Round seven of the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup (PESC) ended with a victory for American Zac Campbell at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
With the virtual version of the 375 kW (510 hp) Porsche 911 GT3 Cup for the VRS team, Campbell defeated Australian Cooper Webster (Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports) and Briton Kevin Ellis Jr.
(Apex Racing Team) in a gripping showdown. The 2020 PESC champion Sebastian Job excelled in the sprint race on the iRacing simulation platform. Diogo C. Pinto from Portugal keeps his lead in the series ahead of Ellis and Job. In the two All-Stars races, US content creator Casey Kirwan proved unbeatable.
Sebastian Job impressed in the qualifying session on the 7.04 kilometer Formula 1 circuit and took his third pole position of the season. In the six-lap sprint race, the British sim racer initially took the lead but was forced to relinquish it to Alejandro Sánchez (SDK Gaming) after the Spaniard braked him as he approached Les Combes. Two laps later, Job recaptured first place in the same place. When Sánchez was busy fending off the Cup-911 driven by Britain’s VRS driver Charlie Collins, Job seized the opportunity to pull away and take home the win. Collins took second place, with Sánchez third ahead of Ellis and Diogo C. Pinto.
The top eight from the sprint race were in reverse order on the starting grid for the PESC main race, meaning Briton Jamie Fluke (Apex Racing Team) started from pole position with Cooper Webster, the season’s most successful rookie to date, alongside him. Zac Campbell and Pinto shared the second row of the grid. Fluke immediately catapulted into the lead with Campbell, Pinto and Ellis in the next three positions. However, Job, Sanchez and Collins got off to a bad start when the trio got entangled in a collision and lost ground.
Although the battle between the leading pack of five was fierce, the order remained the same – until round nine. In a wheel-to-wheel duel with Campbell, Fluke left the track in Malmedy. Moments later, Pinto was awarded a “slow-down” penalty for failing to follow the track limits. On the twelfth and final lap, Campbell, Webster and Ellis flew in formation towards the famous Eau Rouge dip. In the end, Campbell held onto the upper hand and celebrated his second win in the feature race. Webster was second, with Ellis third and Fluke fourth. Pinto crossed the finish line in sixth behind Australian Jordan Caruso (Logitech G Altus Esports). Sebastian Job finished tenth.
Casey Kirwan Takes Victory At Both All-Star Races
The All-Stars took on the challenges of Spa for the first time this season with the approx. 367 kW (500 hp) Porsche 911 GT3 R. In qualifying guest driver Marco Bischoff defeated American Casey Kirwan, but lost the lead in the sprint to the first bend. An intense duel unfolded between the two that lasted almost the entire distance of eight laps. In the final phase, Tyson “Quirkitized” Meier joined the action and even moved up to second place. Kirwan managed to keep his nose up and Bischoff eventually crossed the finish line in second just 0.064 seconds behind.
For the second race, the participants were in the reverse order of the previous race results. While “Quirkitized” Meier and Bischoff fell victim to a chain reaction in the backfield early on, Kirwan launched an impressive charge through the order. In the first of twelve laps, he plowed his way from 17th to 10th. By halftime, he was back in second place behind Brazilian IndyCar legend Tony Kanaan, but first had to defend this position against a feisty Emily “Emree” Jones. On the penultimate lap, Kirwan catapulted out of Kanaan’s slipstream as he approached the “Les Combes” corner and took the lead. Kanaan, the real 2013 Indy-500 winner, also had to pass “Emree” and eventually finished in third place.
Preview: Round 8 of the PESC visits the “Green Hell”
On May 7, the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup (PESC) will enjoy one of the real highlights of the season: the 35 sim racers will take on the infamous Nürburgring-Nordschleife with the digital Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. The 25.38 kilometer race track through the Eifel is considered one of the most beautiful courses in the world, but is also one of the most difficult – and so is the virtual version running on the iRacing simulation platform. On the schedule are a three-lap sprint and a four-lap feature race. Last year Sebastian Job was the star of the shorter race as the winner, with Diogo C. Pinto second in the feature race.
Content creators from the esports racing scene will once again join the action, with two All-Star races as part of a support program. As at Spa-Francorchamps, they will drive the approx. 367 kW (500 hp) 911 GT3 R. The All-Star livestream will begin on May 7 at 7.30 pm (CEST) with the qualifying session. The two influencer races will be given the green light at 7:45 PM and 8:05 PM respectively. The racing action of the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup starts around 9.15pm.
Casey Kirwan (USA): “The races were a lot of fun. The second was a little chaotic at first, but I got pretty lucky and managed to work my way up the pack. On the straights, Emily Jones and I used each other’s slipstream to catch up. In the end it all fell in my favor.”
Zac Campbell (US/VRS): “The championship run is tough when Diogo Pinto, Kevin Ellis, Sebastian Job and I are at the front. I have never experienced such a gripping duel – it was fantastic! No other series in the world offers such exciting races as the Porsche TAG Heuer Esport Supercup and I am proud to compete here!”
Cooper Webster (AUS/Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports): “For the PESC races I have to get up at 4am here in Australia and that’s hard. But if I get a great result like today in the feature race, I’ll be very happy. In the first round I didn’t want to take any chances. Then exactly what I expected happened: the cars in front of me collided and I drove past. At the beginning of the last lap I tried to attack again in the first corner, but Zac Campbell knows how to defend himself well. I am very happy with second place.”
Kevin Ellis Jr. (GB/Apex Racing Team): “We knew overtaking would be difficult at Spa. We adjusted the setup for this race and it seems to have worked well. I am satisfied with a fourth place in the sprint and a third place in the feature race. I earned decent points for these results.”
Results
Spa-Francorchamps, sprintrace
- Sebastian Job (GB/Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports)
- Charlie Collins (GB/VRS)
- Alejandro Sánchez (E/SDK-gaming)
- Kevin Ellis jr. (GB/Apex Racing-team)
- Diogo C. Pinto (P/Porsche24 Team Redline)
Spa-Francorchamps, hoofdrace
- Zac Campbell (VS/VRS)
- Cooper Webster (AUS/Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports)
- Kevin Ellis jr. (GB/Apex Racing-team)
- Jamie Fluke (GB/Apex Racing Team)
- Jordan Caruso (AUS/Logitech G Altus Esports)
Puntenstand na 7 van de 10 races
- Diogo C. Pinto (P/Team Redline), 371 punten
- Kevin Eliis jr (GB/Apex Racing Team), 359 punten
- Sebastian Job (GB/Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports), 348 punten
Fans kunnen de iRacing-actie live online bekijken via de kanalen van Porsche op YouTube en Twitch