© TPM Photo2025 Sim Racing World Championship - Event 2 ReportThrilling Start To Event 2
TomManleycontinuedhisstrongformduringEvent2ofthe2025Formula1SimRacingseasonashepickeduppointsfinishesinallfourraces.
The Racing Bulls driver has now finished inside the top 10 in all but one race so far this season and sits 11th in the Drivers’ Standings with 41 points after eight rounds.
Meanwhile, Ulaş Özyıldırım secured his first points finish of the season with a P8 result at Spa-Francorchamps, the same race in which Manley finished a tied-season best P4.
Özyıldırım has five points to his name after five outings, while Declan Barrett is yet to score from his three races.
Round5-Silverstone
Event 2 got underway with a thrilling race at Silverstone, Manley’s home circuit. And the Brit didn’t disappoint in qualifying, putting his car on the second row of the grid in P4.
Starting on a harder tyre than many of his rivals, Manley lost two positions in the early stages of the race but would climb as high in the order as second by preserving his tyres.
After pitting on Lap 13, he then made his way through the order and back into P7. However, Manley lost ground in the closing stages and would have to settle for P10, in additional to a bonus point for recording the fastest lap of the race.
As for Özyıldırım, he lost places early on after qualifying in P17 and was unable to full recover. However, the Turkish driver continued to battle and finished the race in P13 after some nice overtakes in the closing stages.
In The Zone© Racing Bulls Sim Racing
Round6-Spa-Francorchamps
The speed of both drivers was on full display in Belgium, with Özyıldırım and Manley locking out the second row during an exciting qualifying session.
From P3 and P4 on the grid respectively, Özyıldırım and Manley both managed the opening stint well, holding position until Manley opted to pit at the end of Lap 9, earlier than many of his rivals.
The move proved effective for the Brit, who used the power of the undercut to get ahead of his teammate and eventually into the lead once the entire field had pitted.
With ageing tyres Manley could not quite hold onto the lead, ceding his advantage with just five laps still remaining. He would go on to finish in P4, the second time this season Manley has fallen just short of a podium, while Özyıldırım bagged his first top 10 finish in P8.
Who Turned The Lights On?© Racing Bulls Sim Racing
Round7-Zandvoort
Manley started from P12 at an overcast Zandvoort, ahead of Declan Barrett in P20 who was in the second Racing Bulls car instead of Özyıldırım.
With all 20 driver starting on the soft tyres, the race was turned upside down in the early stages when the rain began, and the entire field was forced to pit for the intermediates.
Manley, who had moved up four places prior to stopping, managed to gain further positions during the pit phase to jump up to P5, while Barrett climbed into P16 in the chaos.
Both drivers held position during the second pit stop phase, with Manley then able to climb into P3 thanks to overtakes on Frederik Rasmussen and Thomas Ronhaar.
However, a gamble on a third stop did not quite pay off, with Manley finishing the race in P8, only to be demoted to P9 after the race. Barrett finished in P12, a fine performance given his grid slot, the Brit able to manage the tricky conditions better than many around him.
Media Duties© Racing Bulls Sim Racing
Round8-CircuitoftheAmericas
Manley and Özyıldırım, back in the car for Round 8, started the final race of Event 2 from P12 and P14 on the grid respectively after a decent showing in qualifying.
Özyıldırım would struggle at the start, losing two positions in the opening stages, while Manley held position initially, unable to climb the order.
However, both drivers were able to use the undercut to their advantage, with Manley rising as high as P9 once all 20 drivers had pitted, not far ahead of Özyıldırım in P12.
It briefly looked as though Manley would fall out of the points following passes by Ismael Fahssi and Dani Bereznay in quick succession, but the Brit recovered in the closing stages with a move on Alfie Butcher to claim a seventh top 10 finish of the season.
As for Özyıldırım, he was in contention for the points for much of the race but eventually finished in P14.
Getting The Warm-Up In© Racing Bulls Sim Racing
