Brilliant performance by MUGEN in LMP2. Panica and 3DRap on top of LMGTE Pro and Am
The cloudy cold Wisconsin has been the venue for the first round of EES Season 4. The 29 crews kicked off the season on the tough Road America track. Only two classes on track, LMP2 and LMGTE with the latter divided into the two categories Pro and Am, but no shortage of drama at all.
MUGEN Simracing wins on debut race
Varkonyi and Hakimi side by side
MUGEN Simracing could not start any better its adventure in the eSport Endurance Series. Zoltan Varkonyi and Roland Szucs qualified in second place behind ARMS Cyrba #41. Varkonyi, who started the race for MUGEN, took the lead early but could not quite pull away from the pack. After the first pit stop, it was Mika Hakimi, driving the #22 Hydra Tech Blue Steel Racing, trying to challenge him for the lead of the race. Their battle coming out of the pitlane was quite an epic one. The two simdrivers went side by side for an entire lap, and in the end it was Hakimi who came out victorious.
The Hydra Tech Blue Steel Racing could not hold on to the lead for long. A drive through penalty assigned to car #22 with less than 2 hours to go made Aiman Haziq, Hakimi’s teammate, slip in second place. From that point onwards it was smooth sailing for Roland Szucs, who saw the first chequered flag of the season in the lead.
Wave Freem #47 completed the LMP2 podium
Completing the podium was Wave Freem eSports #47. Nice recovery drive by Galbiati, Riccelli and Soave after an accident in the first corner which made the Oreca fall down the order. Finishing in 4th was ARMS Cyrba #42. No luck for its sister car. #41 set the fastest lap in qualifying, but was forced to retire after an accident in turn 11 before the halfway mark of the race.
Panica Gaming wins in LMGTE Pro, double podium for HG Esports Blue Bolt
Panica Gaming, LMGTE round 1 winners
After showing some promising signs in the second half of Season 3, Panica Gaming finally made it. Arkadiusz Otreba and Petr Lichnovsky, on their Aston Martin #74, won the inaugural race in Road America. Starting from 7th place of the grid, 21st overall, Panica Gaming decided to go for the medium compound for the first two stints, before going back to softs. A solid pace, united with some issues to cars around them, helped #74 to gain some positions. Staying away from issues was definitely key to their success in Round 1.
«We are extremely happy with the result». Told us Petr Lichnovsky. «Our goal for this season was to fight every race for top 5 places and try to finish once on podium. And we won first race! We knew last season Road America was difficult race with many crashes and full course yellows. So we tried to avoid crashes and survive. This is historical moment for us. In this extremely competitive field full of the greatest teams in rfactor 2, its like dream come true for me».
Read Petr’s words and all the other stories from our drivers in the PreEES Conference
HG Esports Blue Bolt start off the season with an impressive 2nd and 3rd place
Another team leaving Wisconsin with a smile is HG Esports Blue Bolt. #92 and #93, despite some early contacts, managed to recover through the field and to come up into the podium positions. A promising start, that puts the two Corvette C8R at the top of the standings right behind Panica Gaming.
On the other hand, a lot of GTE teams will try and get some redemption immediately in round 2. Team Shiba-Renegade, after starting on pole, ended up only in P8 after some forced repairs in the first hour of racing. It did not go any better to the MUGEN Simracing LMGTE entry. After battling for the lead with Wave Freem #99 (P5 at the chequered flag due to a massive accident in Turn 11), Christopher Kianek and Gergo Balogh had to settle for P11.
Battle for LMGTE Am lead goes down to the wire
Ricotta overtakes on the outside of turn 1 Di Gregorio
It was quite an impressive debut for the LMGTE Am category in EES. A thrilling final lap gifted the win to 3DRap Endurance duo Jacopo Di Gregorio and Filippo Marazzi, after an intense battle with Carloni Racing Black #82. The two teams fought for the last 10 minutes leaving no time to breathe to the broadcasting crews. During the final lap Leonardo Ricotta went round the outside of Di Gregorio in turn 1, but when it looked like everything was said and done, a spin by the Carloni Racing driver exiting turn 11 gave the lead back to Di Gregorio, who crossed the finish line in first.
Tomelli RT put another Porsche on the podium in LMGTE AM, finishing ahead of the other Carloni Racing. Tough day for the MR Motorsport Aston Martin. After a stunning pole position by Davide Ragni, a screen freeze put Giampaolo Folegati in the wall. The simdriver was forced to disconnect and then rejoin the race, having to complete an entire lap with a damaged car to pit for repairs. This episode put an end to any chance of getting a good result.
EES will be back in November for Round 2
With round 1 in the books, EES will be back in exactly one month, on the 20th of November, for Round 2. Of course, we will be again on American soil for another 6 hours of racing. Meanwhile, you can catch up with all the action in Road America with our double streaming: the bilingual Italian/English and the French one!