The second round of Screen to Speed‘s 2023 Summer Cup brought on a new challenge to the all-women’s esports competition. So far to this point, all of the competitions have been asphalt road races. On Saturday (29th July), the racing went off road for a competition on the dirt at Wild West Motorsports Park.
After another Time Attack competition that ran from the 16th to the 28th of July, the top drivers qualified for the Wild West heat races. When the dust settled, it was Saoirse Fitzpatrick, the inaugural Screen to Speed champion from earlier in the year, claiming both a heat win and the overall victory.
The four heat races would be won by Fitzpatrick, Sara Dove, Emily Howe and Athena Leclerc. They would start from the first two rows with 16 total Lucas Oil Pro 2 Lite trucks taking on the Feature race of 20 laps.
Off the start, Dove was able to take control as Fitzpatrick fell to second and Howe was situated in third. Just past halfway, the trio were collected in an incident that sent Dove flying in Turn 2 and moved Fitzpatrick to the lead. Howe would recover to second as Dove fell back to fifth.
Olivia Hayward moved up to take hold of the final podium position. Dove worked to get back up but had to settle for fourth at the end of the day. Jackie P Matthews rounded out the Top 5.
Round 1 winner Bianca Constantiniu was not in the field for this one, but did set a Time Attack lap and scored 14 points towards the Summer Cup title. Fitzpatrick moves into the points lead by 12 points over Howe. Dove, Hayward and Kristina Ryan currently occupy the Top 5 as Constantiniu falls down to sixth.
Another new discipline awaits the Screen to Speed contestants in two weeks time. The Time Attack for Oval Street Stocks at USA International Speedway is open now, with the race taking place on 12th August.
For more information on how to sign up for the series, or how to register as an ally and support women in esports, visit the official Screen to Speed website as well as the official Init Esports page. Tune into the broadcasts over on the Init Esports Twitch as well!
