iRacing Rallycross Race Preview: Sonoma

The iRacing Rallycross presented by Yokohama season heads back to American soil on Wednesday, visiting Sonoma Raceway for Round 8 presented by DirtFish. Races will begin at 4PM ET/1PM PT at iRacing.com/live and across a large slate of Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube channels.

World Championship

Defending iRX World Champion Yohann Harth finally scored his first win of the 2021 season in Phoenix after leading a majority of the race, giving Subaru Motorsports USA its first victory since Jon Robertson took back-to-back checkered flags in Atlanta and Iowa. Currently, the driver and team championships are split heading into Sonoma, with Robertson leading the driver’s standings but the SET Esports duo of Tommi Hallman and Jonne Ollikainen atop the team charts thanks to two victories apiece.

With that divide atop the standings, the series returns to Sonoma, host of two events and the season finale last year. Harth, Robertson, and Ollikainen were the top three in the first race last season, while Ollikainen topped Hallman and Hansen Williams Esports’ Josh Fox as Harth clinched the title in fourth place. Robertson will look to avoid the heartbreak of last year’s race, as missing the final here last December opened the door for Harth’s championship.

Yokohama Pole Award: Robertson’s fifth pole of the year from Phoenix has locked up the season-long Yokohama Pole Award in his favor. Among the rest of the 28-car field, only Hallman and Ollikainen have managed to score poles of their own, and then only one apiece.

DirtFish Rookie of the Year: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Kevin Ellis Jr. remains the top rookie point scorer of the season, running as high as second in the Phoenix final. The 2021 DirtFish Rookie of the Year will receive a complimentary Three Day course from DirtFish, the Official Rallying School of iRacing Rallycross. To sign up and get behind the wheel yourself, visit drive.dirtfish.com.

Most Improved Driver: Elliott Sadler eSports’ Vicente Salas returns to the grid in Sonoma still atop the Hard Charger standings. At eighth in points, he’s still 12 spots up from where he finished last year, with 26 more points scored in two fewer rounds.

Hard Charger: Team Yokohama’s Thomas Wangen regained the lead in the Hard Charger Award standings by gaining eight spots in Phoenix. His 52 positions gained from qualifying thus far make him the second driver to cross the 50-spot threshold, following Loenbro Motorsports’ Tommi Nukarinen, who previously led the standings with 50.

All-Star Invitational

2020 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series champion Nick Ottinger finally became the first driver to win a second All-Star event of the season, taking the checkered flag at Phoenix after chasing down and passing eNASCAR hopeful Michael Cosey Jr. in the chase to the checkers. Trading Paints founder Steve Luvender and fellow eNASCAR hopeful Blake McCandless are among the new additions to this week’s grid. The expected/invited entry list for this week’s visit to Sonoma is below; entries are subject to change:

How To Watch

All iRX events will be broadcast in multiple languages for the 2021 season. Here’s where to tune in: