British sim racer Callum Hawkins has won the fourth round of TORA TCF TASCAR Season 7 at Sonoma Raceway. The Kaido HCR driver took pole position for the event, but it was far from a straightforward race for the Brit.
It was a chaotic race at Sonoma as drivers struggled to keep their cars off of each other around the tight, twisty and undulating circuit. Hawkins led the field from pole position for much of the first half of the race, which took place mostly under the safety car after numerous collisions further back, but a curveball was thrown during the pit cycle when Hawkins was unable to bring his car down pit-road at the same time as his rivals behind.
The pit strategy mistake put Hawkins to what was essentially the rear of the field, meaning that if he wanted to get back up to the front he would have to pass more than ten cars. He duly got stuck in, moving his #21 Ford Fusion up multiple positions in quick succession.
Soon, Hawkins found himself on the back of the leading duo of Ritchard Mead and Ted Tooker. The three remained locked together for much of the closing stages of the race, but after a hard battle between Hawkins and Mead, Hawkins would come out on top; using his fresher tyres to good effect to then sprint off into the distance.
Hawkins has had a consistent run during the first three races of the season, but he had yet to make it to victory lane. This time, he would successfully build upon his championship lead by taking his first ever TORA TASCAR victory. He may have had the fastest car on the day, but it was far from easy.
After a late scrap, Ted Tooker would take his and Swordfish Motorsport’s best finish so far with second place. Ritchard Mead would sadly fall down to third in the Allied Forces MDRacing Chevrolet after doing a supreme job of holding off faster cars for as long as he did.
Andrew Wisdom joined Kaido HCR a matter of hours prior to the start of the race at Sonoma and celebrated the move by qualifying on the front row and then taking a solid fourth place finish. James Norman was just behind in fifth place in the Norman Racing Ford; his best result of the season so far.
Robert Burley and Jordan Groves took sixth and seventh place respectively. The former series champions spent much of the race trying to fight back through the field after both were caught up in numerous accidents. Adam Watson had been fighting in the top five in the closing stages until a late incident put him back into eighth.
Jason Iverson took his first top ten of the season in ninth place driving the #400 Insane To the Max Ford. Richard Hooper completed the top ten in the #270 Remnant Racing car. Ryan Butler took eleventh after soldiering on through setup issues all race long in his #19 Allied Forces Throwback Racing Chevrolet.
Liam McNinch bought his #364 Swordfish Motorsport Chevrolet to twelfth place ahead of Zechariah Craig in the #639 Gforce Racing Toyota. Tabari Curry took the final position in A Lobby in fourteenth for Ultimate Autosport. Ryan Harvey had qualified for A Lobby in his Ax4x FEISAR Toyota, but he retired mid-way through the race. This gave fifteenth place to the winner of B Lobby, Corey Springer, who fought his way from last in the field to win his lobby in the #4 car.
The fifth round of TORA TCF TASCAR Season 7 will see the series return to Daytona International Speedway for the Florida Gazebo 200 night race. If you’re interested in signing up for this championship, run on Forza Motorsport 7 for Xbox One, please visit The Online Racing Association for more information.
Credit: Callum Hawkins / Forza Motorsport 7
TORA TCF TASCAR Season 7 – Wine Valley 100 – Top fifteen race results:
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