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Damon Woods has claimed his third race victory of the 2023 Speedcafe eSeries Championship season at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Woods took the chequered flag in the updated Porsche GT3 R ahead of Round 5 winner Mathew Dench and Simon Nicholson, claiming his first win since Round 2, that saw him commence the season with back-to-back race victories.
He took advantage of the one-vehicle swap available per season to change to the updated Porsche GT3 R car, going onto grab pole position with a 1.39.683s in qualifying, as he topped the timesheets ahead of Lachlan Caple and Dench.
He duly led the way at the race start, as Caple took advantage of a good jump to get down the inside of Dench to take P2, while Round 3 winner Ross Rizzo and Dan Yeaman raced side by side through most of the opening corners before settling down.
However, the opening lap was not without drama, as Sebastian Varndell’s Ferrari tagged the rear bumper of Marlon McMullen’s Mercedes at Turn 5, as cars scattered trying to avoid the incident.
The sausage-styled kerbs around the chicane in the middle of the lap at Turn 7/8 unsettled multiple cars, none more so than Seth Brown’s Ferrari that became airborne in a similar style to Scott McLaughlin’s IndyCar during recent testing at Road America.
After starting 34th, Dylan O’Shea had sliced his way through the field to move up to 17th by Lap 4.
Meanwhile, at the front of the field, Caple had a fight on his hands to hold onto second from Dench and Nicholson, before Dench claimed the position at Turn 7 on Lap 6.
Four laps later it was Nicholson’s turn to pass Dench, getting the move done at the hairpin on Lap 10 for third.
Disaster struck at the half-way mark of the race as a brake failure for Riley Bilson saw his Audi R8 cannon off into the tyre barrier at Turn 1, resulting in the Speedcafe Safety Car being deployed.
The entire field entered pitlane to take advantage of a free pit stop within the window to get home, before Woods led the way at the re-start from Dench, Nicholson, Caple and Adam Willison.
Later that lap, Willison attempted a dive down the inside of Caple at the Turn 10 hairpin, miss his braking marker by mere metres as he was nudged wide by the latter, dropping down to 17th.
O’Shea relished in the re-start picking off Aaron Kuper and Rizzo before engaging Daniel Yeaman in a duel, with their battle resulting in a seven-car pack forming.
At the chequered flag, Woods finished 6.2s in the clear of Dench and Nicholson, as O’Shea made his way 30 spots to finish fourth.
Caple finished fifth ahead of Rizzo, Kuper, Yeaman as Simon Mezzomo and Willison rounded out the top 10.
The 2023 Speedcafe eSeries Championship next heads to Circuit Gilles Villenueve, Montreal, Canada for Round 7, with pre-qualifying to take place on June 16-21.
Register here for the Speedcafe eSeries Championship to get involved in the high-speed GT3 category.
Speedcafe Series Championship Round 6 Results
| Pos | Class Pos | Car | Class | Car # | Driver | Start Pos | Out | Interval | Laps Led | Average Lap Time | Fastest Lap Time | Fast Lap# | Laps Comp | Inc | Club | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | | Hosted All Cars | 56 | | 1 | Running | Laps | 25 | 1:48.386 | 1:39.225 | 16 | 25 | 3 | Australia/NZ | |
| 2 | 2 | | Hosted All Cars | 83 | | 3 | Running | Laps | -06.308 | 0 | 1:48.638 | 1:40.005 | 19 | 25 | 14 | Australia/NZ |
| 3 | 3 | | Hosted All Cars | 16 | | 4 | Running | Laps | -06.898 | 0 | 1:48.661 | 1:40.068 | 19 | 25 | 15 | Australia/NZ |
| 4 | 4 | | Hosted All Cars | 19 | | 34 | Running | Laps | -15.241 | 0 | 1:48.994 | 1:40.598 | 23 | 25 | 17 | Australia/NZ |
| 5 | 5 | | Hosted All Cars | 18 | | 2 | Running | Laps | -19.196 | 0 | 1:49.153 | 1:40.496 | 2 | 25 | 16 | Australia/NZ |
| 6 | 6 | | Hosted All Cars | 784 | | 6 | Running | Laps | -19.403 | 0 | 1:49.161 | 1:40.952 | 24 | 25 | 2 | Australia/NZ |
| 7 | 7 | | Hosted All Cars | 105 | | 8 | Running | Laps | -21.455 | 0 | 1:49.243 | 1:41.201 | 2 | 25 | 7 | Australia/NZ |
| 8 | 8 | | Hosted All Cars | 985 | | 7 | Running | Laps | -21.693 | 0 | 1:49.253 | 1:41.158 | 24 | 25 | 16 | Australia/NZ |
| 9 | 9 | | Hosted All Cars | 954 | | 9 | Running | Laps | -24.833 | 0 | 1:49.379 | 1:40.888 | 17 | 25 | 10 | Australia/NZ |
| 10 | 10 | | Hosted All Cars | 98 | | 5 | Running | Laps | -27.397 | 0 | 1:49.481 | 1:41.033 | 11 | 25 | 17 | Australia/NZ |
| 11 | 11 | | Hosted All Cars | 04 | | 11 | Running | Laps | -27.480 | 0 | 1:49.484 | 1:41.171 | 3 | 25 | 5 | Australia/NZ |
| 12 | 12 | | Hosted All Cars | 52 | | 10 | Running | Laps | -27.594 | 0 | 1:49.489 | 1:41.272 | 3 | 25 | 6 | Australia/NZ |
| 13 | 13 | | Hosted All Cars | 117 | | 15 | Running | Laps | -28.178 | 0 | 1:49.512 | 1:41.381 | 21 | 25 | 18 | Australia/NZ |
| 14 | 14 | | Hosted All Cars | 22 | | 16 | Running | Laps | -28.822 | 0 | 1:49.538 | 1:41.713 | 4 | 25 | 10 | Australia/NZ |
| 15 | 15 | | Hosted All Cars | 84 | | 12 | Running | Laps | -29.415 | 0 | 1:49.562 | 1:41.149 | 3 | 25 | 6 | Australia/NZ |
| 16 | 16 | | Hosted All Cars | 5 | | 22 | Running | Laps | -31.399 | 0 | 1:49.641 | 1:41.505 | 17 | 25 | 17 | Australia/NZ |
| 17 | 17 | | Hosted All Cars | 027 | | 28 | Running | Laps | -32.418 | 0 | 1:49.681 | 1:42.018 | 19 | 25 | 1 | Australia/NZ |
| 18 | 18 | | Hosted All Cars | 444 | | 18 | Running | Laps | -38.704 | 0 | 1:49.933 | 1:41.573 | 17 | 25 | 11 | Australia/NZ |
| 19 | 19 | | Hosted All Cars | 85 | | 20 | Running | Laps | -40.185 | 0 | 1:49.992 | 1:41.786 | 17 | 25 | 17 | Australia/NZ |
| 20 | 20 | | Hosted All Cars | 7 | | 30 | Running | Laps | -40.796 | 0 | 1:50.016 | 1:42.211 | 17 | 25 | 5 | Australia/NZ |
| 21 | 21 | | Hosted All Cars | 143 | | 27 | Running | Laps | -45.537 | 0 | 1:50.206 | 1:42.749 | 16 | 25 | 6 | Australia/NZ |
| 22 | 22 | | Hosted All Cars | 61 | | 23 | Running | Laps | -47.751 | 0 | 1:50.295 | 1:42.085 | 18 | 25 | 15 | Australia/NZ |
| 23 | 23 | | Hosted All Cars | 74 | | 19 | Running | Laps | -48.375 | 0 | 1:50.320 | 1:42.021 | 19 | 25 | 8 | Australia/NZ |
| 24 | 24 | | Hosted All Cars | 17 | | 13 | Running | Laps | -49.417 | 0 | 1:50.362 | 1:41.385 | 17 | 25 | 15 | Australia/NZ |
| 25 | 25 | | Hosted All Cars | 53 | | 24 | Running | Laps | -59.561 | 0 | 1:50.767 | 1:42.572 | 4 | 25 | 10 | Australia/NZ |
| 26 | 26 | | Hosted All Cars | 124 | | 17 | Running | Laps | -1:00.430 | 0 | 1:50.802 | 1:41.175 | 17 | 25 | 10 | Australia/NZ |
| 27 | 27 | | Hosted All Cars | 39 | | 31 | Running | Laps | -1:06.982 | 0 | 1:51.064 | 1:43.096 | 19 | 25 | 22 | Australia/NZ |
| 28 | 28 | | Hosted All Cars | 035 | | 29 | Running | Laps | -1:08.022 | 0 | 1:51.105 | 1:42.470 | 17 | 25 | 11 | Australia/NZ |
| 29 | 29 | | Hosted All Cars | 222 | | 36 | Running | Laps | -1:20.337 | 0 | 1:51.598 | 1:43.033 | 19 | 25 | 22 | Australia/NZ |
| 30 | 30 | | Hosted All Cars | 73 | | 32 | Running | Laps | -1:25.944 | 0 | 1:51.822 | 1:43.887 | 25 | 25 | 12 | Australia/NZ |
| 31 | 31 | | Hosted All Cars | 86 | | 26 | Running | Laps | -1 L | 0 | 1:53.285 | 1:42.538 | 17 | 24 | 20 | Australia/NZ |
| 32 | 32 | | Hosted All Cars | 58 | | 21 | Disconnected | Laps | -12 L | 0 | 1:47.317 | 1:42.140 | 4 | 13 | 2 | Australia/NZ |
| 33 | 33 | | Hosted All Cars | 995 | | 14 | Running | Laps | -13 L | 0 | 2:05.436 | 1:44.447 | 11 | 12 | 18 | Australia/NZ |
| 34 | 34 | | Hosted All Cars | 28 | | 25 | Running | Laps | -19 L | 0 | 1:46.947 | 1:42.660 | 4 | 6 | 6 | Japan |
