IMSA Esports Global Championship: Williams and Redline claim opening honours

The AMD 240 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta has been won in dominant fashion by Williams Esports overall, and Team Redline in the GTD class.

The opening round of the premier IMSA Esports Global Championship – on the iRacing platform – was initially led by real-world 2024 Radical Cup UK champion Chris Lulham in the #20 Team Redline BMW GTP, following a scintillating pole position lap.

However, this was short-lived, as a dramatic pile-up would wipe out the erstwhile leader just a few minutes after the start.

The incident began in the GTD category when an unsuccessful move by the #121 Dörr Esports Ford Mustang resulted in a spin at the exit of Turn 7. The #157 Impulse Racing McLaren was clipped in the process, with the #150 MAG-Performance Corvette also spinning in avoidance.

Moments later, when the first GTP, Lulham, came around the corner, the track was littered with cars. The Redline GTP avoided the Mustang but slammed into the #150. Then Dörr was then bit by the #18 Coanda Porsche 963.

The melee witnessed the #5 Williams Esports Chillblast BMW nip into the lead, a position that it would only briefly sacrifice for the remainder of the race.

After the first pitstops had sifted through, the top two in GTP remained the same – #5 ahead of the #89 BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION entry. However, after the second stop, BS+ moved ahead.

With 45 minutes remaining, Matt Farrow in the Williams closed in on the leading #89, driven by Niklas Beu. The gap was down to a scant 0.1s at times, with Farrow waiting patiently for the right time to make a move.

10-minutes later, he dived past the fellow BMW at Turn 10 to retake the lead. BS+ pitted first for the final stint, with Williams running until one lap later and keeping the lead thanks to a five-second quicker pitroad visit.

Further down the pack, here was a great battle for fifth overall between Agustín Canapino in the #60 Porsche and Sean Campbell in the long-stinting #23 Race Clutch Cadillac. The two ran side-by-side for six corners before Campbell prevailed over the driver with a top-10 IndyCar race finish to his name.

Marcus Hamilton’s #3 Acura GTP suffered heavy front damage after colliding with the #119 Team PGZ Porsche GTD after it was parked broadside across the circuit.

Meanwhile, with 13 minutes left, the fourth-placed #95 Channel 199 Sim Racing GTP was hit from behind by the #8 Coanda Porsche of Elvis Rankin, removing the Cadillac’s rear wing.

Redline walks away in GTD

The #170 Team Redline Ferrari 296 claimed pole position and was never headed throughout the entire two-hour and 40-minute race.

Well, until Gianni Vecchio was wiped out after contact with the #4 GTP on the frontstretch, that is. 

That meant victory went to its team-mate #171, which moved its way up into second place before the crash befell the leader.

Elsewhere, real-world outfit AO Racing made its esports debut and was sat in fourth with just over five minutes left. Contact with the third-placed #102 Grid and Go eSports Ferrari of Miguel Costa meant Rexy span into the gravel and out of contention.

One of the pre-season favourites, Apex Racing, experienced a trying event – #198 Mercedes-AMG Esports Team ART of Yohann Harth was tagged into a spin by the #178 Maniti Racing McLaren, which received a drive-through penalty.

The next round of the IMSA Esports Global Championship is at a virtual Indianapolis Motor Speedway (road course) on 8th December 2024. The broadcast can be watched on IMSA and iRacing’s channels and will be preceded by The Countdown to Green show, presented by Traxion.

IMSA Esports Global Championship 2024 Race 1 results

GTP

1. #5 Williams Esports Chillblast – BMW – Jaden Munoz, Matt J. Farrow
2. #89 BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION – BMW – Daniel Alves Lourenco, Niklas Beu + 5.656
3. #8 Coanda Esports – Porsche – Mitchell deJong, Elvis Rankin +44.240
4. #60 SOELPEC Precision Racing – Porsche – Agustin Canapino, Maximilian Muir +51.277
5. #23 Race Clutch Black – Cadillac – Sean D Campbell, Jake Denehan +55.963

GTD

1. #171 Team Redline – Ferrari – Enzo Bonito, Florian A Lebigre
2. #114 Team PGZ – Porsche – Samuel L Ward, Lewis Woods +27.723
3. #102 Grid-and-Go.com eSports – Ferrari – Sven Haase, Miguel Costa +33.338
4. #105 Mercedes-AMG Esports Team Williams Esports – Mercedes-AMG – Alessandro Bico, Vasilios Beletsiotis +33.439
5. #169 DRAGO RACING – Lamborghini – Nicolas Mateo, Jaidyn J Ladic +35.293