PESC: Jordan Caruso crowned 2023 champion at Monza

The Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup season has come to a close, and after months of ups and downs for all 30 of the qualified competitors, Altus Esports’ Jordan Caruso stood tall amongst the pile, the winner of the 2023 Driver’s Championship following the finale at Autodromo Nazionale Monza.

Coming into the night with a 37 point lead over Zac Campbell, 41 point lead over Sebastian Job and 73 point lead over Alejandro Sánchez, Caruso could clinch with 49 points scored no matter what his competition did. Caruso scored 47 points, and even with a five point penalty, it was more than enough to wrap up his first title.

Caruso took the Sprint race victory, which effectively clinched the title a race early considering his competitors didn’t outscore him. In the Feature, Caruso finished 12th, more than enough to confirm the title.

WORLD F*****G CHAMPION BOYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!! 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 https://t.co/kioBpsgced

— Jordan Caruso (@JCaruso012) June 3, 2023

There were two other battles worth watching. The battle for second overall came down to a single point as Job barely outscored Campbell. As for the battle for Relegation, Gustavo Ariel (TXC Racing by TK) took the Feature win, his third win of 2023, and that was enough to move into the Top 15.

Casey Kirwan already had the PESC All-Stars title wrapped up entering Monza, but that didn’t stop him from outperforming his eNASCAR brethren in the Sprint race, outlasting Parker White and Matt Bussa in the closing laps. In the Feature, Michael Conti rebounded and held off Emily “Emree” Jones for the final win of the season.

Kirwan wins Sprint in battle of eNASCAR stars at Monza

Monza turned into eNASCAR night as three more of the top oval drivers joined the fray in the final event of the All-Stars season.

Casey Kirwan would have to deal with his usual competition, which includes Tyson “Quirkitized” Meier, Dave Cam, Emree, and Pablo “The Pulpo” López. He also had to contend with Parker White, Matt Bussa and Michael Conti, all normal names you’d hear on Tuesday nights in the eNASCAR series.

White took the pole and led early. Conti obtained a penalty from a jump start and would be out of things before they began. The field was in the Porsche Mission R, an all-electric racing machine. It proved to be a challenge to all.

In the closing laps, Kirwan out-dueled White as Bussa fell off with a slow down penalty. Kirwan was able to knock out another win on the season, his sixth overall. Emree would invert to the Feature pole alongside Conti for the final race of the season.

ALL-STARS: Monza Sprint Race Top 10 Results

FIN	STA	CAR #	DRIVER	INTERVAL	SPRINT PTS	AGG PTS
1	5	95	Casey Kirwan	11 LAPS	26	26
2	1	11	Parker White	+0.522 sec	20	23
3	3	97	Matt Bussa	+3.038 sec	17	17
4	4	504	The Pulpo López	+11.082 sec	14	14
5	7	786	Dave Cam	+11.390 sec	12	12
6	6	23	Heikki360ES	+11.446 sec	10	10
7	10	35	Dan Suzuki	+12.578 sec	9	9
8	11	81	Stradi	+14.871 sec	8	8
9	9	56	Borja Zazo	+15.245 sec	7	7
10	15	1	Quirkitized	+29.143 sec	6	6

Sprint penalty gives Conti upper hand in Monza Feature

Michael Conti pleaded with race control to get his Sprint race jump start penalty rescinded, but he was forced to serve it and would finish 14th in the opening race. A full field invert meant he got another chance from the same grid spot, second, and this time he played it perfectly.

Conti out-braked Emree into Turn 1 as the rest of the field behind Keenan “Aero” Kusan in third attempted to figure out who would lead that pack.

Kirwan would not repeat as he spun out trying to work his way up the field. Bussa also found trouble and wound up finishing last. Up front, it was just Conti and Emree, the rest of the field more than 10 seconds behind.

Emree made a few moves, but Conti was able to hold strong. The retiring eNASCAR driver added yet another victory to his #ItsBeenGr8 tour as he scored the Monza finale victory.

ALL-STARS: Monza Feature Race Top 10 Results

FIN	STA	CAR #	DRIVER	INTERVAL	FT. PTS	TOTAL PTS
1	2	8	Michael Conti	11 LAPS	25	27
2	1	51	Emree	+0.696 sec	21	22
3	12	504	The Pulpo López	+12.650 sec	17	31
4	6	1	Quirkitized	+12.753 sec	14	20
5	14	11	Parker White	+12.854 sec	12	35
6	5	182	Keny500	+13.539 sec	10	15
7	10	23	Heikki360ES	+15.904 sec	9	19
8	4	46	LoveFortySix	+16.054 sec	8	12
9	8	81	Stradi	+16.849 sec	7	15
10	9	35	Dan Suzuki	+20.912 sec	6	15

While we knew Kirwan was the champion weeks ago, the 2022 All-Stars champion Quirkitized managed to finish runner-up. The Pulpo López, who gave the field a few weeks head start, wound up third.

Another former All-Star champion in Emree managed fourth, and the final driver in the Top 5 was Xabier “Heikki360ES” Sanchez.

ALL-STARS: Final Points after Race #10 at Monza

POS	CAR #	DRIVER	SP. WINS	FT. WINS	TOTAL PTS	BEHIND
1	95	Casey Kirwan	5	2	369	LEADER
2	1	Quirkitized	1	1	243	-126
3	504	The Pulpo López	1	1	232	-137
4	51	Emree	0	0	199	-170
5	23	Heikki360ES	0	0	186	-183
6	35	Dan Suzuki	0	0	184	-185
7	786	Dave Cam	0	1	181	-188
8	182	Keny500	0	2	172	-197
9	39	Jardier	0	1	160	-209
10	56	Borja Zazo	0	0	157	-212

11. Stradi
12. Basic Ollie
13. Matt Malone
14. LoveFortySix
15. Lauren Heinrich
16. Tony Kanaan
17. Parker White
18. Ayhancan Guven
19. Michael Conti
20. Matt Bussa
21. Bastian Buus
22. Keenan Kusan
22. Jimmy Broadbent
24. Laurens Vanthoor

Caruso closes out Championship season as competitors falter in finale

While the title could have been decided at Le Mans two weeks ago had Caruso not crashed out of a Top 10 Feature finish, he still held on to a decent advantage entering the finale at Monza.

After Diogo Pinto, the outgoing champion took the pole position, Caruso managed a fourth place effort. With Alejandro Sánchez not placing in the Top 5 in qualifying, his championship chances were dashed before the Sprint race began.

The other two title runners were also down and out before the racing began. Third place Sebastian Job wound up qualifying in 13th while the runner-up entering, Zac Campbell, failed to put down a lap time and would start 24th.

THE SPRINT: Caruso clinches with Sprint victory

If Campbell and Job didn’t score enough points in the Sprint, Caruso had the opportunity to clinch the championship with a decent finish. One might think that Caruso would do everything in his power to avoid contact and possible penalties, but Caruso was more keen to score another win.

On the opening lap, Caruso and Alessandro Bico made contact, sending Bico off and out of contention. A few laps later, Caruso made contact with Yohann Harth and Diogo Pinto, the Top 2, entering the Rettifilo Chicane. It’s unclear which incident was worth the five point deduction after the race, but it didn’t matter.

Caruso managed the win and provisionally exited the Sprint Race as the champion. Job only managed to finish 10th and Campbell was unable to score points.

PESC: Monza Sprint Race Top 10 Results

FIN	STA	CAR #	DRIVER	TEAM	INTERVAL	PTS	AGG PTS
1	4	12	Jordan Caruso	Altus Esports	7 LAPS	25	29
2	9	93	Charlie Collins	VRS Coanda Esports	+1.627 sec	22	22
3	6	69	Moreno Sirica	Williams Esports	+2.134 sec	20	20
4	5	4	Salva Talens	Stormforce Racing ART	+2.186 sec	18	20
5	8	24	Lasse Bak	FYRA SimSport	+2.742 sec	16	16
6	10	5	Oskari Rinne	BS+COMPETITION	+2.965 sec	15	15
7	7	99	Oscar Mangan	Altus Esports	+3.186 sec	14	14
8	14	21	Gustavo Ariel	TXC Racing by TK	+3.477 sec	13	13
9	11	47	Alejandro Sánchez	Stormforce Racing ART	+4.066 sec	12	12
10	13	22	Sebastian Job	Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports	+4.213 sec	11	11

THE FEATURE: Ariel wins, avoids relegation

With the Top 8 invert, Gustavo Ariel would start from the pole position. Coming into the race, Ariel sat 17th in the standings, 16 points below the Relegation line. Only the Top 15 would be guaranteed a place on the 2024 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup roster. Ariel, despite having two wins, needed to overcome the gap.

With Maximilian Benecke unable to race, that meant that Ariel’s best shot would be to outscore Jamie Fluke by 16 points. Ariel managed to walk off with the victory and plenty of points. Fluke still had a shot to get in as well, but the drivers he needed to outscore also had decent days, leaving the veteran on the outside.

Meanwhile, with possible penalties looming over Caruso, Job still needed to give it his all, but that fell short after an incident forced him out of contention. The battle then turned into the battle for second, where Job was able to barely beat Campbell by a single point.

PESC: Monza Feature Race Top 10 Results

FIN	STA	CAR #	DRIVER	TEAM	INTERVAL	PTS	TOTAL PTS
1	1	21	Gustavo Ariel	TXC Racing by TK	14 LAPS	50	63
2	7	93	Charlie Collins	VRS Coanda Esports	+0.449 sec	45	67
3	12	1	Diogo C. Pinto	Team Redline	+0.620 sec	40	59
4	4	24	Lasse Bak	FYRA SimSport	+1.778 sec	37	53
5	6	69	Moreno Sirica	Williams Esports	+2.320 sec	34	54
6	3	5	Oskari Rinne	BS+COMPETITION	+2.581 sec	31	46
7	15	49	Jamie Fluke	Apex Racing Team	+2.782 sec	28	34
8	9	47	Alejandro Sánchez	Stormforce Racing ART	+3.404 sec	26	38
9	5	4	Salva Talens	Stormforce Racing ART	+3.728 sec	24	44
10	2	99	Oscar Mangan	Altus Esports	+3.798 sec	22	36

Final look at 2023 points

Caruso scored the 2023 title in his sophomore season, and he won it by 68 points over Job. Charlie Collins scored a pair of podiums at Monza and was able to leapfrog to fourth overall, a single point ahead of Sánchez.

Williams Esports’ Moreno Sirica also scored a pair of Top 5 finishes, his first two of the season, and that moved him up into ninth overall, behind Pinto, Harth and his teammate Bico. Sirica also passed Cooper Webster, who finished 10th.

The final five spots above the relegation line belonged to Salva Talens, Lasse Bak, Gustavo Ariel, Luca Kita and Oskari Rinne. Leaving Monza, Kita was the final driver in, but after penalties were included, Rinne would fall to the 15th and final spot.

Fluke was the first man out in 16th. Oscan Mangan was able to pick up some points, but it wasn’t enough to get above the relegation line. With Ariel moving in, it was Benecke who moved out after not racing.

PESC: Final Points after Race #10 at Monza

POS	CAR #	DRIVER	TEAM	SP. WINS	FT. WINS	T5s	TOTAL PTS	PEN PTS
1	12	Jordan Caruso	Altus Esports	2	1	11	506	-15
2	22	Sebastian Job	Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports	1	1	9	438	-10
3	15	Zac Campbell	VRS Coanda Esports	1	2	11	437	0
4	93	Charlie Collins	VRS Coanda Esports	0	1	10	430	-10
5	47	Alejandro Sánchez	Stormforce Racing ART	2	0	10	429	-55
6	1	Diogo C. Pinto	Team Redline	1	1	9	417	-30
7	90	Yohann Harth	Stormforce Racing ART	0	1	5	340	-25
8	77	Alessandro Bico	Williams Esports	1	1	5	339	-35
9	69	Moreno Sirica	Williams Esports	0	0	2	276	-15
10	37	Cooper Webster	Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports	0	0	4	272	0

11. Salva Talens (Stormforce Racing ART)
12. Lasse Bak (FYRA SimSport)
13. Gustavo Ariel (TXC Racing by TK)
14. Luca Kita (URANO eSports)
15. Oskari Rinne (BS+COMPETITION)
——————————————————————-
16. Jamie Fluke (Apex Racing Team)
17. Oscar Mangan (Altus Esports)
18. Maximilian Benecke (MOUZ)
19. Julien Soenen (R8G Esports)
20. Bobby Zalenski (VRS Coanda Esports)

UP NEXT: More iRacing esports to look forward to

With PESC done for the year, iRacing will still have a plethora of esports to take on in the second half of the 2023 calendar year. While eNASCAR continues into the latter stages of the Regular Season, jumpy truck enthusiasts will be delighted to know of the return of the Off-Road Championship on 28th June.

Just a few weeks later, World Of Outlaws esports will return on 10th July with the Buttkicker Late Model Series. There is also expected to be the return of the Dallara iR-01 Open-Wheel World Championship, but we still await details on that series’ return.

2023 PORSCHE TAG HEUER ESPORTS SUPERCUP SCHEDULE

EVENT	DATE	VENUE	Sprint Laps	Feature Laps
1	4-Feb	Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg	9	18
2	18-Feb	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours	10	20
3	4-Mar	Long Beach – FAN VOTE WINNER	13	26
4	18-Mar	Circuit of the Americas	8	16
5	1-Apr	Red Bull Ring	10	20
6	8-Apr	Watkins Glen International	11	22
7	22-Apr	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	6	12
8	6-May	Nürburgring Combined	3	4
9	20-May	Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans	3	6
10	3-Jun	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	7	14