Esports news | Jiri Toman scores first ESL R1 round win | GRR
Czech racer Jiri Toman has taken his first-ever round win in ESL R1, moving up to second in the championship and helping his R8G team keep its 200-point title lead with three rounds remaining of the regular season. The action returned to Monza, which had previously hosted the first round of the season and where championship leader Sebastian Job (G2 Esports) had proved unbeatable. That was the case again as Job coasted through his knockout round, beating Toman in a lights-to-flag win.
It was the second knockout race that held all the intrigue though, as neither Luke Bennett (Redline) nor Maximilian Benecke (Mouz) – both round winners in ESL R1 and in this season’s top ten – would progress from this race. Bennett fell foul of a three-wide squeeze into Rettifilo on lap one, while Benecke ended up shouldered off at the Lesmos as the fight for the lead erupted three laps from home. Daire McCormack (Williams) would run out winner here, putting his own woes from last week behind him. Joshua Rogers (Coanda) came out victorious in his knockout race, just pipping champion and polesitter Marcell Csincsik (R8G) to the flag, while Jeffrey Rietveld (Redline) did the same in the final race after Mack Bakkum (Coanda) had claimed pole position.
With all four drivers into the semi-finals, Porsche Coanda would have been confident of good points. Team leader Rogers though was out of sorts in qualifying, placing only seventh – while team-mate Dayne Warren stuck his 911 on pole position with the fastest lap of the event. Rogers was then caught up in an early kerfuffle which put an end to his top-six chances, but Warren was able to retain second after another masterclass from McCormack to take the win. Another shock exit came through Cinscsik, who was confusingly penalised for impeding, allowing Lasse Sorensen (Furia) to progress.
Caique Oliveira (Furia) was another surprise, taking pole position in the second semi-final ahead of Job, but it took just one lap for Job to take a lead he’d hold to the finish. Nikodem Wisniewski (Williams) was the biggest casualty here, exiting after a drive-through penalty for a jump start. A very tight final qualifying session saw Warren taking pole position again, just ahead of Toman, with firm favourite Job only seventh. Once again though, this wasn’t a harbinger of victory for Warren as Toman swept past on lap three. In fact Warren was slowly slipping backwards as Jamie Fluke (ART) made the same move two laps later, and McCormack did the very same thing a lap further on.
That would decide the podium, with Toman becoming the second R8G driver to win a round – only the second team to achieve a driver double – and Fluke recording his best round to date. With his nearest rivals not making the final, Job extends his lead to 24 points, over new second-place driver Toman, while McCormack jumps three places to third. Williams has taken the smallest bite out of R8G’s lead, which now stands at 201 points.
ESL R1 Fall Season Round 5 Results:
1 – Jiri Toman (R8G) - Audi R8 GT3 Evo – 9 laps
2 – Jamie Fluke (ART) - Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo - +0.406s
3 – Daire McCormack (Williams) - Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo - +2.074s
The qualifying championship for the 2024 Porsche Esports Supercup reached its halfway stage with the latest round at the Red Bull Ring, with Bryn Collins taking victory in the feature race.
Collins secured pole position for the sprint race by the finest of margins from Luke McKeown, but McKeown made the best of a good exit from turn three to take the lead at turn four at half distance.
With the inverse top-eight grid for the feature, Antoine Lacharite was on pole position but quickly lost out to a fast-starting Quentin Vialatte. A turn three incident saw Oscar Py and Michael Janney collide, briefly holding up the pack behind - including McKeown but not Collins who’d managed to sidestep the collision.
Collins would hit the front soon after as Vialatte and Sam Kuitert tripped over one another, before passing Kevin Nielsen on the inside of turn three at half distance for his first feature win of the series.
A podium finish for McKeown backed up his earlier win to see him top the overall points table, ahead of ART team-mate Parker White.
Porsche Esports Supercup Contender Series Round 3 Feature Race Results:
1 – Bryn Collins (Coanda) - Porsche 992 GT3 Cup - 20 laps
2 – Kevin Nielsen (Fyra) - Porsche 992 GT3 Cup - +0.699s
3 – Luke McKeown (ART) - Porsche 992 GT3 Cup - +0.982s
The first round of the new Porsche Esports Sprint Challenge GB, a collaboration between Porsche and Motorsport UK, got underway this weekend, with Will Eatwell and Sophia Ridpath taking both wins in their respective classes.
This unusual multi-class series pits Pro drivers against one another in 911 GT3 Cup cars, with Am racers in the 718 Cayman GT4, creating a different dynamic than you’d usually see in 30-minute sprints.
Eatwell raced more or less uncontested in a dominant performance at Silverstone, taking both pole positions and leading every lap – though missed out on a perfect round through Samuel Jordan claiming fastest lap in race one. Ridpath though had to contend with Oliver Ettridge beating her to the first corner in race one, but retook her position after four minutes - through Stowe with the help of a backmarking 911 - and never looked back.
Porsche Esports Sprint Challenge GB Round 1 Feature Race Results:
1 – Will Eatwell/Pro - Porsche 992 GT3 Cup - 15 laps
2 – Jack Southfield/Pro - Porsche 992 GT3 Cup - +7.819s
3 – Samuel Jordan/Pro - Porsche 992 GT3 Cup - +9.143s
1 – Sophia Ridpath/Am - Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 - 15 laps
2 – Oliver Ettridge/Am - Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 - +7.478s
3 – Adam Holloway/Am - Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 - +8.018s