The sixth round of the 2021 IronMan Series championship season would also mark the start of the Summer Series sub-championship, a best 4 out of 5 contest that mirrors that of the first half of the year. Grande Counter Clockwise would be the first challenge in the second half of the season, but not only that, it would be a 2-hour contest with all of the hardware contenders linking up with their fellow rivals for a chance at the win, and valuable championship points….
Young Jacob Reis would lead the field down into the ‘Short Beach’ hairpin corner for the very first time, the rookie Ironman Series driver immediately coming under fire from the more experience drivers directly behind him. The one to lead a lap first would be CalSpeed veteran Ariel Rubio from the 2nd starting spot, maintain the top spot for the opening 7 circuits before Diego Morales took over. Morales reign was short lived however, clicking off just two laps at the point before Michael Hazlewood stole the lead away. The theme of lead changes would continue throughout the race, as just 2 laps later Paulo Franca would claim the top spot for just a single lap, before getting shuffled back with Hazlewood back out at the front. Enter Evan Lawrence next on the docket for a pair of laps, and then a back and forth between Paulo and Hazlewood that lasted through about the first third of the race.
About 40 minutes in, the sixth different driver would make an appearance at the sharp-end, as 2-Hour ace Alyssa Yauney took over at the front, keeping the top spot for 6 laps. That was the longest duration at that point ion the race, but the revolving door at the front would continue, as Franca would swap every few laps with Yauney from that point until the driver changes took place a little past halfway.
Unfortunately for Yauney, the pass off to her teammate would see their chances to win also passed to the competition, as rookie IronMan driver Diego Alvarado was immediately dinged with a penalty after and illegal exit in pit lane. Combined with a bad blend penalty, the duo would be out of contention before the 2nd stint really got rollin. Luckily, their lead on the bulk of the field was solid after Alyssa’s stellar first half, so a third step of the podium would still be the reward for the couple.
Once the driver changes took place, and new faces were behind the karts of the contenders, it was Doug Yauney at the front, taking over for Evan Lawrence who had hung out with Paulo and Alyssa for the duration of the first half. Evan had inherited the lead when the pit stops started at the tail end of the first half, and after the swap of drivers and kart, Doug produced some of the fastest laps of the race, solidifying their advantage. Doug would go on to seal the deal for the duo, bringing home a first career Ironman Series win for both he and Evan Lawrence. Settling for second would be Jose da Silva, who although put in solid laps from the moment he took over from Paulo, just couldn’t bridge the gap to Doug. The pair have turned out to be one of the best in the series however, as this podium marked 4 in a row for the combo here in 2-hour contests.
Round #7 of the CalSpeed IronMan Series is already sold out, and takes to the Nuotivo track for the second time this season, marking the return to the clockwise direction on July 17th.
IronMan Series Round #6 (2-Hour) Top 10 Results
- Evan Lawrence / Doug Yauney
- Paulo Franca / Jose da Silva
- Alyssa Yauney / Diego Alvarado
- Diego Morales / Andrew Wood
- Michael Hazlewood / Chase Nickells
- Kiron Chakraborty / Donnie Clarke
- John Rice / Tyler Redman
- Sean Fite /Bill Krieg
- Sheng Wu / Carl Zhu
- Tommy Haake / Heather Perrin
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