Former DTM Esports Champion Tim Jarschel had help from his German compatriot Phillip Drayss during the de facto opening round of the Alpine Sim Racing Series race, but ultimately saw off Tomas Ribeiro in a straight fight to the finish.
After the technical issues in Round 1, the points tables were reset, allowing the drivers a chance to reset and refocus on the 40-minute opener from Spa-Francorchamps, with a mandatory pitstop set to shake up the strategy.
However, first up was the second round of the supporting Alpine A110 Cup series, which began with Frenchman Alexandre Le claiming pole position. After a quieter race at Nogaro, pack racing was the order of the day at Spa-Francorchamps.
Ian Peiffer took the lead away at Les Combes on the opening lap, which at the time looked like it would be the first lead change of many. It turned out not to be, despite the group racing that had quickly developed.
It was two other Frenchmen who would eventually break this up about 10 minutes later, as Naldi and Lefrancois went side by side through the first half of the lap, suddenly leaving Peiffer and Le in the clear. With only seven minutes to go, Lefrancois finally made the pass and set about holding on until the end, knowing that overtakes were hard to come by.
He threw a massive defence at Les Combes on the penultimate lap, and with Peiffer’s line restricted on the outside kerb, he lost loads of momentum. Nearly a second behind, the slipstream effect was waning, allowing Le to hold on to victory.
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