After four intense rounds showcasing the best drivers Assetto Corsa Competizione has to offer, the 2022 Mobileye GT World Challenge Europe Esports will be decided this evening (3rd August 2022) at Monza. And to spice things up even more, competitors will be facing changeable conditions.
Four drivers are still in points contention, including last season’s champion James Baldwin, but it is Dáire McCormack of Munster Rugby Gaming who holds a slender five-point lead over the championship.
The young Irishman has taken two wins and a third so far this season, with a no-score in Round 4 the only blip in a terrific campaign. If it were not for this DNF McCormack would likely have required just a modest points haul from Round 5 to claim the title.
Baldwin has been the dominant force in ACC in recent times, the Brit claiming this year’s Alpine Esports Series, taking a convincing Fanatec Esports GT Pro Series win at Spa as well as sealing victory at the most recent round of the Mobileye Intercontinental GT Challenge 2022 with Veloce McLaren GT.
Baldwin also won the Zandvoort round of this year’s GTWC Europe series and has notched up consistent points-scoring finishes to ensure he heads into the winner-takes-all final round five points short of McCormack.
Two other drivers with an outside chance of claiming the title are Mercedes-AMG E-Sports Team UOL’s Tobias Gronewald and the Scuderia Ferrari Velas Esports Team’s David Tonizza.
Both drivers sit 16 and 18 points behind the leader respectively and require a stellar performance at Monza combined with some misfortune for the top two to take the overall win.
Gronewald’s Mercedes-Benz AMG and Tonizza’s Ferrari 488 should go well around Monza, with the McLaren 720S of Baldwin and McCormack’s Bentley Continental historically less quick around the Italian circuit but still evenly matched.
Gronewald has enjoyed a solidly consistent campaign, with a low score in Hungary being the only blip. Similarly, Tonizza is another driver to rue the Budapest round, as he, like McCormack, failed to score. Baldwin on the other hand has scored points in every round this season – a feat he also accomplished on his way to the championship last year.
McCormack anticipates a tough race but is primed for a fight through the pack: “I am excited for the race because with the rain there’s the chance for many mistakes, so I may have the chance to do something and make up places”.
In the new-for-2022 Silver class, TRITON Racing’s Dominik Blajer has been the dominant force with three wins and a second-placed finish giving him a 25-point lead over young Englishman Robbie Stapleford in the G2 Esports BMW M4.
The pair have regularly mixed it with the top Pro class cars this season, but Blajer’s Bentley has been in imperious form. It would require a major shock for the Pole not to walk away with Silver class honours this evening before he and Stapleford undoubtedly make the step up into the Pro class for 2023.
Who do you think will master the inclement weather at Monza and walk away with the 2022 Mobileye GT World Challenge Europe Esports crown? Let us know in the comments below.
Tune in to the SRO GT World Challenge Esports YouTube channel at 19:50 BST/20:50 CET/14:50ET
2022 MOBILEYE GT WORLD CHALLENGE EUROPE ESPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP, ROUND 5, MONZA, PRO ENTRY LIST
- 1 James Baldwin McLaren 720S GT3 Veloce
- 3 Niko Wisniewski Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mercedes-AMG E-Sports Team Williams
- 4 Andrea Capoccia Audi R8 LMS Evo II GTWR R8G Academy
- 7 Nils Naujoks BMW M4 GT3 BMW Team BS+COMPETITION
- 9 Dennis Schoeniger Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mercedes-AMG E-Sports Team HRT
- 14 Kamil Pawlowski Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo Scuderia Ferrari Velas Esports Team
- 22 Niklas Houben Audi R8 LMS Evo II R8G eSports
- 23 Eamonn Murphy McLaren 720S GT3 Veloce
- 27 Kevin Siclari Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mkers
- 28 Luca Losio BMW M4 GT3 Mobileye x Jean Alesi Esports Academy
- 38 Ben Creanor Honda NSX Evo HPD JAS Pro Europe
- 49 Samir Ibraimi AMR V8 Vantage RennWelten Esports
- 50 Arthur Kammerer BMW M4 GT3 BMW Team BS+COMPETITION
- 52 Tobias Gronewald Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mercedes-AMG E-Sports Team UOL
- 63 Jordan Sherratt Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo Automobili Lamborghini Esports Team
- 66 Tinko van der Velde Bentley Continental GT3 2018 Williams Esports
- 69 Manuel Biancolilla AMR V8 Vantage Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Esports
- 91 Michael Tauscher Porsche 911 GT3 R (2019) Unicorns of Love
- 92 Amir Hosseini McLaren 720S GT3 R8G eSports
- 95 David Tonizza Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo Scuderia Ferrari Velas Esports Team
- 97 Gianfranco Giglioli Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo Automobili Lamborghini Esports Team
- 120 Jordan Grant-Smith Porsche 911 GT3 R (2019) Race Anywhere Simsport
- 321 Mike Nobel Honda NSX Evo HPD JAS Pro Europe
- 376 Andre Franke Honda NSX Evo HPD JAS Pro Europe
- 557 Nicolas Hillebrand Honda NSX Evo HPD JAS Pro Europe
- 814 Daire McCormack Bentley Continental GT3 2018 Munster Rugby Gaming
- 994 Maxime Batifoulier Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mkers
2022 MOBILEYE GT WORLD CHALLENGE EUROPE ESPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP, ROUND 5, MONZA, SILVER ENTRY LIST
- 10 Dominik Blajer Bentley Continental GT3 2018 TRITON Racing
- 17 Léo Boulay McLaren 720S GT3 Intruder Racing Competition
- 18 Mattia Zampedri Bentley Continental GT3 2018 Mixed Wheels
- 21 David Pertile Bentley Continental GT3 2018 Mixed Wheels
- 29 Hamada Erquizi McLaren 720S GT3 SDL eSports | Logitech G
- 30 Tommy Razeyre McLaren 720S GT3 SDL eSports | Logitech G
- 31 Kévin Leaune Porsche 911 GT3 R (2019) SDL eSports | BenQ-Mobiuz
- 35 Mateusz Tyszkiewicz Bentley Continental GT3 2018 TRITON Racing
- 41 Egor Ogorodnikov Bentley Continental GT3 2018 VDES Academy
- 72 Valentin Barrier Bentley Continental GT3 2018 VirtualDrivers by TX3
- 77 Sven Hettich McLaren 720S GT3 PRIME eRACING
- 81 Robbie Stapleford BMW M4 GT3 BMW G2 Esports
- 105 Kieran Prendergast Honda NSX Evo Rocket Simsport
- 113 Jesse Kauppinen AMR V8 Vantage Griphax Engineering
- 123 Joe McAuley Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo FFS Racing
- 142 Mikhail Bykov Bentley Continental GT3 2018 Simware.pro by VDES
- 195 Fabien Piffet Bentley Continental GT3 2018 Team Fordzilla
- 203 Marco Jonkers McLaren 720S GT3 MJKartracing
- 215 Nils Klinkmüller Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mercedes-AMG E-Sports Team HRT
- 227 Mathys Leitao Audi R8 LMS Evo II FullMotorsport By RACE eSport Team
- 340 Giuseppe Montalbano Bentley Continental GT3 2018 R8G eSport
- 369 Alexander Novikov Bentley Continental GT3 2018 Simware.pro by VDES
- 563 Marcello Bonaccorsi Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo VSR by Ballas eSport
