MNRL championship, and the 2nd for the now retired NAGT Orion Vette. Look for it on ebay, and Chris to continue to appear in the winners circle in rFactor leagues near you!

Championship Lead - Championship Lost

February 14, 2009

In the MNRL TRCS NAGT Championship at Mid Ohio, Chris Sommerfeld took his 3rd win of the season and the championship lead after a 22nd position finish in race 1. Sommerfeld got maximum points by getting pole, winning the race, setting the fastest lap, and leading the most laps. This is the second time this season that Chris has accomplished this.

A week later at Road America Sommerfeld extended his championship lead finishing 2nd, just 0.024 seconds off the win, but ahead of championship contender John Graf. With the podium finish, Sommerfeld moves to Mosport with maximum weight of 200 lbs onboard.

In the MNRL MIRL Indy 95 season, Sommerfeld unfortunately took potentially championship ending blow when he could not get on the race server for the Portland event. Chris was coming off a solid finish at Phoenix Oval (4th), and his first MIRL win at Mid Ohio.

Orion welcomes Brian McDaniel!

February 4, 2009

Once again, Orion adds to its already impressive road racing resume! Brian McDaniel, who got his start in LFS, has now joined the team to help support an already strong iRacing road racing team. Brian has showed incredible pace in the Radical, finishing a strong 4th overall last season even after a bad last race where he had a very legit shot at 3rd. McDaniel is excited about the new team, and is already looking for ways to help the team, as well as anyone who visits the site for setups or replays.

Look for Brian to be tough in whatever he races this season!!

Orion Race Team 2008/2009

January 31st, 2009

Dear all,

2008 was a year of changes and successes for the Orion Race Team and its sponsors Sim-gear and CST. Lineup changes, technical problems, victories... we had it all!
2009 is looking no less exciting and very promising on many fronts. Actually, we have some fresh news that we will be communicating very soon.

Read the full story

Sommerfeld on fire!

January 15th, 2009

On Tuesday night Chris Sommerfeld dominated the MNRL NAGT race at Long Beach by taking the pole, fastest lap, and the win. The domination was likely at least partially due to a less than happy Sommerfeld following the season opener. In the first race of the season Chris had a big lead with less than 6 laps left to go when a PC freeze dropped him from the race.

But his comeback was even more impressive when you take in consideration he was fighting off symptoms from a lingering flu the weekend before. Chris climbed 13 spots in the standings in just one race, all the way up to 2nd. There is still a long way to go but Sommerfled has to be considered as one of the favorites to potentially win the championship.

Race Results

Merry Christmas and Happy new Year to everyone!

25th December, 2008

We at the Orion Race Team would like to wish a Merry Christmas and Happy new Year for everyone! Enjoy your holiday, be with your family, and we wish you to be healthy and happy for 2009! As a little "Christmas Present" you can find Szabi's impressive qualy lap from the GPL World Cup's Grand Final and his setups for rFactor's F1 1979 2.01 mod and his Mid Ohio qualy setup for 1995 CART Mod!

Merry Christmas and Happy new Year to everyone!

Orion Race Team