PESC: Diogo Pinto, Zac Campbell kick off 2023 with Hockenheim wins

Justin Melillo
The Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup has returned for 2023. Diogo Pinto and Zac Campbell were both victorious in the Hockenheim opener.
The Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup has returned for 2023. Diogo Pinto and Zac Campbell were both victorious in the Hockenheim opener.

We didn’t quite know what to expect for the return of iRacing‘s Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup in 2023, but the first pair of races on the season at Hockenheim, plus the All-Star races prior, put on an exciting show nevertheless for fans to tune in to on Saturday (4th February).

In the PESC All-Stars events, the Sprint Race was conquered by eNASCAR champion Casey Kirwan, who was able to hold off Tony Kanaan. After the full field invert, it was Jardier capitalizing and taking the win in the Feature following a last lap incident between the two leaders, Basic Ollie and Emree.

After that, the main event was the pair of World Championship races with the 30 top qualified iRacers into the series for 2023. These drivers were entered by either finishing in the Top 15 last season in PESC points or by advancing into or returning to the series through the Contender round last year.

Charlie Collins would leave Hockenheim as the points leader after finishing runner up in the Sprint race to the defending champion Diogo Pinto and then to his Coanda teammate Zac Campbell in the Feature.

14 ALL-STARS, ONE HOCKENHEIM

The first raceday of the season started out with a pair of All-Star races with some of the biggest names in sim racing streaming taking part in the festivities. Names such as Kirwan, Jardier, Emree and the defending champion, Tyson Meier, also known better as Quirkitized all returned to action once more.

All-Stars also saw the return of Heikki360, Dan Suzuki, Borja Zazo, Matt Malone, Stradi and the world famous Tony Kanaan for Hockenheim. They were all met by Basic Ollie, LoveFortySix and Keny500, all new to the grid this season. Dave Cam also makes his return to the All-Stars for the first time since 2021.

Kirwan took the pole position for the Sprint by nearly half a second over Kanaan. For the first few minutes, Kanaan kept in touch, utilizing the draft to stay within a shot, but Kirwan was too powerful and went on to win by more than three seconds.

ALL-STARS – HOCKENHEIM SPRINT RACE TOP 10 RESULTS

POSCAR #DRIVERINTERVALPTSTOTAL PTS
195Casey Kirwan10 LAPS2528
206Tony Kanaan+3.055 sec2020
356Borja Zazo+4.063 sec1717
481Stradi+4.299 sec1414
546LoveFortySix+4.879 sec1313
683Matt Malone+9.120 sec1010
71Quirkitized+14.060 sec99
8786Dave Cam+16.038 sec88
9182Keny500+16.577 sec77
1023Heikki360+17.853 sec66

A full-field invert would see Jardier and Basic Ollie on the front row for the feature. Jardier was able to get a good launch, but before the first lap was completed, Basic Ollie had taken control. Emree had started third after a few incidents in the Sprint. She quickly made her move on Jardier to take second.

A 16 lap race in the 27 minute time limit, Basic Ollie had led the first 15 as Emree stalked to the white flag. In the Hairpin, Turn 6, Emree made a lunge on Basic Ollie and the two made contact. This allowed Jardier to slip by and take the lead and win.

ALL-STARS – HOCKENHEIM FEATURE RACE TOP 10 RESULTS

POSCAR #DRIVERINTERVALPTSTOTAL PTS
139Jardier16 LAPS2527
237Basic Ollie+1.179 sec2023
351Emree+1.867 sec1721
495Casey Kirwan+2.696 sec1543
523Heikki360+4.300 sec1218
61Quirkitized+6.910 sec1019
706Tony Kanaan+7.309 sec929
835Dan Suzuki+9.756 sec813
981Stradi+10.333 sec721
10786Dave Cam+10.839 sec614

Kirwan managed to finish in fourth in the Feature and leads the points leaving Hockenheim after scoring the Sprint win and the pole position as well, which offers three bonus points. Second place is currently Kanaan after his seventh place effort in the Feature. Jardier will sit third leaving Hockenheim.

ALL-STARS – POINTS STANDINGS AFTER EVENT #1 – HOCKENHEIM

POSCAR #DRIVERSP. WINSFT. WINSTOP 5sTOTAL PTS
195Casey Kirwan10243
206Tony Kanaan00129
339Jardier01127
437Basic Ollie00123
551Emree00121
581Stradi00121
556Borja Zazo00121
81Quirkitized00019
923Heikki36000118
946LoveFortySix00118

PINTO, CAMPBELL TAKE HOCKENHEIM WINS IN PESC RETURN

The iRacing World Championship returned in full force on Saturday evening with a pair of wild races to kick off the 2023 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup season. Hockenheim would be the venue, same as the All-Stars, a 4.574-kilometer (2.842-miles) course with 17 corners located in Germany.

A 30-car field of Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 992 cars were in attendance to take on the opening round of the series. After qualifying had been settled, Altus Esports sophomore driver Jordan Caruso would start out the season on top with a pole position and 10 bonus points.

Diogo Pinto, Charlie Collins, Alejandro Sánchez and Sebastian Job would round out the Top 5, all collecting qualifying points as well.

THE SPRINT RACE

Just like last season, the Sprint race would send the drivers off in the same positions they qualified in, later to invert the Top 8 finishers after nine laps. Caruso led the field down through the Parabolica, but at the Hairpin, he locked up the front tire and gave way to both Pinto and Collins who exited side-by-side.

Pinto took full advantage of the lead through Mercedes corner as Collins fell back in line to get a tow. Into Sachskurve, Collins went left and the two made contact once, then twice. Pinto fell back in line as Job managed to take the left position of Collins to complete the first lap.

Through the second edition of the Nordkurve, Job began to slip back, yielding to Collins and Pinto before entering the next corner. As they made their way back to the Parabolica for the second time, Pinto was able to clear Collins and take the lead back fully. Sánchez moved into third, Caruso to fourth and Job fifth.

The Top 5 drivers ran like this without change until the penultimate lap, when Caruso made the move to take the final step of the podium away from Sánchez. Pinto scored the victory over Collins, the first winner on the new year.

PESC HOCKENHEIM SPRINT RACE TOP 10 RESULTS

POSCAR #DRIVERTEAMINTERVALPTSAGG PTS
11Diogo PintoTeam Redline9 LAPS2533
293Charlie CollinsVRS Coanda Esports+0.382 sec2228
312Jordan CarusoAltus Esports+2.043 sec2030
447Alejandro SánchezStormforce Racing ART+2.683 sec1822
522Sebastian JobOracle Red Bull Racing Esports+2.948 sec1618
615Zac CampbellVRS Coanda Esports+3.186 sec1519
777Alessandro BicoWilliams Esports+3.652 sec1414
824Lasse Bak (R)FYRA SimSport+4.317 sec1313
94Salva TalensStormforce Racing ART+5.334 sec1212
1049Jamie FlukeApex Racing Team+5.924 sec1111

THE FEATURE RACE

With the same rules in place as last season, the Top 8 finishers from the Sprint race would be subject to an invert. The first place finisher would start eighth, the eighth place finisher would start first, and everyone in between would also swap positions similarly.

This would put rookie Lasse Bak with FYRA SimSport on the pole position for the first time with Williams Esports’ Alessandro Bico alongside. The two would get off to a fantastic start as Job was able to initially get the jump on Zac Campbell exiting the first right hander.

Things seemed quiet at first, but then, pandemonium broke out in the Hairpin.

Another rookie in the series, Gustavo Ariel in the #21, went a little too deep entering. This wound up with him making contact with Williams Esports’ Moreno Sirica, who was then sent like a missile into the two Stormforce Racing ART drivers of Salva Talens and Sánchez.

More would get involved, including Cooper Webster, Luka Kita, Julien Soenen, Bryn Collins, Oskari Rinne, Bobby Zalenski, Christopher Dambietz, Simone Maria Marcenò, Mathias Stokbæk Jensen, Alexey Nesov, Kevin Nielsen and Tuomas Tähtelä. More than half the field had some contact one way or another.

MEANWHILE, BACK UP FRONT

As the field thinned out behind, the battle at the front would get spicy as well. The third lap is when things began to unravel for some and become perfect for others.

After a fifth in the Sprint, Job had two cars that he knew he had more pace than in front of him, one a rookie to the competition and the other in their sophomore season. In the Hairpin, Job looked to go too deep, or possibly the two in front of him went too easy. Either way, Job locked up, body slamming Bico.

This allowed Campbell to move up into position behind Job, who was trying to get his way around Bak the long way leaving Mercedes. Job kept the pressure on alongside into Mobil 1, but in Sachskurve, possible invisible contact forced Job out of his line as he began to fade into the next row of cars.

Job would find himself three wide with Caruson and Bico and off the racing surface exiting Sachskurve and subsequently this led to an excursion through the grass, ending his chances. Up to second was Campbell, who was ready to pounce with no threat from Job anymore.

Campbell took control on the fourth lap from Bak just before the Parabolica. Bak kept him honest for a few laps, but then began to fade as the rest of the field started stacking up behind him with Campbell pulling away.

Bak would eventually fade back to finish seventh. Collins had found his pace and moved into second with four laps to go, but the gap to Campbell was over two seconds. Even after getting the draft, Collins needed at least one more lap to get the job done. Campbell scored the victory, leading 15 of 18 laps.

PESC HOCKENHEIM FEATURE RACE TOP 10 RESULTS

POSCAR #DRIVERTEAMINTERVALPTSAGG PTS
115Zac CampbellVRS Coanda Esports18 LAPS5065
293Charlie CollinsVRS Coanda Esports+0.518 sec4573
377Alessandro BicoWilliams Esports+1.266 sec4054
412Jordan CarusoAltus Esports+1.726 sec3767
51Diogo PintoTeam Redline+4.143 sec3467
690Yohann HarthApex Racing Team+4.471 sec3136
724Lasse Bak (R)FYRA SimSport+5.059 sec2841
811Maximilian BeneckeMOUZ+5.225 sec2635
949Jamie FlukeApex Racing Team+6.449 sec2435
1021Gustavo Ariel (R)TXC Racing by TK+6.841 sec2230*
* Ariel was docked 10 points post-race by race control

POINTS STANDINGS LEAVING HOCKENHEIM

After a wild pair of races, and despite having no wins to show for it, Charlie Collins leaves Hockenheim as the 2023 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup points leader. His VRS Coanda Esports teammate Campbell sits in fourth behind the pole sitter Caruso and the Sprint winner Pinto, who are tied in second.

Bico sits in fifth after a seventh and third place result, and after that, there’s a decent drop back to Bak in sixth. Yohann Harth, Maximilian Benecke, Jamie Fluke and Julien Soenen round out the Top 10.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment so far comes from Sebastian Job, down in 12th. It seemed uncharacteristic for him to have the issues he did in the second race. He’ll be the first one not listed on the sheet below.

POSCAR #DRIVERTEAMSP. WINSFT. WINST5sTOTAL PTS
193Charlie CollinsVRS Coanda Esports00273
212Jordan CarusoAltus Esports00267
21Diogo PintoTeam Redline10267
415Zac CampbellVRS Coanda Esports01165
577Alessandro BicoWilliams Esports00154
624Lasse Bak (R)FYRA SimSport00041
790Yohann HarthApex Racing Team00036
811Maximilian BeneckeMOUZ00035
849Jamie FlukeApex Racing Team00035
1040Julien SoenenR8G Esports00026
1047Alejandro SánchezStormforce Racing ART00126

UP NEXT – MAGNY-COURS

With the brand new and shiny season just begun, the PESC series heads to a brand new and shiny track on the iRacing service as of 2023 Season 1. Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours is that venue, and in two weeks time, the best in PESC will take on the French circuit.

The broadcast will be primarily advertised for the Porsche Motorsports social channels, although like eNASCAR, it will also find itself on the iRacing social channels. The broadcast is set to kick off around 1:00 pm ET / 6:00 pm GMT for the PESC All-Stars, while the PESC World Championship goes off an hour later.

2023 PORSCHE TAG HEUER ESPORTS SUPERCUP SCHEDULE

EVENTDATEVENUESprint LapsFeature Laps
14-FebHockenheimring Baden-Württemberg918
218-FebCircuit de Nevers Magny-Cours918
34-MarTO BE VOTED UPONTBDTBD
418-MarCircuit of the Americas816
51-AprRed Bull Ring1020
68-AprWatkins Glen International1122
722-AprCircuit de Spa-Francorchamps612
86-MayNürburgring Combined34
920-MayCircuit des 24 Heures du Mans36
103-JunAutodromo Nazionale Monza714
Leave a Reply
Previous Post
WATCH: How a sim racer became a Red Bull Racing F1 simulator driver

WATCH: How a sim racer became a Red Bull Racing F1 simulator driver

Next Post
A blast from the past: Hands-on with GeneRally 2’s demo

Blast from the past: Hands-on with GeneRally 2’s demo

Related Posts