Mateo, Adams Split Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series Victories at Watkins Glen

The chase to earn a full-season ride in the Skip Barber Formula Race Series continued on iRacing on Sunday, as the Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series staged its third of six race events at the iconic Watkins Glen International. When the checkered flags fell on the double feature event, two new winners—Nicolas Mateo and Matt Adams—found themselves standing atop their respective race podiums.

The Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series closely mirrors the real-world Skip Barber Formula Race Series in vehicle formula and racing circuits, with the added caveat that the top performers in the virtual series earn racing opportunities in the real one. Each week, a new slate of 20 drivers qualifies their way into the next race round, receiving coaching from Skip Barber Racing School instructors before taking to the track for a pair of 15-minute timed races. The champion at the end of the six-week series earns a full-season ride in the Skip Barber Formula Race Series, and more than $500,000 worth of prizes is on the line overall.

Similar to Deagen Fairclough’s triumph in last week’s second feature from VIRginia International Raceway, Mateo led only one lap on the way to taking his victory: the last one. He held off Fairclough and three-time race winner Mikkel Gade to do it, as all three drivers were separated by less than a second. Gade, Michael Janney, and polesitter Matt Bussa led a lap each in the nine-lap race, but it was Adams who led the most with five before falling back to seventh on the final lap.

But similar to Fairclough’s own charge through the field at VIR, Adams fought his way from seventh to first in the second race. Mateo would still lead a race-high six laps, with Gade briefly nipping him for the point, but Adams would make his own winning move with two laps to go. The second race wound up even more closely packed, with Elvis Rankin, Gade, and Janney all within .616 seconds of Adams—closer than Fairclough had been to Mateo in the previous feature.

Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series feature one results at Watkins Glen International were as follows:

Fin.

St.

No.

Driver

Laps

Interval

Led

Best

Pts.

11518Nicolas Mateo911:46.03735
2197Deagen Fairclough9-0.76501:45.78932
323Mikkel Gade9-0.93011:46.04430
435Michael Janney9-1.18411:46.30928
5611Ross Banfield9-6.97001:45.82126
696Pierfrancesco Patricolo9-9.73301:46.42925
7415Matt M Adams9-10.53651:45.97424
81013Jeffrey Decker9-21.96201:48.12123
9149Michael Romanidis9-32.79901:45.64522
10118Patrick Woods-Toth9-1:08.69301:46.18121
1152Elvis Rankin9-1:11.36001:46.73920
121219Theodore Burns70.00001:46.00019
13181Will Redford60.00001:46.21618
14110Matt Bussa60.00011:46.59117
151714Lyden Lee60.00001:45.78816
162012Matthew Zeis60.00001:46.37415
17716Jordan Johnson540.00001:47.48714
181617Jon Boetefuer30.000013
19820Simon De Mori30.000012
20134Felipe Cabrera Loyola20.000011

 

Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series feature two results at Watkins Glen International were as follows:

Fin.

St.

No.

Driver

Laps

Interval

Led

Best

Pts.

1715Matt M Adams90.00021:45.47735
2112Elvis Rankin9-0.22201:45.55632
333Mikkel Gade9-0.42811:45.32530
445Michael Janney9-0.61601:45.60028
51514Lyden Lee9-4.84201:45.85726
6118Nicolas Mateo9-5.82961:45.83025
799Michael Romanidis9-6.24801:45.85224
866Pierfrancesco Patricolo9-6.53501:45.40023
91219Theodore Burns9-6.72601:45.54322
101817Jon Boetefuer9-7.32901:45.48321
111920Simon De Mori9-8.10601:45.90520
12204Felipe Cabrera Loyola9-8.61801:45.66819
131410Matt Bussa9-8.85701:45.51118
141612Matthew Zeis9-8.96801:46.00917
151716Jordan Johnson59-12.03201:45.60716
16813Jeffrey Decker9-12.81101:45.84315
17108Patrick Woods-Toth9-14.732014
18511Ross Banfield9-39.02601:48.77713
1927Deagen Fairclough3-6 L012
20131Will Redford1-8 L011

 

The Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series season continues next week with a visit to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, with Time Attack qualifying open now and the race airing on Sunday at 3PM ET. For more information on the Skip Barber Racing School, visit www.skipbarber.com. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.