Zac Campbell wins the first main race

This past weekend the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup entered its fifth season. The venue for the first of ten events was the Hockenheimring in Baden-Württemberg which already provided exciting racing throughout last season’s opening event. In combination with the now 30 driver strong grid the always high level of competition within the series, the 4.574 km long circuit was set to do so again for the 2023 season of the virtual one-make cup.

After the usual tight qualifying the name of the first pole sitter of the new season was Jordan Caruso. Next to the Australian on the grid, reigning champion Diogo C. Pinto would line up in his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup to tackle the nine laps of the sprint race from the front row.

 

A mistake while braking on his first run down towards the hairpin not only forced Caruso to relinquish his race lead to Pinto, but also caused him to slip behind Charlie Collins and Sebastian Job. The three-way fight between Pinto and the two Brits created by this situation was soon split up by a simultaneous attack from Caruso and Spaniard Alejandro Sánchez against Job who lost two positions as a result and had to be content with a fifth place finish. The duel between Diogo C. Pinto and Charlie Collins went the way of Pinto who held onto the lead to the finish to claim the first sprint race win of the year.

The best position on the grid for the eighteen lap long main race would go to PESC newcomer Lasse Bak. Off the grid, Bak held onto the lead during the opening laps of the race, though not everyone had such a trouble-free start to the race. After there had already been a few occasional incidents during the sprint race, a contact between Gustavo Ariel and Moreno Sirica in the braking zone for the hairpin kicked off an unfortunate chain reaction.

 

This incident would dampen the hopes of many drivers for a good race result in the season opener of the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup. Sebastian Job also found himself in a similarly difficult situation. After running as high up as second at one point, a self-inflicted error caused him to drop down through the order. At the front of the field Zac Campbell took over the race lead from Lasse Bak, who found himself under pressure from Alessandro Bico, Jordan Caruso and Charlie Collins directly behind, forcing him to let all three of them go by eventually. Charlie Collins managed to get himself extracted from the previously mentioned trio and got up second position, even closing up to his team mate Campbell during the remainder of the race who would go on to cross the line in first place in his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

 

In the meantime, sprint race winner Diogo C. Pinto managed to work himself back up to fifth. Also worth mentioning: Yohann Harth and Maximilian Benecke who from grid spots outside the top 25 before the sprint race, managed to drive up all the way to sixth and eighth place respectively.

Before the drivers of the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup started racing, it was the turn of the content creators of the All-Star-Series. They too would compete in the 375 kW (510 PS) strong Porsche 911 GT3 Cup for their sprints. Just as in the main series, the top step of the podium would be filled by a well-known name for both races.

 

After setting pole position time in qualifying, Casey Kirwan went on to dominate the 17-minute long sprint race from start to finish. IndyCar Series champion Tony Kanaan did battle with Kirwan in the early stages of the race, but was not able to keep pace with the American in the long term.

 

In the second race with duration of 27 minutes, both Kirwan as well as Kanaan would have it a lot harder having to start from thirteenth and fourteenth position on the grid. This time it would be Jaroslav “Jardier” Honzik starting the race from the top spot. While he would be passed by both Oliver "BasicOllie" Furnell and Emily "Emree" Jones on the first lap, an unsuccessful overtaking attempt from Emree against BasicOllie meant Jardier had the last laugh and went on to win the main race.

Hockenheim, sprint race
1. Diogo C. Pinto (P/Team Redline)
2. Charlie Collins (UK/VRS Coanda)
3. Jordan Caruso (AUS/Altus Esports)
4. Alejandro Sánchez (E/Stormforce Racing ART)
5. Sebastian Job (UK/Oracle Redbull Racing Esports)

 

Hockenheim, feature race
1. Zac Campbell (USA/VRS Coanda)
2. Charlie Collins (UK/VRS Coanda)
3. Alessandro Bico (I/Williams Esports)
4. Jordan Caruso (AUS/Altus Esports)
5. Diogo C. Pinto (P/Team Redline)

 

Overall standings after the first of 10 rounds
1. Charlie Collins (UK/VRS Coanda), 73 points
2. Jordan Caruso (AUS/Altus Esports), 67 points
3. Diogo C. Pinto (P/Team Redline), 67 points
4. Zac Campbell (USA/VRS Coanda), 65 points
5. Alessandro Bico (I/Williams Esports), 54 points

The next event will take place on February 18th. It’ll be the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup’s first ever visit to Magny-Cours. The French track near Nevers is characterized by its many corners which are modeled after those found at other racing circuits, such as the fast Nürburgring and Imola chicanes. Whether the winners from the season opener, Diogo C. Pinto and Zac Campbell, will once again be fighting for top positions will all be revealed during the livestream on February 18th at 19:00 GMT. For those who also don’t want to miss the races involving the content creators of the All-Star-Series, make sure you tune in at 18:00 GMT when they kick off the evening for the second round of the season.