Esports Racing League: Coanda Esports win iRacing round

Coanda Esports is still 10 points below the top four cut line, but swept RAFA ERA Esports to a 2-0 victory in the final for their second round win of the season. 

With eight teams separated by 12 points at the start of the day, it was all to play for in the race to be part of the 2025 Esports Racing League final four at Sim Formula Europe next January.

Coanda Esports wasn’t even one of those, sitting in 10^th with 15 points to the elusive top four, although their home simulator, iRacing, was up next. 

Heats

Given the combination was modern-day (V8) Supercars at Oran Park; cars that never raced around the circuit, which is now a housing estate, you’d think pole sitters would have a great chance of winning the races.

But that didn’t happen in two-thirds of the heats, as Kevin Ellis Jr was denied by Gabriel Salomon in race one, and Darius Andrei’s jump start gave Marcell Csincsik a much-needed R8G Esports victory in heat two. 

Will Chadwick was the first to go from pole to victory, while of the big names, only TC Esports and BS+ Competition were struggling, perhaps the lowest amount of surprises so far this season. 

Second Chance

Because the grid order for this race was settled on Heat performances, BS+’s Rainer Talvar was in a great position to go for a lights-to-flag victory, and did. But behind him, Abel Torres of TC Esports had to make up places from fifth, and as he tried to do so, he turned Deletraz Automotive’s Andrei around, sending TC home early. 

Quarter-Final

A much more attritional round with three of the big eight going home, and none of them particularly close to making it either.

Chadwick took another pole and win for RAFA ERA, while BS+ Competition, Team Nitro and R8G Esports were sent home, with the latter needing to make up a nearly insurmountable 19 points to get to the final, even though they’re likely to be strong on Rennsport. 

Semi-Final

Drago Racing have had a poor season up to this point by their standards, but a last-gasp pole from Ricardo Rico looked to have won them a Final spot in this race. However, these cars are difficult to walk off the line, and he went nowhere, immediately falling to midpack. 

Into the void stepped Chadwick, once again, and he shoved Dominik Blajer wide through turn one to end Williams’ chances. Over the bridge on lap one, Issac Price was also sent wide in a three-wide moment with two other Drago cars, and it allowed Coanda to take three of the top six places, and set up a final against Chadwick’s RAFA ERA, who made it by one point over Drago. 

Final

They knew they’d be championship leaders, even with the final to come, and that was fortunate because they were no match for Coanda in the final.

Chadwick did his best to back the other three into his teammates in race one, but even Jernej Simoncic couldn’t make any overtakes, and with a top-four invert, Coanda finished 1-2-3 in the second race and sealed the deal at a canter. 

Chadwick was nevertheless the driver of the day, namely for dragging his team into a final they didn’t have the pace for and winning more races in one night than anyone else all season.

And RAFA ERA Esports now know that a Semi-Final on Rennsport is enough, with Chadwick and teammate Michal Smidl’s pace on that sim, they’re probably the only team going into the final race with any sort of comfortable feeling.