Joshua Rogers maintains the lead in ESL title fight
After two offline fixtures in Katowice, Poland, Joshua Rogers comes to virtual Hockenheim as the championship leader. Prior to the quarter-finals in Hockenheim last Friday, Australia laid the groundwork for a second-place semi-final. The same goes for Mack Backum who finished fourth in the quarterfinals.
Porsche’s factory racers had to compete against each other in the semifinals. In qualifying, the Dutchman scored the fifth fastest time with his team-mates. From the first meter, an exciting duel took place between the Australian tennis player and Maximilian Benecke from Team MOUZ before the final. Joshua Rogers withstood the German’s pressure and managed to defend his sixth position behind the Bakkum well. As a result, both Porsche 911 GT3s qualified for the final twelve races.
Bakkum qualified eighth for this while Rogers led the decisive eight lap race from tenth place. However, for starting too early, Rogers was penalized and dropped back to the back of the court. His Dutch teammate, however, managed to hold his ground well and crossed the finish line in eighth.
The new ESL-R1 series from the Electronic Sports League is aimed primarily at factory teams and Esports organizations. It is based on the Rennsport platform and offers a very realistic virtual reality experience. The world premiere took place in mid-October as a double leader event with the Intel Extreme Masters in Katowice, Poland. There are still five online matches until the end of May. On May 28, the ELS R-1 Championship Major Spring Finals will take place at the Rennsport Summit in Munich.
Comment
Philip Stamm (D, Team Principal of Porsche Coanda Esports Racing): “The first online weekend of the new ESL_R1 series went well. We had some small technical issues on Friday, but we were able to work them out over the weekend. It was our first time in the final with two Porsches – glad we did it to get together. I also happy for Mack Bakkum, who was able to show his potential. Joshua made it to the final again. Overall, it went well for us.”
Mack Bakkum (NL, Porsche Coanda Esports Racing): “I’m very happy with what happened to me today. I started the semifinals with a good qualifying round. Fifth place was enough to get into the final. My performance there was also fine. This time we didn’t have a car to take us in the fight for the top, so with that in mind, eighth is fine for me.”
Joshua Rogers (AUS, Porsche Coanda Esports Racing): “Not an ideal last day for me. In qualifying for the semi-finals I did a solid lap in the Porsche 911 GT3 R, but it was only good enough for sixth on the grid. After a fantastic duel with Max Benecke I finished sixth and qualified for the final “Qualifying there wasn’t exactly perfect either. In tenth I unfortunately started too early – and that nearly ended my race. Still, I kept my lead in the championship. I’ll have the upper hand to push hard in the next races.”
Rash
Nurburgring (D), finalse
1. Luke Bennett, BMW M4 GT3 (United Kingdom, Team Redline)
2. Nils Naujoks, BMW M4 GT3 (D, BMW M Team BS+ Competition)
3. Nikodem Wisniewski, AMG GT3 Evo (PL, Mercedes-AMG Esports Team)
4. Kevin Ellis Jr., Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II (UK, Apex Racing Team),
5. Erhan Jajovski, Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II (NMK, R8G Esports)
6. Felipe Baptista, BMW M4 GT3 (BR, FURIA)
8. Mack Bakkum, Porsche 911 GT3 R (NL/Porsche Coanda Esports Racing)
12. Joshua Rogers, Porsche 911 GT3 R (AUS/Porsche Coanda Esports Racing)
Intermediate Championship
1. Joshua Rogers (AUS/Porsche Coanda Esports Racing), 127 points
2.Kevin Ellis Jr. (UK, Apex Racing Team), 123 points
3. Jiri Toman (CZ, R8G Esports) 122 points.”
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