Sebastian Job wins at Le Mans ahead of series leader Diogo C. Pinto

The race

Driving for the Oracle Red Bull Racing team, the British sim racer was able to narrowly relegate championship leader Diogo C. Pinto to second place on the Circuit des 24 Heures. The Portuguese driver from the Porsche24 Team Redline squad now heads to the finale in Monza with a 37-point lead. Previously, Kevin Ellis jr. had won the sprint race. The Brit from the Apex Racing team thus defended his second place in the international one-make cup on the iRacing simulation platform.

Job had already dominated the qualifying at the wheel of the virtual Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. In the three-lap sprint race, the Brit quickly lost the lead to Ellis and fell back to fifth place after a shunt with Coanda driver Dayne Warren. Despite fierce slipstream duels on the long Le Mans straights, Ellis managed to hold on to his tenuous lead to the finish. Second place went to Alejandro Sánchez (SDK Gaming) from Spain ahead of France’s Jeremy Bouteloup (Coanda) and Zac Campbell (VRS) from the USA. In another collision with the fifth-placed Job, this time Warren drew the short straw and lost many positions. Points’ leader Pinto secured sixth place ahead of Spaniard Salva Talens (MSI eSports) and Cooper Webster. The Australian was once again the best rookie.

For the feature race over six laps, the first eight from the sprint event lined up on the grid in reverse order. This put the Oracle Red Bull Racing E Sports driver Webster on pole position. Sebastian Job quickly caught him and, over the next four laps, the teammates used each other’s slipstream to skilfully defend their one-two positions from Pinto and Campbell. Only a nudge in the Mulsanne turn threw the Australian rookie back. This put Pinto in the role of the hottest pursuer. Alongside Campbell, the Portuguese driver put Job under huge pressure – and a gripping three-way fight unfolded in the final lap. However, the British sim racer kept his cool and fended his rivals off to cross the finish line first ahead of Pinto and Campbell. Fourth place went to Bouteloup ahead of Sánchez and Webster.

Heading to the finale in Monza, the situation looks promising for the championship leader Diogo C. Pinto: Pinto currently leads the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup with 503 points. Kevin Ellis jr. concluded the feature race in eighth place and sits 37 points behind. Ellis is just eleven points ahead of Sebastian Job, who still has a chance to claim his second title in the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup after 2020.

Casey Kirwan wins All-Star feature race after a thrilling chase

The content creators from the esports scene once again put their trust in the virtual Porsche 911 GT3 R. Pole position went to Tyson “Quirkitized” Meier. After a somewhat tumultuous start to the first race, the American had to make way for Dan “Suzuki” Sosulski, but he quickly rallied to bring home victory. Sosulski lost second place to Casey Kirwan, after the 22-year-old had ploughed through the field from eleventh on the grid. 

For the second race, the influencers lined up on the grid in reverse order of the previous race result. While Jaroslav “Jardier” Honzik immediately catapulted off the line from pole position, the eNASCAR star Kirwan made good use of his experience in slipstream duels: In the first lap he gained eight places to rank third and then set his sights again on “Suzuki”. A little later, the American had progressed to second place. Shortly after the halfway mark of the seven-lap race, he had closed the five-second gap to “Jardier”, snatched the lead and crossed the finish line first. Second place went to Honzik and third to “Quirkitized” Meier, who managed to overtake Dan with “Suzuki” in the final sprint to the finish line. 

Preview for the Monza finale: four drivers still in contention for the PESC title 

The Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup turns on to the finish straight of the season: On 4 June, the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza will host the tenth and final round of the international esports one-make cup. On the 5.793-kilometre Grand Prix circuit, fans can look forward to an exciting finale: with a total of 85 points still up for grabs, four drivers still have a theoretical chance to claim the championship title with the virtual version of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Adding to the excitement at the finale is the battle for a confirmed grid spot for next season’s PESC. The prerequisite for this is a top 15 result in the overall standings, which automatically entitles the contenders to take part in 2023. The remaining grid positions will be allocated in qualifying heats. 

Content creators from the world of esports racing once again contest two All-Star races, driving the virtual version of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup one more time. The live stream begins at 7.30 pm (CEST) with the qualifying session in the virtual Porsche 911 GT3 R. The two influencer races get the green light from 7.30 pm. The Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup race action will go live at around 9.15 pm. 
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Fans can watch the iRacing action live online via Porsche’s channels on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/Porsche) and Twitch (http://www.twitch.tv/porsche). Further information on the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup can be found on the Porsche Motorsport Hub, Porsche Newsroom and the Twitter account @PorscheRaces.

Comments after the races

Casey Kirwan (USA): “To be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of Le Mans because I’ve always struggled there. The car setup with medium downforce was very sketchy to drive. I destroyed my rear tyres quite early, so all the high-speed passages were hard to handle. Still, it was good fun.” 

Sebastian Job (GB/Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports): “That was really good teamwork with my teammate Cooper Webster. Every time we raced down a straight we asked each other: What’s the plan now? We just tried to keep everybody else behind us. But it got trickier and trickier. We didn’t expect Diogo Pinto’s move in lap 5, otherwise we would have played it out differently. It’s a shame that Cooper and I couldn’t stay together to the finish.” 

Diogo C. Pinto (P/Porsche24 Team Redline): “I got a warning early in qualifying so I didn’t take too many risks and only managed sixth on the grid for the sprint. I decided to focus on earning points and staying in the top eight to have a good starting position for the main event. The feature race was more eventful. I was going for Sebastian Job but he defended the lead very cleverly – I had no chance. I’m happy with second position which extends my championship lead a little bit.”

Zac Campbell (USA/VRS): “The main race was interesting, very tactical. Then I had contact with Cooper Webster on the straight. That was a hairy moment. I saved it but my car was damaged on both sides. That hampered me during the last laps. I was lucky to have my teammate Jeremy Bouteloup behind me. It’s his last season, so he just helped me bring it home. That was super awesome of him.”

Results PESC

Circuit des 24 Heures in Le Mans (F), sprint race
1. Kevin Ellis jr. (GB/Apex Racing Team)
2. Alejandro Sánchez (E/SDK Gaming)
3. Jeremy Bouteloup (F/Coanda)
4. Zac Campbell (USA/VRS)
5. Sebastian Job (GB/Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports)

Circuit des 24 Heures in Le Mans (F), feature race
1. Sebastian Job (GB/Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports)
2. Diogo C. Pinto (P/Porsche24 Team Redline)
3. Zac Campbell (USA/VRS)
4. Jeremy Bouteloup (F/Coanda)
5. Alejandro Sánchez (E/SDK Gaming)

Points’ standings after 9 of 10 championship rounds
1. Diogo C. Pinto (P/Porsche 24 Team Redline), 503 points
2. Kevin Eliis jr (GB/Apex Racing Team), 466 points 
3. Sebastian Job (GB/Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports), 455 points
4. Zac Campbell (USA/VRS), 428 points