The car draft pick for the approaching GT Pro Series, Season 4, happened yesterday evening, and the results were intriguing.
In a change to proceedings for the upcoming esports championship – broadcast live on Traxion.GG – the series will be using GTE cars in lieu of GT3-spec machinery. In addition, the way the ballast is attributed in relation to car choice has also changed.
As the draft unfolded, each entrant must pick a car from the six GTE vehicles on offer. Selecting a vehicle that other competitors had already chosen risked the addition of a weight penalty. This only kicked in, though, from the sixth selection on.
When it came to it, the first pick went to Zansho Simsport’s Sido Weijer who selected the Aston Martin Vantage GTE. This rather set the tone for the event, as eight further participants also selected the Aston, making it by far the most popular vehicle.
This also meant that ballast came into play, with Ibraheem Khan being the first to pick up an extra 10kg of weight. Ferris Stanley, another Aston Martin driver, received 20kg alongside Arne Schoonvliet and reigning champion Jan von der Heyde.
Interestingly, he could have selected a different car – such as the Corvette C8R or Ferrari – and not received any penalty, but the last pick stuck with the continuity of the Rocket Simsport squad, all selecting the Vantage, as did every member of Zansho Simsport.
Other team selections included the three Red Bull Racing Esports drivers – all in the latter quarter of the picking process – plumping for the ballast-free Corvette C8R. BMW Team Redline member Kevin Siggy went for the surprise choice of a Corvette a BMW.
With the grid now set – the full entry list is below – we can now look forward to the season start. It all kicks off at a virtual Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, 9th August, 7.45 pm CEST / 6.45 pm BST / 10.45 am PT / 1.45 pm ET and live on the Traxion.GG YouTube channel and Facebook page.
GT Pro Series, Season 4, Entry List
| Pick | Driver | Team | Car (GTE) | Ballast |
| 1 | Sido Weijer | Zansho Simsport | Aston Martin | |
| 2 | Presley Martono | JMX Phantom | BMW | |
| 3 | Luis Felipe Capamadjian | HM Engineering | BMW | |
| 4 | Jiri Toman | Varga SimRacing | Aston Martin | |
| 5 | Dawid Mroczek | Burst Esport | Corvette C7R | |
| 6 | Marcell Csincsik | Varga SimRacing | Aston Martin | |
| 7 | Matt Richards | Rocket Simsport | Aston Martin | |
| 8 | Petar Brljak | Williams Esports | Aston Martin | |
| 9 | Ibraheem Khan | Rocket Simsport | Aston Martin | 10kg |
| 10 | Risto Kappet | R8G Esports | Corvette C7R | |
| 11 | Kevin Rotting | BHK Esports by TX3 | Corvette C7R | |
| 12 | Kevin Siggy | BMW Team Redline | BMW | |
| 13 | Nikodem Wisniewski | Williams Esports | Porsche | |
| 14 | Peyo Peev | Buttler-Pal Motorsport | Porsche | |
| 15 | Zbigniew Siara | Buttler-Pal Motorsport | Porsche | |
| 16 | Ferris Stanley | Zansho Simsport | Aston Martin | 20kg |
| 17 | Luca D’Amelio | BHK Esports by TX3 | BMW | |
| 18 | Jordy Zwiers | Jean Alesi Esports | Porsche | |
| 19 | Nuno Pinto | Team Fordzilla | Porsche | |
| 20 | Kasper Stoltze | Jean Alesi Esports | Corvette C7R | |
| 21 | Joonas Raivio | BS+Competition | BMW | |
| 22 | Jakub Brzezinski | Williams Esports | Corvette C7R | |
| 23 | Jernej Simoncic | Burst Esport | Ferrari | |
| 24 | Timotej Andonovski | Cetrez Nitor Velox | Ferrari | |
| 25 | Arne Schoonvliet | Zansho Simsport | Aston Martin | 20kg |
| 26 | Yuri Kasdorp | Red Bull Racing Esports | Corvette C8R | |
| 27 | Michi Hoyer | Burst Esport | Ferrari | |
| 28 | Alex Siebel | Red Bull Racing Esports | Corvette C8R | |
| 29 | Dennis Jordan | Red Bull Racing Esports | Corvette C8R | |
| 30 | Jan von der Heyde | Rocket Simsport | Aston Martin | 20kg |
GT Pro Series, Season 4, Race Calendar
Live broadcast on YouTube and Facebook for each round starts at 7.00 pm CEST / 6.00 pm BST / 10.00 am PT / 1.00 pm ET
- 9th August: Autodromo Nazionale di Monza
- 23rd August: Sebring
- 6th September: Lime Rock Park
- 20th September: Loch Drummond
- 4th October: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
- 18th October: Indianapolis Road Course
