An exhilarating and drama-filled last hour cleared the path for Drago Racing to take their second special event victory of the year, after their Daytona 24 Hours success earlier this year.
Qualifying is always relatively important in iRacing Special Events, even more so at Bathurst. So when Coanda Esports took pole, its race-winning odds certainly improved, even more so when its teammate got into second in the early laps.
It’s vital here because of trouble on the opening lap, which reared its head at the iRacing Bathurst 12 Hour for another year.
First, a concertina effect into the final turn of the formation lap sent two cars backwards before the race even began, and then a big smash at the cutting, taking out scores of cars from contention, only some of whom continued.
Coanda’s #018, which had taken pole, skipped out to an early two-second lead ahead of the first pitstop phase, with their teammates leading the group behind. It was such a cumbersome group that Dylan Birse, who spent the first hour embedded within it, took a short stop to get out ahead and lead the race by eight seconds.
Yet only 90 minutes into the race, a technical failure forced him to pull over on Conrod straight, handing the lead back to #018. However, their lead was short-lived too, as issues throughout the next pitstop phase put them out of the race, and the lead was handed off again to their teammates.
This was the start of a familiar pattern to the race that continued for the next nine hours, with a lead gap of 3-12 seconds fluctuating throughout the race, and a rotating cast of teams leading the chase. First, the newly formed Bleu Mercure Esports were the lead chasers, but eventually some early stops caught up with them, and they’d drop back as their strategy took its toll.
Drago Racing had a much more sustained run in second, and was briefly joined just after halfway by WSR Esports. A spin at turn two dropped them to ninth with three hours to go, just as it became clear that Drago’s strategy had them hot on the heels of Coanda Esports in front.
By the final hour, it was just eight seconds between them, with Drago suspected to have a shorter pitstop by about the same margin. In the end, the pitstop was so short they got out in front for the first time, with Nicolas Rubilar set to defend from Tristan Iglesias for the title.
Yet, the much-anticipated battle never happened, as a lapped car that had crashed through Sulman Park was hit by Iglesias, robbing Coanda of a podium they deserved, and the neutral of an all-time fight for the win. As it was, Rubilar was able to cruise home to a win by around 10 seconds in front of Grid and Go, and last year’s winners, Mahle Racing Team.
It was a classic ending to the event, though not in the way many had hoped. But for Drago Racing, it marks the continuation of a great start to the year, winning at Daytona and Bathurst for the first time, which could be a sign of things to come in 2026.