Brandon Boone Final winner in GP Series; Tiange Li Champion!

The season Finale for the inaugural season of the CalSpeed Grand Prix Series took place last night, fittingly crowning its champion and final winner on the Classico layout less than a week from the Classico GP Weekend. Coming in there were two drivers still with a shot at the title, but with plenty of bragging rights as well as a final set of podium hardware up for grabs as well, it was anyone’s guess how it would go…

The first to make some noise was newcomer Jackson Maurer in group one of the Unofficial Practice sessions, topping the charts over title contenders Tiange Li and Nick Rajeski. Group two would see Craig Vasquez atop the charts, however just .017 seconds ahead of an up and coming Brandon Boone.

Once qualifying took to the track, the points are used to break up the groups, with the top 19 drivers running I group one, and nearly all the players were at the sharp end. Top time went to round #1 winner Steven Dekeyser, with point leader Tiange Li in second, and Rodney Bryant Jr in 3rd – who Dekeyser was in a battle with for P3 in the standings. When group two entered the course, early times saw Jackson Maurer backing up his pace from unofficial practice by cutting the times to beat early, cutting his best lap on the final lap to take provisional pole. Unfortunately for him, up and coming talent Spencer Morris was able to pull out his best lap just behind him on the road, stealing away the pole position by a mere .018 seconds, with the rest of the top five filled in by the top three from group one…

The B-main would take to the track first once racing got underway, and it was Fabricio Curtis leading from the pole position, having come up less that .04 away from making it straight into the A. Curtis would lead the opening pair of circuits, but it would be P3 starter Marcus Guerrero making his move to the front, dispatching Nick Rajewski on lap 1, but holding station in third as P4 starter Allen Person made his way by as well. The racing was hot and heavy right from the start however, and Guerrero was up to second on lap 2, and then lunged for the top spot over Curtis to be the leader by lap 3. From there it was consistent fast lap to the end, going quicker every lap before finishing things of with a win, and the fastest lap of the race on the final lap…

Coming off his first pole position in just his second series start, Spencer Morris led from the drop of the green on the A-main, but would immediately come under fire from round #1 winner Steve Dekeyser. Making serious inroads in the opening circuit from P4 on the grid, Dekeyser became the early man to beat, with Morris, Brandon Boone, Rodney Bryant Jr, Jackson Maurer and July winner Ryan Detweiler all in tow. Jostling for position from 2^nd on back saw the leader get away to nearly a 3 second lead, but emerging from the infighting was Brandon Boone, who immediately went to work. Slowly but surely he started to reel in Steven, but once he got there, passing was no easy task, and the former winner was able to stave off his attack until the penultimate lap. Carrying a bit too much speed in his defense of the lead through the hairpin, Dekeyser went wide enough for Boone to complete the undercut, and from there, in was all Brandon Boone. He would hold on to score his first win of the season, with Dekeyser settling for second, while rising star Rodney Bryant made it three thirds in a row to bring home the final podium spot.

And while it wasn’t the round he wanted to finish on, consistency was again the key to winning championships, and even though he would drop the finale, three 2^nd place finishes was enough for Tiange Li to claim his first Silver Cup at CalSpeed as the 2022 Grand Prix Series Champion!

Thanks everyone for coming out to the inaugural CalSpeed Grand Prix Series! We look forward to seeing how you all do moving up the ladder in 2023!

GP Series Round #4 Top Ten

1. Brandon Boone
2. Steven Dekeyser
3. Rodney Bryant Jr
4. Spencer Morris
5. Ryan Ray
6. Ryan Detweiler
7. Jackson Maurer
8. Conor King-Goldman
9. Craig Vasquez
10. Tiange Li

Full Results: https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Events/2034320

FINAL Point Standings Top 10

1. Tiange Li                      585
2. Nick Rajewski              575
3. Steven Dekeyser         575
4. Rodney Bryant Jr        570
5. Brandon Boone           560
6. Yingkai Zhao                523
7. Ryan Ray                     515
8. Ryan Detweiler           504
9. Revin Easley                498
10. Josef Nalezny              466

Full Standings: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GYr2U-FLpxoJ9cxUS_P6I795F_IfEsFm1oSHxjk_tx4/edit?usp=sharing