Last night, the rFactor 2 GT Pro Series (powered by Traxion!) held its first-ever car draft ahead of the start of Season 3. The draft was intended to ensure that there was a more varied grid, but also effectively penalised last year’s best performers by forcing them to go later on in the proceedings. It meant the less-favourable cars were the lightest and the top drivers were challenged to make tough choices.
What were the rules?
- Each driver got two minutes to pick a car
- The picks were in reverse championship order from Season 2
- Each driver is allowed to pick any car regardless of the number of previous picks
- Each pick of the same GT3 car receives 10kg of ballast weight added
- When a car hits 40kg ballast weight, each additional pick will stay at 40kg
- Ballast weight is counted car by car
What happened?
The newly-promoted drivers were up first, and it was of little surprise to see the Audi R8 picked in the first two rounds. The 2018 Audi R8 GT3 was selected by Andonovski (Drillers Esports) and its 2019 equivalent went to Hakkinen (Cetrez Nitor Velox).
Somewhat predictably, the first nine picks went on un-selected cars which meant no ballast for new drivers to the series and most of the “relegation zone” competitors from last year. The first car to receive some weight was the Bentley Continental GT3 (2020) when picked by Buttler-Pal’s Zbigniew Siara.
The only car to receive maximum ballast was the BMW M6 GT3. Again, not a huge surprise to most as the manufacturer sponsors a number of teams in the series. How well can last season’s runner-up Kevin Siggy do in a car with 40kg of weight? Time will tell.
The least favoured car was the Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Only one person was brave enough to take it on. Their name? Joonas Raivio. Godspeed to you sir.
What was the biggest moment of the night? Well, the ill-favoured Radical RXC Turbo GT3 went into the final three with not a soul interested in using it. R8G Esports surprised the field with both Alsabati and reigning champion Erhan Jajovski taking on the task. Luckily, they won’t have much ballast to contend with!
Full Car Draft List – rFactor 2 GT Pro Series Powered by Traxion Season 3
- Timotek Andonovski // Drillers Esports) // Audi R8 GT3 (2018) // +0kg
- Turkka Hakkinen // Cetrez Nitor Velox // Audi R8 GT3 (2019) // +0kg
- Kasper Stoltze // Jean Alesi Esports // Callaway Corvette GT3-R // +0kg
- Ibraheem Khan // Zansho Simsport // Ferrari 488 GT3 EVO // +0kg
- Alen Terzic // BS+Competition // BMW M6 GT3 // +0kg
- Luca D’Amelio // HM Engineering // McLaren 650S // +0kg
- Jordy Zwiers // Jean Alesi Esports // Bentley Continental GT3 (2020) // +0kg
- Nuno Pinto // Team Fordzilla // Bentley Continental GT3 (2017) // +0kg
- Peyo Peev // Buttler-Pal Motorsport // Porsche 911 GT3 // +0kg
- Zbigniew Siara // Buttler-Pal Motorsport // Bentley Continental GT3 (2020) // +10kg
- Kevin Rotting // Triple A Esports // McLaren 720S // +0kg
- Vojta Polesny // Varga Simracing // McLaren 650S // +10kg
- Petar Brljak // Williams Esports // BMW M6 GT3 // +10kg
- Arne Schoonvliet // Ajira Racing // McLaren 720S // +10kg
- Jakub Brzenzinski // BMW Team GB // BMW M6 GT3 // +20kg
- Jimi Nisula // Satelite Racing // Callaway Corvette GT3-R // +10kg
- Michi Hoyer // Burst Esport // Audi R8 GT3 (2018) // +10kg
- Ferris Stanley // HM Engineering // Ferrari 488 GT3 EVO // +10kg
- Jan von der Heyde // Zansho Simsport // McLaren 720S // +20kg
- Alex Siebel // Evolution Motorsports // Audi R8 GT3 (2019) // +10kg
- Lorenzo Arisi // Wave Freem Esports // Callaway Corvette GT3-R // + 20kg
- Nikodem Wisniewski // BMW Team GB // BMW M6 GT3 // +30kg
- Dennis Jordan // Burst Esport // Bentley Continental GT3 (2017) // +10kg
- Joonas Raivio // Raivio // Aston Martin Vantage GT3 // +0kg
- Risto Kappet // R8G Esports // Bentley Continental GT3 (2020) // +20kg
- Yuri Kasdorp // Kasdorp // Porsche 911 GT3 // +10kg
- Jernej Simoncic // Burst Esport // Audi R8 GT3 (2018) // +20kg
- Hany Alsabti // R8G Esports // Radical RXC Turbo GT3 // +0kg
- Kevin Siggy // BMW Team Redline // BMW M6 GT3 // +40kg
- Erhan Jajovski // R8G Esports // Radical RXC Turbo GT3 // +10kg
rFactor 2 GT Pro Series Calendar
- 8th March 2021: Imola
- 22nd March 2021: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (late afternoon/early evening)
- 5th April 2021: Silverstone GP
- 19th April 2021: Nürburgring (no chicane)
- 3rd May 2021: Sebring
- 17th May 2021: Indianapolis
All races will be coming to you LIVE from the Traxion YouTube channel. Makes sure you subscribe and turn on notifications.
