IMSA Esports Global Championship: Williams win at Sebring to extend championship lead

With just one round remaining on 12th January, Williams Esports Chillblast has one hand on the championship trophy after a pivotal win at Sebring.

It didn’t start the two-hour-40-minute race from pole position, however, as for a second round in a row the #4 CrowdStrike Racing Acura was quickest in qualifying.

Sadly for them, it was also the second round in a row where the team failed to convert its speed into a result – this time, picking up a penalty for failing to maintain the pace car’s speed pre-race.

As the race began, Elvis Rankin in the #8 Porsche Coanda spun in front of the field, mercifully avoiding a pile-up but clipping a Race Clutch Cadillac – the French team had qualified up in third and fifth, but the #15 visited pitlane to fix damage at the end of the opening lap, while the #23 ultimately finished eighth.

The BMW M Team BS+Competition #89, which sat second in the GTP points before this race, was also caught up in the first-corner scuffle, dropping out of contention.

Meanwhile, Indianapolis race winners Redline, with Chris Lulham behind the wheel had an incredible start. The British real-world Radical champion scythed through the pack to move from seventh on the grid to third after just a few corners.

After CrowdStrike’s stop-and-hold penalty, the #5 Williams BMW GTP took the lead and never looked back. Cruise control enabled, the title protagonist left the scrapping to those behind.

For second, the aforementioned #20 Redline BMW jumped the Channel 199 Sim Racing #95 Cadillac of Casey Kirwan and Owen Caryl during the initial pitstop phase. Caryl would later brush the wall on the exit of Sunset Bend, allowing the #60 Soelpec Prevision Racing Porsche of Maximilian Muir and real-world competitor Agustín Canapino through.

In arguably the most impressive performance from a GTP Porsche all season, the yellow and black 963 would go on to pressure Redline for second in the closing stages and secure the final podium berth.

The #95 Cadillac, however, would slowly drop away. With 20 minutes left, it was battling with not one but two Coanda Porsches, making side-to-side contact at the Hairpin Turn with Mitchell deJong before finally ceding another spot to Jake Denehan.

Following a dominant display up front, Williams Esports now has a 102-point teams’ standings lead going into the final round.

‘Rexy’ wins in GTD

AO Racing, debuting in IMSA Esports this season thanks to a partnership with sim racing outfit Coanda, kept its GTD championship hopes alive with a class victory.

The diminutive green Porsche took the lead at the start, and much like Williams in GTP, was never bested.

This meant, for the first time this IMSA Esports season, the #171 Team Redline Ferrari of Enzo Bonito and Florian Lebigre didn’t win the class. But, it did continue a podium streak with second by the chequered flag.

The same couldn’t be said of its team-mate, the #170 of Gianni Vecchio met the wall early on, after contact with the #114 Team PGZ Porsche 911. The 296 was destroyed.

Polish squad Drago Racing, using Lamborghinis, had a strong showing. Its #169 entry ran second in GTD during the early stages, but lost out at the first pitstops, dropping down the field. It would eventually recover to fifth.

This would be one spot behind its #168 stablemate, which held on to third for the majority of the race, only for the #105 Mercedes-AMG Esports Team Williams Esports to overtake for third on the penultimate lap.

Heading into the final round, Redline still has a commanding lead, but AO Racing is the team on form.

Coverage of the title-deciding Daytona race starts on Sunday 12th January at 1:45 pm EST / 10:45 am PST / 6:45 pm GMT with the Countdown to Green pre-show brought to you by Traxion.GG. The event will be broadcast live on IMSA and iRacing channels, with a guest wildcard appearance from Max Verstappen behind the wheel of a GTP Acura.

IMSA Esports Global Championship 2024 Race 3 results

GTP

1. #5 Williams Esports Chillblast – BMW – Jaden Munoz, Matt J. Farrow
2. #20 BMW M Team Redline – BMW – Chris Lulham, Diogo C. Pinto
3. 60 SOELPEC Precision Racing – Porsche – Maximilian Muir, Agustin Canapino
4. #33 Williams Esports Racing Prodigy – BMW – Atte Kauppinen, Alxander Spetz
5. #11 Fiercely Forward – Cadillac – Christian Hildgaard, Marcos Núñez

GTD

1. #118 AO Racing by Coanda Esports – Porsche – Tristan Iglesias, Michael Janney
2. #171 Team Redline – Ferrari – Florian A Lebigre, Enzo Bonito
3. #105 Mercedes-AMG Esports Team Williams Esports – Mercedes-AMG – Parker White, Vasilios Beletsiotis
4. #168 DRAGO RACING – Lamborghini – Carlos Fenollosa, Nicolás Rubilar
5. #199 Mercedes-AMG Esports Team ART – Mercedes-AMG – Salva Talens, Alejandro Sánchez