Porsche Coanda have taken the maximum 72 points from the opening Rennsport R1 round of the 2026 Spring season, with a pair of 1-2s orchestrated by Charlie Collins and Dayne Warren.
Its expected rivals, Verstappen Sim Racing’s Kevin Siggy and Enzo Bonito, weren’t quite able to replicate those performances in their group, trailing by 22 points down in third overall, with TC Esports surprising the field in second.
The format for this season’s R1 competition has the familiar 12 teams split across just two groups this time, with the teams in Groups A and B rotating each round.
Round 2 will be circled by everyone, as Porsche Coanda and Verstappen Sim Racing will go head-to-head on 12th June, a mouth-watering prospect.
Each group takes part in two races at two different circuits in Rennsport’s Hypercar offerings, the first time this category of car has been used in R1’s official races. Despite these differences, it was still Porsche Coanda taking a one-two in the first qualifying of the season at Spa, Charlie Collins leading Dayne Warren.
A quiet first race to start the season, as Collins led his Australian teammate home for his 10th R1 win. But it would soon get much louder in Group B…
Former World Cup winner Kevin Siggy took pole, ahead of his teammate Enzo Bonito, but it wouldn’t remain a Verstappen Sim Racing 1-2 for long. Bonito was divebombed by Nico Nunninghoff into turn one, putting him back to fifth as both TC Esports drivers slipped past.
The Italian struggled to make passes during the rest of the race on Jack Keithley of TCE, and got caught up on the grass on the last lap trying to get through into Les Combes. In the end Bonito would finish fifth, and although Siggy won the race, VSR dropped six points to Porsche Coanda.
The Nürburgring was the venue for the second races, and Porsche Coanda continued their dominance. One-two in qualifying, maintained easily throughout the race and led home by Collins, who’d win again.
Behind, BS+ Competition was securing good points in third and fourth, but Robbie Stapleford made an error through the final chicane, giving Porsche Coanda an even bigger lead over their rivals.
In Group B, there would also be a repeat qualifying session, as Siggy would again take pole ahead of Bonito. This time, Bonito would make it through turn one cleanly, but he made another mistake later in the lap at the final chicane.
Crossed up over the kerbs, he dropped to 10th, although a technical problem for Matt Caruana and the ensuing chaos soon bumped him back up to seventh. It would soon get worse for VSR, as at the very same chicane, Siggy also spun and dropped to fourth.
He would land behind Jack Keithley as well, meaning Siggy would finish fourth behind both TC Esports drivers. David Sobreiro took the victory, and TCE were second in the points standings, only 12 behind Porsche Coanda, and 10 ahead of VSR.
There are still three rounds and six races to go, but an early upset in the standings sets up next week’s second round very nicely.
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