Sven-Ole Haase has won the GT500 competition at the ADAC SimRacing Expo 2024, after initially it looked like the title went the way of Grid and Go Esports driver Jarno Koch at Road Atlanta.
Koch led the points standings going into the final event, but Race 1 winner Haase was still in with a shout.
Race 1
Adam Isaksson of SimRC took pole position for the first race and would immediately seize the lead into the first corner.
However, further behind, Jarno Koch ran wide into the grass, putting himself right into the midfield, before being passed by rivals Pablo Espes and Sven Haase, ending the lap in ninth.
He would regain some ground a lap later though, as Haase got it wrong and spun attempting to overtake Pablo Espes for seventh. The remainder of Haase’s race was designated to recovery, only managing P14.
Out front, Adam Isaksson held on from Simone Maria Marceno, who was chasing him all the way to become the first driver to win more than one race this season.
For Jarno Koch, the rest of the race was spent behind Pablo Espes, but knowing his relatively comfortable points situation, he elected to stay behind and finish eighth.
This meant he had a slender 30-point advantage over David Bozga with one race to go, with Luis Beilicke 69 points back – but again, this was before drop-scores were calculated.
ADAC SimRacing Expo GT500 Race 9 result
- Adam Isaksson – 10 laps
- Simone Maria Marcenò +0.951
- David Bozga +2.230
- Lorenzo Manfredotti +2.501
- Simone Passoni +4.637
Race 2
This set up a potentially exciting finale, but all was spoiled on the opening lap of the final race.
Starting towards the back and in amongst the potential carnage, David Bozga didn’t even complete the opening lap, retiring before he had a chance to challenge Koch and his 30-point lead. This left Beilicke in fifth after the opening lap and Haase in fourth, before dropping to sixth place.
On the next lap, Isaksson and Espes would also both need to pit, taking out another two drivers who could potentially take points off Koch.
In the lead, Hendrik Augustin overtook Octavia Rondoletto, the polesitter, around the outside at the final chicane on lap two, before bringing it home as the ninth winner in ten races.
In the midfield, Jarno Koch was tentative as he lined up a move on Haroldas Jotautas for seventh, but this started to create a lively train of drivers behind him.
He soon decided that staying in eight with an angry pack behind him was more dangerous than attempting the move, eventually achieving it on the inside of turns six and seven.
Meanwhile, Beilicke’s charge through the field was supreme, finishing second while just running out of time to overtake Augustin. The gap at the line was 1.6 seconds, but the performance was enough for Beilicke to finish third in the championship.
However, by the mid-point of the race, Haase had moved up to fifth and in the dying moments of the race, moved by Lopez to steal fourth as the Spaniard ran onto the grass at The Esses.
Initially, it looked as if Koch’s consistent performance – winning just one race in an open-wheel machine at Circuit de Ledenon – was enough for the €1,000 top prize. However, once the calculator has been put to good use, it was Haase who took top honours.
Koch’s conservative Road Atlanta performance counted as his dropped score, whereas Haase’s complete miss of Round 2 counted as his – consequently, the two zero scores were not being factored into the points tally.
ADAC SimRacing Expo GT500 Race 10 result
- Hendrik Augustin – 10 laps
- Luis Beilicke +1.681
- Octavio Rondoletto +2.841
- Sven-Ole Haase +3.543
- Aday Coba Lopez +4.711
ADAC SimRacing Expo GT500 2024 championship standings
- Sven Haase – 630 pts
- Jarno Koch – 590 pts
- Luis Beilicke – 543 pts
- David Bozga – 526 pts
- Lorenzo Manfredotti – 497 pts
- Pablo Espes – 480 pts
- Hendrik Augustin – 479 pts
- Dino Lombardi – 458 pts
- Octavio Rondoletto – 446 pts
- Aday Coba Lopez – 440 pts
Chat with the Community
Sign Up To CommentIt's completely Free