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2023 Porsche Tag Heuer Esports Supercup Champion Jordan Caruso has rocketed into second in the iRacing championship standings after winning his heat and the main race in the mid-season tournament at the Sachsenring.
It came as championship contenders Alejandro Sanchez, Luke McKeown and Sebastian Job failed to make the final after qualifying into the same heat, and failing to make it through either that, or the last chance qualifier.
Heats
Each driver would take part in one heat each, containing five or six drivers, with only two progressing. The rest would take part in a last chance qualifier, from which five would progress to a 15-driver final, where the big points were scored.
Jordan Caruso set the best lap in qualifying, meaning a pole position start in the opening heat. His clean start, and Kevin Nielsen’s cooperation from second, meant an easy path to the final for both in the quietest heat of the day.
Heat two was the loudest – and it included three of the top four in the championship. However, none of Sanchez, McKeown or Job qualified inside the top two, and they would have to fight their way in. On the first lap, Job stumbled over McKeown as he tried to turn across him onto the racing line, and one lap later the Apex Racing Team driver lost that place to Job trying to overtake Sanchez.
On top of all the action, Job received a slowdown penalty, putting him in last at the finish. This ensured an even tougher job qualifying from the last-chance race. Xander Reed and Tristan Iglesias would hold on for a surprise result, ahead of Sanchez and McKeown.
Mitchell DeJong progressed with Elliott Vayron from heat three, before championship leader Cooper Webster took to the track.
Early on, Sam Kuitert was running second but soon got a slowdown penalty, allowing Webster to put pressure on Moreno Sirica. As a result, Sirica made an error and allowed Webster to slip through to second – not the best starting position for the final, but unlike his closest rivals, he was actually in it. Alessandro Bico and Gustavo Ariel would join them from heat five.
Last Chance Qualifier
Alejandro Sanchez, who is also competing in the Racing Unleashed esports series concurrently, had the best chance of progressing with a second place start, but immediately put himself out of the running by jumping the start. A horrifying error for the Spaniard who ended the day 64 points off the championship lead.
Luke McKeown tried to take advantage, but in a crazy battle for fifth on lap one, he was punted by Luka Kita into the final corner, putting him out too. Job, the only real championship-contending survivor, just started too far back, and with the Sachsenring’s overtaking difficulty, only finished seventh.
The Final
The trio’s absence gave chances to others, such as Caruso, who covered off Xander Reed nicely to lead at turn one. Behind, Webster passed Ariel for ninth on the opening lap, trying to take advantage of every point.
The race didn’t entirely go to plan for him, as contact with Elliott Vayron will surely be investigated by the stewards post-event. Nevertheless, he gained another place from this and would finish eighth, but his championship lead was still only 34 points.
That’s because of Jordan Caruso, as the Australian had a comfortable victory in a quiet final race, and it put him right in the championship fight. With the momentum on his side, perhaps he could win a second title come the final round in April…
Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup (PESC) 2025 Sachsenring tournament main race results
- Jordan Caruso – 16 laps
- Xander Reed +0.793
- Mitchell deJong +1.785
- Kevin Nielsen +4.427
- Oscar Py +5.575
- Alessandro Bico +6.008
- Tristan Iglesias +6.549
- Cooper Webster +6.990
- Yohann Harth +7.467
- Gustavo Ariel +8.181
Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup (PESC) 2025 championship standings after Round 4 tournament
- Cooper Webster – 226 pts
- Jordan Caruso – 192 pts
- Mitchell deJong – 175 pts
- Kevin Nielsen – 173 pts
- Alejandro Sánchez – 162 pts
- Sebastian Job – 159 pts
- Yohann Harth – 158 pts
- Tristan Iglesias – 157 pts
- Luke McKeown – 153 pts
- Diogo Pinto – 145 pts
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