It’s been a while since there’s been any official Team ORD competitive sim racing. But having already shared my love of the VW Jetta and the Sim-Lab PCC series on iRacing, I couldn’t resist signing up to the new VW Jetta Cup being organised by The Racing Line.
It’s a 12 week series for 30 drivers, with the schedule mirroring the PCC series. Taking place on Monday evenings from 8.30pm, it’ll be broadcast with commentary on The Racing Line’s Twitch channel and also available via Youtube.
The Racing Line VW Jetta Cup Season 1 Schedule is as follows:
- March 8th : Media Day – Summit Point Raceway
- March 15th: Charlotte Motor Speedway Road 08
- March 22nd: Lime Rock Park West Bend Chicane
- March 29th: Watkins Glen International Classic Boot
- April 5th: Road Atlanta Full
- April 12th: Okayama International Circuit Full
- April 19th: Nordschleife Industriefahrten
- April 26th: Oran Park Raceway Grand Prix
- May 3rd: Road America Full
- May 10th: Silverstone National 08
- May 17th: Laguna Seca
- May 24th: Watkins Glen International Cup
- May 31st: Summit Point Raceway Full
Each round will involve an eight minute qualifying session, followed by a 15 minute Sprint Race. This sets the grid for the 25 minute Feature Race with the top 12 finishers being reversed.
And there are championship points for qualifying on pole, half points for the Sprint Race, full points for the Feature Race, plus bonus points for the Fastest Lap.
With around 50 drivers initially signing up to compete in the series, and a total of 30 available slots, I wasn’t sure I’d make it through the initial pre-qualification race (which you can watch here on Twitch)
But somehow I’ve made it through to compete against some of the very fastest VW Jetta drivers around on iRacing. Which includes the Pulsus eSports team of Stephen King, Joshua Germany and Henry Morse, who are likely title contenders, along with the team of Jack Lewin, Jeremie Agard and Thomas Burling.
Having raced against many of the field in the Sim-Lab series, I’m fairly realistic about my chances of a victory. But if I can maintain a consistent challenge around the top 10 for the series, I’ll be happy.
And fellow VW Jetta driver Christopher Smith has been unlucky enough to be volunteered to partner with me. And has agreed to race under the Team ORD banner for the season.
Ironically, the last outings for Team ORD were back in 2015, when we were featured on Motors TV in the TORA VAG Trophy, driving a VW Bora in Class A and VW Rabbit in Class B. And I somehow took a Class C victory in the Virtual 1 Gaming 80’s Touring Car Championship.
Given how the world of virtual motorsport has moved on, and the high profile of the top eSports teams, it’s nice to think Team ORD will be making a small comeback in 2020. And hopefully you might be tempted to come and cheer us on, and support the VW Jetta Cup series…
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