Fierce slipstream duels and plenty of drama on the track marked the eighth of ten rounds of the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup season. This time, the 30-strong Porsche 911 GT3 Cup field raced on the Grand Prix circuit and the Nordschleife of the Nürburgring.
Alejandro Sánchez, who started fifth in the standings on the Eifel circuit, laid the foundation for his sprint success in qualifying: The Spaniard from the Stormforce Racing ART team secured pole position ahead of 2020 PESC champion Sebastian Job and rookie driver Luca Kita (Urano eSports) from Germany. After the start on the 24-hour track variant, the field turned onto the Nordschleife in this order and also finished in the same order after three laps. Meanwhile, Briton Charlie Collins had fought his way past his American VRS Coanda teammate Zac Campbell and Italian Moreno Sirica to seventh position. The Williams Esports driver finished eighth and thus could enjoy a pole position start for the feature race: as per usual, the top eight of the sprint commenced the four-lap race in reverse order.
Bico, who started third, set the pace early on. The winner of the Spa sprint race took the lead at the start of the second lap and defended it tooth and nail against a hard-charging Yohann Harth (Stormforce Racing ART). The long “Döttinger Höhe” delivered exciting slipstream duels, which reached a crescendo in the final lap. Bico, however, kept his cool and despite being pushed by the Frenchman, finished just 0.043 seconds ahead of him. Third place went to Maximilian Benecke. The German from Team Mouz started from ninth on the grid and skilfully kept out of the fray. His compatriot Luca Kita finished fourth and once again won the rookie classification.
Sebastian Job, on the other hand, once again lacked luck at the Nürburgring: while the Briton from the Oracle Redbull Racing Esports team fought for third place with Sirica, Sánchez spun him off the track braking for turn 1. Sirica also dropped back. This incident also favoured Altus Esports driver Jordan Caruso: The current championship leader moved up three positions into seventh place. The Australian also benefited from the fact that many of his championship rivals such as Campbell, Sánchez, Collins and defending champion Diogo Pinto from Portugal (Team Redline) delivered a sub-par performance on the Nordschleife.
Ex-Porsche Junior Ayhancan Güven wins first All-Stars race
The content creators from the sim racing scene received support from famous drivers on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife: DTM driver Ayhancan Güven from Turkey and the new Porsche junior Bastian Buus from Denmark strengthened the field. Both also have esports experience. Güven, a former Porsche junior from 2020 to 2021, secured pole position straight off the bat and drove the digital 911 RSR to an uncontested victory in the sprint race. Second place went to US driver Casey Kirwan ahead of Buus and Pablo “ThePulpoLopez” López from Spain.
As always, the All-Stars lined up for the second race in reverse order of the previous finish. Güven’s charge from the back of the grid ended in the first of three laps after making contact with another driver. Kirwan made his way into fifth place in his first lap through the “Green Hell,” but had to let Buus pass after a driving error in the “Hatzenbach” section. Buus spun in the “Karussel” on lap two and was forced to retire. The American Tyson “Quirkitized” Meier made the most of his pole position and secured an unchallenged victory ahead of the Czech Jaroslav “Jardier” Honzik. Kirwan was able to push López out of third place with a spirited final attack, but handed this position back to him before the finish line.
