The third round of the Racing Unleashed Esports championship (Racer League) for 2024/25 has been won by Alejandro Sánchez, backing up his victory in the opening round to extend a point table lead.
While the Spaniard was quickest in the one-lap qualifying (the championship runs an alternating format, with Round 2 using reverse championship positions to set the grid) and led the race throughout, Michal Šmídl was always within range.
The gap between first and second after the single-lap shootout was a scant 0.063s. Siro Zambra lined up third, looking for his best result of the season, ahead of Agustin Torlaschi.
Expected challengers such as Coque López, back from Gran Turismo World Series World Finals duties, and 2021 Cupra sim champion Florian Hasse, were down in 11th and 12th respectively.
As the 21-lap race around the Nürburgring’s Grand Prix layout began, Šmídl tried around the outside of the pole-sitter at Haug-Haken. The theory is to hold on and then take the inside line for the second corner.
But Sánchez was wise to the move and eased his rival slightly wide to stay ahead.
Meanwhile, Argentinian Torlaschi fell back from his superlative qualifying result. Sebastian Hirsch dived down the inside at the Mercedes Arena allowing Enrique Maranon to follow through.
Torlaschi would later try to defend seventh from Christoph Holstein, but eventually ceded position and finished ninth by the end.
The race was framed by two key battles – fastest lap ping pong between the top two and then a tense back-and-forth between Vojtech Polesny, Hirsch and Maranon for fourth, fifth and sixth.
Despite each using their eight push-to-pass allocations at different times, Polesny would cling to his position.
This allowed Zambra, who has recently teamed up with Williams Esports, to ease away in the final podium spot.
Meanwhile, first and second pulled away, the gap between them never bigger than two seconds. On the penultimate lap, Šmídl used his final power-enhancing option to close within 0.4s of the lead.
But, Sánchez retaliated almost immediately hitting his final push-to-pass allocation down the start/finish straight to eke out a 1.2s lead – a lead he would hold until the chequered flag.
“After the start, I struggled a bit with Turn 1 on the opening lap, but I managed to stay ahead and control the gap from there,” said winner and Apex Racing driver Sánchez.
In the supporting Challenger League event, in slower cars for less prize money, Salva Talense also took a second victory of the season, ahead of Guzman Miguelez and Mario Stanic.
The premier Racer League is fast becoming a championship showdown between the two drivers, with CHF 10,000 on the line for the overall victor after eight rounds.
The fourth event will be on 18th January 2025, with the track venue to be announced in the days prior.
You can watch all the action unfold live on the Racing Unleashed YouTube channel and find out more about the motion simulator lounges on its website.
Racing Unleashed Esports Series 2024/25, Racer League, Race 3 results
- Alejandro Sánchez
- Michal Šmídl
- Siro Zambra
- Vojtech Polesny
- Sebastian Hirsch
- Enrique Maranon
- Christoph Helstein
- Angelo Michel
- Agustin Torlaschi
- Nico Fahland
Racing Unleashed Esports Series 2024/25, Challenger League, Race 3 results
- Salva Talens
- Guzman Miguelez
- Mario Stanic
- Tim Potzmader
- Timothy Sperisen
- Adrian Gomez
- Simon De Mori
- Melvin Leuppi
- Jamie Egeo
- David Wuethrich
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