For the second time in two weeks, the iRacing Rallycross All-Star Invitational presented by Yokohama splits off its celebrity competitors and the world’s top sim racers at two different tracks. This time, instead of splitting the Atlantic Ocean, they’ll just split the continental United States; the pro drivers and media will take on Sonoma Raceway, while the iRX World Championship veterans and Time Attack qualifiers will head to Atlanta Motor Speedway.
A refreshed entry list will attempt to crack the podium in the pro race, which was occupied by Hansen Williams Esports’ Henrik Krogstad, Subaru Motorsports USA’s Brandon Semenuk, and RX2 veteran Tanner Whitten at Daytona last week. Porsche All-Star champion Emily “Emree” Jones, 20-time X Games medalist and 2021 One Lap of America runner-up Bucky Lasek, and Supercross veteran Matt Bisceglia are among the new additions expected to compete in today’s action.
On the sim racer side, SET Esports’ Jonne Ollikainen claimed the checkered flag in last week’s visit to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, holding off a hard-charging Kevin Ellis Jr. of Apex Racing Team and fellow SET driver Rasmus Tuominen for the victory. Last year, though, Atlanta was Jon Robertson’s domain, as he led all 10 laps of the feature to outpace Yohann Harth and Tommi Hallman for the checkered flag.
Both Sonoma and Atlanta have proven to be among the most popular iRX circuits with real-world pros and sim racers alike. As a result, Atlanta was the second round on the schedule, while Sonoma was one of only two circuits, alongside Hell Lankebanen, to have two slots on the 2020 iRX World Championship and All-Star Invitational calendar last fall. Conner Martell and Sage Karam split the invitational events from Sonoma last year, while Andreas Bakkerud, Scott Speed, and 2020 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series champion Nick Ottinger also took podiums.
The Time Attack session for sim racers to join the iRX finale at Charlotte Motor Speedway runs from May 25-28 GMT. The season finale takes place on June 1, with both divisions returning to the same track for the first time since opening the four-race slate at Brands Hatch on April 20.
iRacing Rallycross All-Star Invitational presented by Yokohama action from Sonoma and Atlanta kicks off at 5PM ET/2PM PT on iRacing, Nitro Circus, and Roadshow by CNET social media channels. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.
