Rogers had gone into the Major second in the points table to long-time adversary Sebastian Job (G2 Esports). The complex format of ESL R1 would see the regular season points reset with the leader sitting on 100 and the rest reduced as a proportion of their deficit – leaving Rogers still the nearest challenger on 90.
Handily that all but guaranteed progress to the final day – with drivers taking race victories advancing, followed by those with the highest points scores – as Rogers, who later stated he’d caught a cold, had an unusually poor spell of racing. He’d finish no better than sixth in his four Group B races, and behind team-mate Dayne Warren in three of them.
Meanwhile, Job was still in fine form, taking two race victories in Group A to reconfirm his progress. Jeffrey Rietveld (Redline) and Kevin Ellis Jr (ART) also took wins in the group to advance. Kevin Siggy (Redline) was a double race-winner in Group B, along with Maximilian Benecke (Mouz) and Tuomas Tahtela (Heroic). Tahtela needed the win to progress, too as he was outside the top 12, and that eliminated Jamie Fluke (ART) as a result.
That set up a final showdown of some of ESL R1’s best-known drivers, with Job leading the way from Daire McCormack (Williams), defending Spring Major champion Marcell Csincsik (R8G) and his team-mate Jiri Toman, a three-car Redline line up of Rietveld, Siggy, and Luke Bennett, Rogers and Warren for Porsche, Benecke, and Tahtela.
Again the format saw points reset with Job moving down to 100 and those behind reduced proportionately – resulting in a now 16-point lead. Drivers would be required to hit a magic 160-point mark to enter “Finalist Mode”, giving them the title upon their next race victory. Whatever had been ailing Rogers on day one, he’d seem to have recovered for the final day as he took victory in more than half of the races.
Wins at Spa, Hockenheim, and Road Atlanta – a race also notable for an equipment failure on Jiri Toman’s driving rig saw the Porsche man take the points lead for the first time this season, just ahead of Job and McCormack. McCormack though would be the first to hit Finalist Mode after a second-place finish in race seven tipped him over the 160-point mark.
The Williams driver couldn’t break through a Porsche blockade as Rogers won again ahead of team-mate Warren, and Job passed McCormack on the final lap too. That now meant Finalist Mode for Rogers and Job alongside McCormack going into race nine at Spa – where Rogers had already won twice. Unsurprisingly perhaps, Rogers captured pole position, then immediately saw his competition drop to two as McCormack was tagged into La Source by Warren. However, he still had Toman to contend with, as the R8G driver took the lead twice.
On the penultimate tour though, Toman suffered yet another equipment failure and speared off the track, leaving Rogers under little pressure from behind and with a two-second gap to Job who’d just got past countryman Ellis. The British racer couldn’t close the gap at all, leaving Rogers to scoop his first ESL R1 title with Job second and McCormack third.
ESL R1 Fall Major Final Race Results:
1 – Joshua Rogers (Porsche Coanda) - Porsche 911 GT3 R - 7 laps
2 – Sebastian Job (G2 Esports) - BMW M4 GT3 - +2.565s
3 – Kevin Ellis Jr (ART) - Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo - +3.192s
After a somewhat delayed and stuttering lead-up, the official F1 esports series – now known as the F1 Sim Racing World Championship – finally got underway this weekend, also at DreamHack in Sweden.
Confusion reigned in the arena as the original event start came and went with no on-track action or word from the new organisers at ESL, before the racing finally got underway a day late and reduced to only one round instead of two. Bahrain remained the opening round of this season’s planned 12-race championship, and it was 2022’s surprise star Thomas Ronhaar on pole position in his new Alfa Romeo colours ahead of Mercedes racer Dani Bereznay.
Ronhaar kept the lead in the opening laps, but his scrap with Bereznay caught out Nicolas Longuet (Ferrari) who spun trying to avoid collecting Alfie Butcher (Haas) into the first turn and caught Lucas Blakeley (McLaren) in the process. The damage Blakeley picked up eventually resulted in the defending champion finishing out of the points in 17th.
A strong undercut saw Ronhaar slip behind Longuet, forcing him into a battle with two-time world champion Jarno Opmeer (Mercedes), but the Alfa man won the battle of the Dutch drivers to keep his place. Ronhaar would then breeze past Longuet and Jed Norgrove (AlphaTauri) with a double-DRS pass to take the effective race lead. Opmeer eventually managed to get past Longuet too, but Ronhaar had long since checked out and was five seconds clear. Despite a late surge up the field from Frede Rasmussen (Red Bull), Longuet was able to hold onto the final podium place to claim his first points for Ferrari.
F1 Sim Racing World Championship Race 1 Results:
1 – Thomas Ronhaar - Alfa Romeo F1 Team Kick - 29 laps
2 – Jarno Opmeer - Mercedes-AMG Petronas - +5.781s
3 – Nicolas Longuet - Scuderia Ferrari - +6.315s
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