Wild card Energy Racing Team steals the scene in DPi, BHK Motorsport win their second race in LMP2, redemption for ELTA Customs in LMGTE
Second longest race in EES schedule did not disappoint. In the mostly-dark 12 hours of racing in Daytona, many plots started to develop as the championship heads towards its second half. DPi and LMGTE gifted us new race winners, while in LMP2 BHK Motorsport sent an important message to other contenders after the unlucky DNF in Road America.
A wild card breaks Wave Freem dominance in DPi
DPi field at the start of the race (thanks to Alessandro Appolloni for the screenshot)
Wave Freem eSports #1 was fastest in qualifying: a 1.28.912 was just enough to beat the 1.28.989 and 1.29.024 set respectively by Energy Racing Teams #83 and Cetrez Nitor Velox #30. The first hour was afflicted by two major incidents that forced Race Direction to neutralize the race twice, but there was still time for some fights on track, especially between Appolloni (Energy RT) and Corazzari (Wave Freem). After the first pit stops, Christian Michel (Cetrez Nitor Velox) managed to build an 8-seconds gap to the two rivals. Acura #30 chose a different strategy compared to Energy and Wave Freem, but what costed them the chance to fight for the race win was all the ground lost during the fourth hour. Wave Freem #1 was then involved in an accident with the BMW driven by Alvaro Inchausti in Turn 1. The Cadillac, driven by Rens Klop at the time of the accident, hit the pit-exit wall getting significant damage but, luckily enough, kept its engine running. Wave Freem regained second place when Michel suffered a connection lost with 3 hours left on the clock.
The first car to take the chequered flag in Daytona was Energy Racing Team #83 driven by Alessandro Appolloni – Francesco Morante – Leonardo Pupo. The trio ended one lap ahead of Wave Freem eSports #1, while Cetrez Nitor Velox completed the podium finishing in third. Being a Wild Card, #83 is excluded from the general standings. This means that #1 will get 35 points in Daytona anyway, extending their lead. Energy Racing Team proved to be a great team with strong pace and consistency, but at the moment there are no plans to become a stable entry in the championship. Will we see them in the Season Finale for the 24 Hours of Le Mans?
BHK extends the lead in the championship after beating Wave Freem in a dramatic fight
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Qualifying in LMP2 showed very clearly why this class will probably be the most unpredictable until the final minutes of the season in Le Mans. Alessandro Ottaviani (BHK Motorsport) was the fastest with a 1.31.719, beating Axle Sports #21 (1.31.795). Team Rookie Monsters and Wave Freem set a 1.31.9, qualifying ahead of Ground Effect Proto, MR Motorsport and Wave Freem Junior. All these cars are still involved in the championship’s fight, so every position counts. Unfortunately, the accident that caused the second Full Course Yellow forced Ground Effect and MR Motorsport to retire early from the race. The Ferrari LMGTE driven by Stefano D’Errico spun at the Bus Stop and was then collected by the LMP2 field coming close behind him.
The deciding moment in LMP2: Soave leaves the pitlane, Ottaviani with warm tyres overtakes him on the inside
In the early stages three teams looked particularly strong: BHK Motorsport, leading the race with a comfortable gap, Rookie Monsters and Wave Freem, while Axle Sports lost a bit of ground. After three hours another Full Course Yellow was called and it was very friendly to Rookie Monsters and Axle Sports’ strategies. Both these cars did not have much luck going further in the race. #37 suffered a game crash/connection lost while Mantas Rekus was driving, costing them at least 2 laps, while #21 retired from the race after 9 hours. This episode left the stage to the two final contenders: BHK #16 and Wave Freem #47. The latter recovered a lot of ground during Vinciullo’s driving time, doing four straight stints on the same set of tires. The fight between the two cars came down to the final minutes when Ottaviani overtook Soave in a wheel-to-wheel fight in turn 3. Rookie Monsters took the chequered flag in third, just ahead of Naja Racing Italia after a rough fight between the two entries.
ELTA Customs wins ahead of the two title-contenders, HG eSports BlueBolt once again hit by issues
The incident that brought out the first Full Course Yellow
G-Arcade ELTA Customs got pole position once again in Daytona, ahead of VeM, Pescara ADG and Wave Freem. LMGTE field was deeply affected by the big crash occured in Lap 1, that immediately neutralized the race with a Full Course Yellow. Many cars were involved, but luckily enough all were still able to go on with their races some laps behind the rest of the field. Taking a look at the lead, the four cars previously mentioned had a very close fight between themselves. Wave Freem abandoned it soon after due to a Drive Through penalty from the previous round, while Arduini, driving the ELTA #97, slowly managed to build a little gap.
Arduini chased down by Crupi and D’Alessandro
D’Alessandro, running in third place for Pescara ADG, tried desperately to catch up to the leader showing its bumpdrafting skills by pushing VeM #90 driven by Mattia Crupi. Race Direction allowed it in the pre-race briefing, so a very smart move by the Pescara simdriver, that effectively paid dividends. D’Alessandro made a mistake during the third hour that costed him some time for repairs and inevitably excluded him from the fight for the win. Same happened to Wave #51. Kikko Galbiati lost control of its car exiting the pits and colliding with the wall after three hours. The crash put the race once again under Full Course Yellow and opened up the chance for other teams in LMGTE to emerge. This was the case of HG eSports #92, which led the race for some laps as well. When things were starting to look promising for this entry, Cossu got a crash to its rFactor 2 but the car kept running with no control, ending its run against the barriers. In the end, it was ELTA Customs bringing home a well-deserved win, which puts them in third place in the standings tied with VeM (P4 for them). Wave Freem and Pescara ADG finish on the podium as well at the end of their respective comebacks.
EES heads to Europe
Round 4 of the eSport Endurance Series 2020/2021 is now officially in the books. Daytona wrapped up the American triple-header, and now the championship will feature the first race on European soil in Germany, for the 6 Hours of Nurburgring, scheduled on Saturday 27th of March. It is already time to take a look at the standings and do some bold predictions on what will happen in the next races.
Relive the 12 hours of racing in Daytona with Pitlane TV Part 1/Part 2 [ENG/ITA]
Special thanks to Alessandro Appolloni for the cover screen