IMSA Esports Global Championship: Williams and Redline wrap up titles at dramatic finale

Jaden Munoz and Matt Farrow have taken the GTP ISMA Esports Global Championship for Williams Esports Chillblast – but after a dramatic opening lap, it looked as if the crown had slipped from their grasp.

Topping the standings heading into the final round at iRacing’s virtual Daytona, the Grove squad had a commanding lead over BMW M Team Redline’s #20 Chris Lulham and Diogo Pinto.

However, they hadn’t factored in wildcard entrant Max Verstappen, driving for his eponymous Verstappen.com Racing outfit.

Lining up third on the grid, the four-time Formula 1 world champion lunged heading into Turn 1 on the opening lap, locking his rear wheels and slamming into the side of the pole-sitting and series-leading #5 Williams BMW.

The duo would spear off the track and drop to the tail of the field.

While Verstappen was handed a drivethrough penalty for the manoeuvre, both cars suffered damage and the #20 Redline entry snatched the lead.

“I just locked up a bit the rears and in this car, it’s very hard to control that, so I just went wide,” explained Verstappen of the opening corner incident.

“Of course, there was also the other car that I couldn’t avoid, so that was a bit unlucky there. My mistake.”

It looked as if Williams’ title aspirations were over, but it managed to win thanks to a recovery drive to 10th by the race end, plus a pitlane speeding penalty for the #20. At one point over 16 seconds in the lead, it dropped to seventh by the chequered flag.

“[The first corner] was something to expect, but I didn’t expect that,” said Munoz.

“It doesn’t matter what happened at Turn 1, we came back anyway and still won the championship and that’s all that matters to me.”

The mess cleared the way for BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION to take its first victory of the season.

The German team, who fielded Phil Denes and new signing Dominik Hofmann for the final event, were in title contention until the penultimate round but was wiped out off-camera during the opening lap at Sebring.

Redline claims GTD crown

In the supporting GTD category, Team Redline did at least secure the crown, with Enzo Bonito and Florian Lebigre consistently challenging across the four rounds. Wins at Road Atlanta and Indianapolis were backed up with a second place at Sebring and a sixth here at Daytona.

A surprising package secured pole position, however, with the Dörr Esports Chevrolet Corvette quickest.

Drago Racing continued its fine form of late, with a second-place starting berth for its #168. That car would eventually finished fifth, with its team-mate #169 up in second.

It was Mercedes-AMG Team ART, however, that claimed the season’s final win. The Northamptonshire-based sim racing group is renowned as iRacing as experts, but had a quiet season to this point.

Starting third, the #198 driven by Peter Berryman and Yohann Harth sat behind the Dörr and MAG Performance SRT ‘Vettes, conserving fuel during the opening stint. When it came time to pit, ART had jumped into the lead thanks to a shorter stop.

Dörr would lose out again within the final half an hour, picking up damage while being lapped by GTP cars, dropping out of second position.

While Redline’s #171 Ferrari would eventually win the title, in the early stages it looked as if AO Racing’s Rexy would be victorious as the 296 languished down the field after qualifying in a lowly 15th.

After just 40 minutes, however, it had worked its way up into seventh and the all-important slipstream train behind the leaders.

The gold-toothed Porsche also suffered contact when the #95 Cadillac GTP was lapping the field, knocking the Porsche down the GTD field, eventually finishing seventh.

IMSA Esports Global Championship 2024 Race 4 results

GTP

1. #89 BMW M Team BS+Competition – BMW – Phil Denes, Dominik Hofmann
2. #33 Williams Esports Racing Prodigy – BMW – Moreno Sirica, Robin Glerum
3. #3 CrowdStrike Racing – Acura – Marcus Hamilton, Pablo Lazar
4. #8 Coanda Esports – Porsche – Mitchell DeJong, Elvis Rankin
5. #23 Race Clutch – Cadillac – Sean Campbell, Jake Denehan

GTD

1. #198 Mercedes-AMG Esports Team ART – Mercedes-AMG – Peter Berryman, Yohann Hart
2. #169 DRAGO RACING – Lamborghini – Nicolas Mateo, Ricardo Rico
3. #105 Mercedes-AMG Esports Team Williams Esports – Mercedes-AMG – Beckham Jacir, Vasilios Beletsiotis
4. #150 MAG – Performance SRT – McLaren – Pierpaolo Reppucci, Mark Calver
5. #168 DRAGO RACING – Lamborghini – Manuel Troncoso, Nicolás Rubilar

IMSA Esports Global Championship 2024 GTP teams’ standings

1. Williams Esports Chillblast – 1341 pts
2. BMW M Team BS+Competition – 1261 pts
3. BMW M Team Redline – 1260 pts
4. Coanda Esports – 1129 pts
5. Soelpec Precision Racing – 1119 pts

IMSA Esports Global Championship 2024 GTD teams’ standings

1. Team Redline – 1380 pts
2. AO Racing by Coanda – 1270 pts
3. Mercedes-AMG Williams Esports – 1200 pts
4. Drago Racing – 1173 pts
5. PGZ X P1DOKS.com – 1012 pts