Previews

Smell that? It’s home, sweet home! We’re back down under for the last two rounds of The Gamesmen GTPro Invitational Series, and South Australia is the stage.

It’s been just shy of two months since the series’ last meeting at Le Mans, a defining round that saw heartbreak for crucial title contenders as teams began to set their eyes on the prize with only a handful of rounds to go.

Before we hit the road at The Bend, let’s get ourselves up to speed as we approach the bleeding edge of the Gamesmen GTPro Invitational 2025 Season!

Topsy Turvy Runner-up Title Fight Set to Kick Off

This season’s championship has been defined by a brutal display of dominance from the Eclipse Simsports #56, piloted by the dynamic duo of Damon Woods and Kody Deith. They have topped the podium in each of the last three rounds since the shock victory from the Evolution Racing Team #31 at Daytona in the series opener. 

While that run of form sits the #56 atop the championship ladder by an – all things considered – comfortable 88 points, an exhilarating battle will rear its head at The Bend on Friday night between the Vermillion Esports #228 and the Eclipse #17. 

The Eclipse Simsports #56 has been the benchmark in 2025

The #228 and the #17 could not have had more different seasons. The Vermillion pairing of Jacob O’Reilly and Josh Purwien has not finished outside of the top 10 this season with a 5th, 3rd, 7th and 4th most recently at Le Mans. On the Eclipse side of the fence, they were a no-show in Round 1, finished 2nd in Round 2, 18th in Round 3, and 2nd again at Le Mans – talk about hot and cold!

Will the outright firepower of the #17 allow an Eclipse 1-2 in the championship? Or will the steady hands in the #228 enable Vermillion to triumph over the titans?

Just 178 points separate the remainder of the Top 10, with only 112 points from 10th to 20th. With The Bend still being a fairly new toy on the service, and Mount Panorama being the stage for the finale, this championship is so far from done; It cannot be overstated.

‘Pick Your Poison’ for Majority of Field on Car Choice

Throw everything out the window for Le Mans, we are back to a traditional circuit where setup variability is more of an open book. A mix of prolonged compression corners, elevation change and tricky braking areas makes comfortability paramount between driver pairings. Not to mention, a lack of passing opportunity at this technical venue means any edge on top speed will be sought after.

It’s become common knowledge that front-engined cars are monstrously fast after the first season of the GT rework, and not much has changed this time around despite a few balance changes and the death of the short gear stack. The two fastest cars at The Bend have been the Mustang and the Ferrari in recent past – funny that – given the Ferrari drives like a front-engine anyway.

The bulk of the front runners have an Acura NSX and McLaren 720S in their arsenal, with a handful of Mustangs that will surely be looking to capitalise on the pace opportunity while they can. If you look at any other league with a third-party Balance of Performance, the Ford is getting thumped with weight and power reduction, but that’s not a factor here. 

Regardless, teams will be looking to maximise what they have, and it should be a spectacle to see what they come up with when put under technical pressure.

We’re looking good on the forecast too. Ambient temps look to be hovering around the low 20’s with minimal cloud and no chance of rain. It’s gloves off in South Australia!

Once again, the race format is as follows (AEDT):

7:00 PM — 1-Hour Open Practice
8:00 PM — 20-Minute Open Qualifying
8:22 PM — 8-Minute Gridding (including Grid Walk)
8:30 PM — Green Flag for 3-Hour Race

The Gamesmen GTPro Invitational Series kicks off for Round 5 on October 17. Don’t miss the action, catch Australasia’s toughest GT3 competition live on SimSpeed on Friday night!

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by Harrison Lillas

It’s hard to believe we have already surpassed the halfway point of the season, but here we are! Welcome back to Race Week for Round 4 of The Gamesmen GTPro Invitational Series.

We continue our European summer in France at the infamous Circuit de la Sarthe, more affectionately known as Le Mans, before returning home for back-to-back Australian rounds in Tailem Bend and Bathurst.

With Friday night fast approaching, it’s worth rewinding the tape to see how the season has taken shape.

Championship Story Remains Cloudy

While the halfway mark of regular championships would usually spell a clear pecking order, this season has thrown a spanner in the works when trying to pick apart who is in for a chance, due in part to the immense GT3 physics rework of the 2025 Season 3 Build.

Eclipse Simsports remain the benchmark on outright pace, showing dominant speed in any set of conditions across the past two rounds. Their two entries, the #56 and #17, have been split up slightly in the standings since the penalties from last round; but there is little doubt in one of those cars ending up on top at the season's conclusion.

It is eye-wateringly close at the pointy end of the standings, with four teams separated by just 22 points behind the leading Eclipse #56. These kinds of margins only intensify when looking down the order, including a points tie for 26th and 27th between Iridium Sim Sports and Tri Star Racing.

From sixth all the way down to 20th, the standings are bunched, with just 152 points covering 15 cars. Vendaval, Synergy and Trans Tasman are split by just 24 points, while further back Tri Star, Antic, and the Orbit Drop Bear Mars and Jupiter cars sit within a few points of each other. In this pack, one strong finish could easily swing a team half a dozen spots up the order.

Eclipse Simsports have set the benchmark for speed so far in 2025

The Low Down

That’s the spirit of Le Mans! How much top speed can you extract out of your machinery whilst keeping it driveable.

As time has passed, events have come and gone allowing teams to grasp a better understanding of each car's aero window, which have become far more sensitive to tune since the change.

A car that has arisen from the ashes has been the Ford Mustang. It has gone from a car that can be quick at a handful of circuits all the way to an inevitable front runner. Front-engined cars have been loved right from the beginning, but on-throttle rotation and setup adjustability has been able to separate it from the others in its class.

While the McLaren has been an unstoppable force at Le Mans for a number of months now, I’m hesitant to say it's as clear cut of a decision this time around as it has been in the past. Updates to the drag profiles since the initial build have brought back the Acura NSX at top speed circuits, most recently during IMSA Sprint at Daytona where they dominated the timing boards. If the Mustangs don’t wipe the floor on outright pace, I suspect it will be a close three-way manufacturer fight between Fords, McLarens and Acuras.

As for weather, we’re looking at ambient temperatures in the mid 20’s with partly cloudy skies and moderate to light wind. That should make for a track temp in the mid to high 30’s, with rain nowhere in sight. 

Once again, the race format is as follows (AEST):

7:00 PM — 1-Hour Open Practice
8:00 PM — 20-Minute Open Qualifying
8:22 PM — 8-Minute Gridding (including Grid Walk)
8:30 PM — Green Flag for 3-Hour Race

With the safety net of rear wings being stripped off the cars in search of top speed, incidents at Indianapolis and Porsche Curves are highly likely. This could easily throw what is a relatively simple strategy game into turmoil if a Safety Car is called. Saving fuel is of course going to be crucial, but teams will need to be clever with track positioning and driver swaps to avoid being caught out if things don’t go to plan.

The fight for glory continues August 22nd, catch Australasia’s most hotly contested GT3 series live on SimSpeed!

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The wait is finally over, we’re back in action for Round 2 of The Gamesmen GT Pro Invitational Series!

This time out, Australasia’s best GT3 drivers leave the iconic banks of Daytona behind and head to the sweeping peaks and troughs of Fuji International Speedway.

This electrifying, high-altitude mix of long straights, flowing corners, and slow technical sections makes this venue a must-watch for drivers and fans alike.

Before the lights go out on Friday night, here’s a quick recap of the story so far and a few things to keep an eye on!

Who showed up in Daytona?

It was Evolution Racing Team who took the chocolates in Daytona, with Lachlan Caple and Hayden Veld claiming a dominant victory in their Corvette Z06 GT3.R. They were hotly tailed for the better part of the race by the Vermillion Esports #17, piloted by Zach Rattray-White and Jamie Christison, who finished second.

Things weren’t so bright for other sides of the ERT garage, with the #7 Corvette of Jobe Stewart and Matthew Bowler experiencing race-ending issues in the dying stages. A devastating fall from grace after starting on pole position.

ERT came out on top at Daytona

To make matters worse, the #456 Corvette of Jon Piesnik and Reece Gucul was also involved in a late incident that left them with a 40-second stop and hold penalty after the fact.

Eclipse Simsports were also out in force in Daytona, but slipped down the order while on the attack. That allowed two ERT Corvettes to dart up the road with relative ease, enabling their eventual race victory. Kody Deith and Dylan Birse managed to wheel their #1 Acura NSX GT3 Evo onto the podium regardless, with teammates Byron Phillips and Lachlan Cowie finishing just behind in the #69.

One Performance Racing joined Eclipse with two cars inside the top 10, with the Arete eSports #79 and Orbit Drop Bear #862 also sneaking into the front running order.

What’s on the menu for Fuji?

Round 2 of any championship always delivers an exciting dynamic. While you can absolutely get a general indicator of pace from one round, it is hard to tell who is a genuine threat until things play out in a series-length timeline.

What we can be sure of, though, is the race format! As will be the case for every round of The Gamesmen GT Pro Invitational Series, drivers will be tasked with a three-hour endurance race, with the grid set by a 20-minute open qualifying session.

With 16 corners sprawled throughout 4.5km of Japan’s finest asphalt, Fuji delivers an exciting challenge for engineers and drivers. At Daytona, setting up a car is generally about how much wing you can strip off the car without it becoming undriveable - mainly at the bus-stop chicane.

Here in Fuji, engineers have a little more to consider with a number of high-load corners making low downforce setups notably difficult to drive. Drivers must have a degree of tolerance though; nearly 40% of a lap around this place is pedal to the metal. Teams cannot afford to lose even half a km/h of straight-line speed on their competitors.

Will the threat of Rain play a role on Race Day?

Crunch time for car selection!

On the note of top speed, it will be interesting to see which teams opt for a different car choice to their Daytona entries. Teams have two cars to choose from in their arsenal to maximise performance at different circuits. For this one, I’d expect a number of Acura’s you may have seen in Daytona to be taking a rest day.

There are a significant number of teams with McLaren 720S EVO’s, Ford Mustang’s, and Ferrari 296’s up their sleeves. While the Acura NSX continues to show significant strength in the GT3 category, teams will surely be grasping at the opportunity to run a car with a subtle edge in straight-line speed.

But with rain not entirely out of the equation, car choice may not be such a clear-cut decision to make. The Acura is notably strong in both wet and dry conditions, which is something teams cannot look past when considering outright adaptability. At the moment, precipitation chances are relatively low, but the iRacing Tempest weather system is not to be mocked!

Don’t miss out on the action; catch Australasia’s most competitive GT3 series live on SimSpeed on the night of May 16th!

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by Harrison Lillas

It’s Race Week once again for Australasia’s most competitive online GT3 championship, and what better place to be heading during the peak of the iRacing special event season. Welcome to Spa Francorchamps for Round 3 of The Gamesmen GTPro Invitational Series!

Before the lights go out on Friday, a few very large elephants in the room need to be addressed — so let’s get caught up.

The Rework: Faster, Smoother, or Just Different?

The recent overhaul to the GT3 category in the 2025 Season 3 build was one of unprecedented discussion, hype and mystery. But what really has changed when driving the cars, and what could it mean for the championship story?

There are two key elements to the recent changes – aerodynamics and tyres. Generally speaking, the cars are now more capable in high-load corners where their downforce-producing surfaces are working at maximum output.

The tradeoff, however, is increased sensitivity to aerodynamic balance shifts, especially when it comes to changes in setup. With the front splitter height now a crucial and unique highlight of each car’s aero output – rather than a universal ride height adjustment – there is now far more effort required to tune a car’s balance while in search of a higher top speed.

The tyres have also seen a tremendous quality-of-life change. They start bone-cold out the box, which means peak lap time can take as long as 4 laps to reach – Watch out for some unique strategies in qualifying!

With the tyre now more resistant to overheating as well, a lone powerslide or overspeed error on entry won’t mark the end of your stint. Aside from the absolute pros and cons, the tyre being softer on the vertical and stiffer on the lateral axis provides a far more intuitive and detailed response (on most cars) compared to the previous model.

Despite the GT3’s becoming a generally more robust package to operate, the infamous underdriving method – that has defined iRacing’s interpretation of the GT3 category for years – appears to remain the quickest way to drive.

Ecplise Simsports will be looking to capitalise on their points lead at Spa

Enough Technical Chatter, What’s Happening on Friday?
As always, the race format is as follows (AEST):

7:00 PM — 1-Hour Open Practice

8:00 PM — 20-Minute Open Qualifying

8:22 PM — 8-Minute Gridding (including Grid Walk)

8:30 PM — Green Flag for 3-Hour Race

With the European summer in full swing, rain is looking like a near-impossibility — even by Spa’s hilariously unpredictable standards. Cloud cover is expected to be minimal, with ambient temperatures climbing into the mid-20s. All signs point to harsh track conditions for this one, a polar opposite to the miserable downpour the drivers endured at Fuji last time out.

A Pivotal Point in the Season

With only two rounds in the books, it’s still difficult to gauge the true competitive order. A mid-season overhaul doesn’t help the search for that clarity on paper — but in practice, Friday night’s results could prove more telling than anything we’ve seen so far.

Given how much time has passed since the physics update, teams have had every chance to get up to speed. There’ll be no excuses; the effort (or lack thereof) will be plain to see. This round also serves as a timely lead-in to next weekend’s iRacing 24 Hours of Spa, making it a valuable testbed for those with eyes on special event glory.

A team that will be looking to continue their form from last round is Eclipse Simsports; the #56 and #17 Acura’s made Fuji their stomping ground through interchangeable conditions.

Vermillion eSports will attempt to rock the Eclipse ship at the front as they push to move their entries further up the order. With three of their cars already inside the top 10, they are in a good spot to make a charge into the second half of the season.

The lone Arete eSports #79 entry will be hoping for a clean run as the front-runners engage in what's shaping up to be a dogfight. Sitting fifth in the standings – thanks to a P7 at Daytona and P9 at Fuji – they remain firmly in the hunt.

Meanwhile, the Evolution Racing Team #31 entry, which won the season opener at Daytona, will be looking to rebound after a nightmare run at Fuji that saw them tumble to 20th in the standings.

Don’t miss out on the action; catch Australasia’s most competitive GT3 series live on SimSpeed on the night of July 4th!

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by Harrison Lillas

After a month-long break from Pre Qualifying at Phillip Island, the 2025 GT Pro Invitational Series is now just days away. With 40 cars separated by just 0.616s - and five ominous contenders securing their place from the OSR Bathurst 12 Hour - the scene has been set for six exhilarating rounds of racing action.

Before the lights go out for Round 1 in Daytona, here’s everything you need to know about the GT Pro Invitational so far!

The class of 2025 shapes up

To earn their spot in the region’s pinnacle of GT competition, teams would need all hands on deck to wrestle the peaks and troughs of the iconic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.

Drivers had three nights to complete their laps, and car choices were not mandatory as final selections for the series should they make the 40-car cutoff line.

At the top of the finalised timesheets was the Trans Tasman Racing #77, setting a 1:26.669 to pip Evolution Racing Team’s #7 by just 0.021s.

Madison Down set the pace at Phillip Island in Pre Qualfying

There was absolutely nothing in it throughout the field, with a number of familiar team names in Eclipse Simsports, Vermillion eSports, 9INE5IVE Simsport, Blackout OPR, and Synergy Sim Racing all entering multiple cars.

Five additional entrants made the list without having to pre-qualify, having caught the eyes of ASRG through their results in the OSR Bathurst 12 Hour. These ‘Golden Ticket’ entries included the Eclipse Simsport car that won the event, two from Blackout OPR, one from Evolution Racing Team, and another from Orbit Drop Bear.

In total, there will be 45 cars on the GT Pro Invitational grid.

Locked in manufacturer selections

The GT Pro Invitational requires that teams commit to two cars selected at the beginning of the season. While teams can switch between these cars whenever they see fit, car choice remains an incredibly difficult task.

While assumptions can be made about ‘top speed cars’ being a strong choice for this calendar, there is also plenty of time throughout the season for iRacing to morph the strengths and weaknesses of the ever-changing GT3 roster.

Mid-engine cars remain the choice for outright grip, but teams will have to factor in top-speed performance with tracks like Fuji, Le Mans, and COTA on the horizon.

A lo of interest circulates car selection for the 2025 Season

The lay of the land

Each round of the GT Pro Invitational will consist of a three-hour endurance race, with the grid set by a 20 minute open qualifying session.

Teams must run at least two drivers per car for each event. They can select from a pre-approved roster of up to 4 of their drivers, which can be used freely throughout the season.

The server will be open to drivers from 7pm (AEDT) for a 60 minute practice session, followed by qualifying directly after at 8pm. There will be a 10 minute grid walk after qualifying, with the green flag dropping at 8:30pm.

Viewers will be able to hear from the drivers in the post-race show at 11:30pm.

The broadcaster for the entire GT Pro Invitational season will be SimSpeed TV, who are proud to return following a successful partnership with ASRG in the Logitech G Pro Invitational Series in 2024.

The high speed nature of Daytona is guaranteed to create excitement on Friday Night

The drivers-eye view of Daytona

GT3 racing at Daytona is a unique challenge, both in finding outright speed in qualifying and climbing positions in a race scenario.

The ‘Key to Daytona Road’ is a very simple formula. Much like its oval counterpart, you will need slipstream to go fast. If you want to be anywhere competitive in the starting order, you will need to stay in the train. Falling out of sync will mark disaster for a driver's qualifying efforts.

That formula gets complicated when you throw 45 antsy drivers into a race situation. In an ideal world, everybody stays calm and saves fuel behind the leader. With plenty of opportunities for lifting and coasting, there are laps of fuel to be saved in the pitlane across 3 hours of racing.

But this is not an ideal world; this is the opening round of the most competitive GT3 Championship in Australasia. ‘The train’ is likely to be broken down into groups as the race progresses, and it will be crucial for drivers to maintain composure as this happens.

If there is one thing you can put your money on, it’s that this series won’t be one to miss.

Catch all the action from Daytona on SimSpeed TV, the night of March 28th!

Published on

by Harrison Lillas