With the 2023 SRO Esports Sim Pro Series championship standings dominated by Mercedes-AMG powered teams, the penultimate round at Germany’s Nürburgring would be a do-or-die opportunity for the Stuttgart marque’s rivals to get themselves back in the hunt.
One of those was Automobili Lamborghini Esports Team’s David Tonizza, who has shown tremendous pace at times during the season – winning Round 2 at Paul Ricard – but suffered two DNFs too.
Meantime, the Mercedes-AMG juggernaut continued, with Williams Esports holding second and fourth position in the championship standings and Unicorns of Love (UoL) first and third.
Qualifying
It was clear to see the Mercedes-AMG GT3 was not the car to have at the Nürburgring. Thanks partly to a Balance of Performance (BoP) update to Assetto Corsa Competizione, the fastest was Tobias Pfeffer’s UoL example down in seventh, some three-tenths off the pace of Scuderia Ferrari Esports Team’s Jordan Sherratt on pole.
Of the other championship protagonists, Dennis Schöniger of Williams, UoL’s Tobias Gronewald of and Tinko van der Velde also of Williams lay in 14th, 15th and 19th respectively, with Tonizza in second position.
Ferrari’s Chris Harteveld secured third on the grid, enhancing his chances of staying in the championship fight.
Race
The first lap saw a remarkably clean start between the 24 professional sim racers, but halfway round one of our title favourites was at the back of the pack – Gronewald looping his car around after contact with Maciej Malinowski’s McLaren.
Soon after, another two contenders had taken themselves out of serious points contention as Pfeffer clumsily rear-ended Williams’ Dominik Blajer at Turn 1, as Schöniger also copped a five-second time penalty for an incident with McLaren Veloce’s Luke Whitehead.
Out front, Sherratt extended his gap to Tonizza, BMW M Team BS+ Competition’s Nils Naujoks and the battling duo of Luca Losio and Harteveld as the pit window opened. Harteveld elected to pit just before the halfway mark after snatching fourth from Lamborghini’s Losio – the first of the frontrunners to do so.
He was quickly followed by Sherratt, as Tonizza and Naujoks pushed on with a clear track to attempt the overcut.
As the pitstops cycled through, Tonizza and Naujoks emerged in front, with Sherratt nearly two seconds in arrears. Harteveled was fourth but four seconds off the podium positions.
Championship ambitions
Sherratt kept Naujoks under extreme pressure for the remainder of the race, the German hanging on admirably as Tonizza cruised home for his second win of the season. It was another assured performance from the Italian, who surely fancies his chances of repeating the feat in the series finale at Barcelona.
In a generous act, Sherratt allowed his Ferrari team mate Hartveld through for third position on the final lap, slightly improving the German’s championship chances. Round 4 tightened up the championship battle considerably – with the top nine mathematically still able to win the championship – so these four extra points could be crucial.
On this form, however, it’s hard to see past David Tonizza. Yet the Unicorns of Love Mercedes-AMG of Bastian Richter/Tobias Gronewald still holds a narrow two-point advantage over the Automobili Lamborghini Esports Team, with Williams, Ferrari and BMW-powered teams all within touching distance.
2023 SRO Esports Sim Pro Series Round 4 Nürburgring results
- David Tonizza Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 Automobili Lamborghini Esports Team 1:01:33.045
- Nils Naujoks BMW M4 GT3 BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION +01.257
- Chris Harteveld Ferrari 296 GT3 Scuderia Ferrari Esports Team +12.157
- Jordan Sherratt Ferrari 296 GT3 Scuderia Ferrari Esports Team +12.540
- Luca Losio Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 Automobili Lamborghini Esports Team +16.281
- Arthur Kammerer BMW M4 GT3 BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION +16.776
- Mikhail Statsenko Audi R8 LMS Evo II ITB Sainteloc Racing +22.797
- Ar Muhammad Aleef Ferrari 296 GT3 Flash Axle Sports +24.176
- Daniel Savini Porsche 992 GT3 R Jean Alesi Esports Team +25.104
- Dario Iemmulo Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 VS Racing by Ballas eSport +26.137
SRO Esports Sim Pro Series 2023 standings after Round 4
- Mercedes-AMG Esports Team Unicorns of Love Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Tobias Gronewald – Bastian Richter 77 points
- Automobili Lamborghini Esports Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 David Tonizza 70 points
- Williams Esports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Dominik Blajer 68 points
- Scuderia Ferrari Esports Team Ferrari 296 GT3 Chris Harteveld 68 points
- Mercedes-AMG Team Williams Esports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Dáire McCormack – Dennis Schöniger – Tinko van der Velde 67 points
- Mercedes-AMG Esports Team HRT by UOL Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Tobias Pfeffer 66 points
- BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION BMW M4 GT3 Gregor Schill – Nils Naujoks 56 points
- BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION BMW M4 GT3 Arthur Kammerer – Nils Naujoks 52 points
- Flash Axle Sports Ferrari 296 GT3 Ar Muhammad Aleef 43 points
- Jean Alesi Esports Team Porsche 992 GT3 R Daniel Savini 42 points
2023 SRO Esports Sim Pro Series calendar
22nd April – Monza
3rd June – Circuit Paul Ricard
30th June – Spa-Francorchamps
29th July – Nürburgring
30th September – Barcelona
Images courtesy of SRO Esports
