Premier Sim Gaming League’s PC championship reached the Losail International Circuit for its first adventure under the Qatari lights. An Alfa Romeo masterclass saw Brendon Leigh take away victory from his teammate Thomas Ronhaar on the final lap.
Otis Lawrence produced a brilliant recovery drive to take third as the championship contenders struggled towards the rear of the field.
QUALIFYING
In Q1, there were four shocks, with three Mercedes drivers out alongside championship leader Bari Broumand. But the elimination was not based on pace for the Iranian, as going through the final sector on his flying lap, Benham swept across and took Broumand out of qualifying.
The pair lined up on the back row, behind Marcel Kiefer, Filip Presnajder, and Jarno Opmeer, with Mercedes’ Dani Bereznay squeezing through in 15th.
The close margins continued in Q2, with all five eliminations within 0.063 seconds of progressing. Both Aston Martins went out, with Fabrizio Donoso in 11th and Simon Weigang in 14th. Wilson Hughes, Tomek Poradzisz, and Luke Smith completed the elimination zone.
Lucas Blakeley continued his qualifying form with another pole position from Tom Manley and Thomas Ronhaar. The three Hungarians of Istvan Puki, Patrik Sipos and Dani Bereznay lined up between fourth and seventh, with Ismael Fahssi slotting between them in fifth. Alvaro Carreton, Brendon Leigh, and Otis Lawrence concluded the grid.
RACE
Off the line, it was even at the front before Fahssi produced a brilliant move at Turn 7 on Puki for fourth. Bereznay got swamped in the midfield, losing three places in three corners and dropping to tenth.
The big gainer was Benham, the only driver not starting on the softs, making eight places on the opening lap before eventually slipping down the order to last before he changed tyres. With overtaking tricky, there was no movement in the order without the occasional swap for the lead between Manley and Blakeley until the pitstop phase.
On Lap 13, Alfa Romeo produced their strategic masterstroke, with Leigh boxing from eighth and Ronhaar producing a double overtake on Manley and Blakeley for the lead. The undercut from Leigh was enough to come out directly behind Ronhaar after the Dutchman pitted on Lap 14.
Lawrence and Carreton joined them in pitting on Lap 14, and they moved into third and sixth when the remaining front runners pitted on Lap 15 and 16, with Manley and Blakeley filtering out between the pair. The drivers towards the rear of the field opted to stay out longer, but overtaking despite fresher tyres proved very difficult at Qatar, especially with the Alfas working together at the front.
Broumand, Smith and Opmeer were fighting for the last two places in the points after failing to close the gap to the lead train after Hughes and Poradzisz’s collision in the middle sector. Blakeley eventually got the move done on Manley after several laps of trying on Lap 26, and after draining his battery to defend, Fahssi and Carreton followed the Scot through to move into the top six.
All eyes were on the front, with Thomas Ronhaar leading and his team-mate behind. Leigh got the slingshot with slipstream and DRS to ease past the two-time F1 Esports winner to take the lead on the final lap. The double F1 Esports World Champion managed to get the gap and took victory by just a tenth of a second as Ronhaar closed on the run to the line.
Lawrence held onto the last spot on the podium from Blakeley, with Fahssi and Carreton securing solid points for Williams behind. Manley picked up a penalty, dropping him outside the points, meaning Puki finished seventh, followed by Smith and Broumand with Opmeer completing the top ten.
RESULTS
- Brendon Leigh – Alfa Romeo
- Thomas Ronhaar – Alfa Romeo
- Otis Lawrence – Haas
- Lucas Blakeley – McLaren
- Ismael Fahssi – Williams
- Alvaro Carreton – Williams
- Istvan Puki – Red Bull
- Luke Smith – Alpine
- Bari Broumand – Ferrari
- Jarno Opmeer – Mercedes
