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Florian Lebigre takes 2026 Porsche Esports Supercup title amid controversy

Verstappen Sim Racing's Florian Lebigre claimed the 2026 Porsche Esports Supercup crown after a controversial final round at Monza.

Florian Lebigre takes 2026 Porsche Esports Supercup title amid controversy

3 minute read

By Ewan O'Leary

Aggressive teamwork was rife between Verstappen Sim Racing and Porsche Coanda in a messy final chapter of the season.

Porsche Coanda’s Mitchell DeJong was the championship leader coming into the last two races of the PESC season, but seven drivers were close enough to him to take the title at Monza. Among them were previous champions of the series, such as Sebastian Job, who put it on pole for race one.

He would hold the lead, but one of those eight contenders would be taken out of contention straight away in the carnage at the first chicane. Cooper Webster got a small touch, spinning in front of teammate Gustavo Ariel, who would need a tow back to pitlane with the damage.

The teamwork chicanery would start as early as lap two of race one, when DeJong and Alejandro Sanchez had a very near miss as Xander Reed was taken out at the second chicane. The Porsche Coanda
teammates were soon into another battle, headed by Verstappen Sim Racing’s Luke McKeown.

McKeown’s strategy was obvious – defend so hard as to allow his teammates like Pinto and Lebigre to catch up to the group. The American was able to pass the VSR cork in the bottle quite quickly, not without contact, but Sanchez couldn’t do the same as he went backwards.

Florian Lebigre takes 2026 Porsche Esports Supercup title amid controversy

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Knowing he wouldn’t have long, Pinto made a rash dive at the final corner, seemingly without much care if DeJong would survive the contact or not, throwing the championship lead to his teammate out front, Job. These positions would hold to the end, allowing the British driver to start the final race from eighth with the championship lead.

Charlie Collins was a close rival though, and they’d share row four at the start. After a clean (certainly by Monza’s standards) first chicane, the pair battled side by side in the middle sector. There was a small touch, in which netcode was definitely involved, which sent Job off into a half spin at Lesmo 2, and with it went his championship hopes too.

Sanchez soon seemed to be in the best position, especially after he’d overtaken Miguel Costa for the lead after 10 minutes. But just one lap later Pinto was at it again, passing down the inside and blocking in such a way that the Spaniard lost over two seconds in just one corner.

Florian Lebigre takes 2026 Porsche Esports Supercup title amid controversy

This allowed Lebigre through, the Frenchman effectively receiving a red carpet ride to the lead of the race, while Sanchez was stuck behind his teammates. With additional assistance from Webster and others on its way, the heist was complete, and a few races after his spectacular crash at Interlagos, a product of similar teamwork chicanery, Florian Lebigre was able to come from behind and win the Porsche Esports Supercup Championship by just nine points.

It was another PESC season that ended in drama and incident, but this year may have just gone past the point of entertainment to farce. There was much to enjoy about this season: a brilliant wet/dry race at Suzuka and drivers from all over the world for the very first time, but if PESC wants to continue rising in popularity as a serious Esports competition, it’ll have to do something about increasingly farcical teamwork exercised by all parties in 2026.

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