Joshua Rogers helped the Porsche Coanda Esports working team start the ESL R1 autumn campaign in eighth place. After receiving a "slow-down" penalty in qualifying, the Australian sim racer made his way from the rear of the pack to finish in the top twelve. Dayne Warren, a teammate and fellow citizen, was poised to place on the podium when he, too, received a warning for exceeding the track limit and finished the race in 12th place.
The "Temple of Speed" in Monza, Italy, hosted the start of the autumn series of the ESL R1 sim racing championship using the new "Rennsport" simulation platform. Up until November 11th, eight races will be run, much like the first spring series. In Jönköping, Sweden, two weeks later, the major final will take place. The winners of the team and driver categories will each get a prize of USD $40,000.
The European Sports League (ESL) organizers have made two significant adjustments to the tournament since it began in the first half of the year. Although the final races have always been held on Monday nights and the preliminary heats have always been staged on Fridays, the current arrangement from Thursday through Friday is significantly more condensed. The quarterfinal and semifinal competitions now have a stronger sporting importance. As usual, the first six of the twelve starters move on to the next round, but now they also receive points for their individual finishes; the winner, for instance, gets 25 points, the second gets 20, and so on until the eleventh place, which gets one point. The winner receives 35 points for the grand prize. The goal is to increase the incentive for thrilling battles across the board. For the Porsche Coanda Esports working team, the competition started off well. With third and fourth place finishes on Thursday, Joshua Rogers and Dayne Warren of Australia, along with Mitchell deJong of the USA, qualified for the semi-finals. Mack Bakkum of the Netherlands lost out in ninth place.
Warren qualified for the first semi-final on P6, just 0.069 seconds off the pole. A furious five-way duel with strong slipstream competition for fourth to sixth position developed behind the leading three while they were able to pull away slightly at the front. Warren managed to hold off the field in his virtual 911 GT3 R, crossing the line in fourth place and making it to the championship race. Tenth place went to Mitchell deJong. From the starting line of the second semi-final, Sebastian Job (G2 Esports), a UK sim racer, presented Joshua Rogers with formidable competition. The Australian then went on to maintain a slim lead at the front until being challenged once more in the final two laps. In the end, he finished second and took the flag.
Warren started in the first row in the final. A spirited five-way fight broke out once more, but this time it was for the win. Warren frequently went over the track boundaries during the chaos that included eventual victor Sebastian Job, Hungary's Marcell Csincsik (R8G Esports), and the two Williams drivers, Daire McCormack and Jakub Brzezinski. The Australian received a five-second penalty, moving him to the sidelines. Due to a track restriction infraction, Josh Rogers started the race from the rear of the field as well, although he was able to move up to seventh place.
Comments on the race
After winning the Gamers8 Festival in Saudi Arabia and with our strong preseason, Nina Braack (D, Esports Manager at Porsche Motorsport) said, "We were looking forward to the start of the season. Overall, even though we had anticipated a different result in the race, it is really great that we advanced to the semifinals with three drivers and the final with two drivers. We are currently compiling all the data and expect to perform better next weekend.
"We reached the semi-finals with three drivers, which was fantastic, but we didn't earn enough points with one third and two fourth places," said Jörn Jens (D, Team Manager Porsche Coanda Esports Racing). Dayne Warren and Joshua Rogers made it to the championship game. Joshua had bad luck because his qualifying time was canceled. Dayne had to contend for positions the entire way through the race, which resulted in a lot of off-track warnings. There was a penalty as well. We didn't get off to a terrific start, but we did show what we were capable of.
Porsche Coanda Esports Racing's Joshua Rogers (Australia): "Overall, a good start for us. On Thursday, I placed second in the semifinals and third in the knockout races. I regrettably made a mistake at the end of the Ascari corner during qualifying for the championship; otherwise, the lap would have been strong. I finished the race in P12 but moved up a few spots on the grid. I'm now anticipating Spa-Francorchamps in a week since we've always performed well there.
Dayne Warren (AUS, Porsche Coanda Esports Racing): "I have conflicting emotions over the ESL R1 autumn series season start. Entry into the final went without a hitch. I'm not too dissatisfied with my qualifying lap. The race was heated for the first half, but I unintentionally got myself into trouble and got another warning. In Spa, maybe things will go more smoothly.
Results
Monza (I), finale result 1. Sebastian Job, BMW M4 GT3 (UK, G2 Esports) 2. Daire McCormack, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo (IRL, Williams) 3. Marcell Csincsik, Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II (H, R8G Esports) 7. Joshua Rogers, Porsche 911 GT3 R (AUS, Porsche Coanda Esports Racing) 12. Dayne Warren, Porsche 911 GT3 R (AUS, Porsche Coanda Esports Racing) Drivers’ standings after 1 of 8 rounds 1. Sebastian Job (UK, G2 Esports), 85 points 2. Daire McCormacko (IRL, Williams Esports), 70 points 3. Marcell Csincsik (H, R8G Esports), 62 points 4. Erhan Jajovski (MZ, R8G Esport), 47 points 5. Joshua Rogers (AUS, Porsche Coanda Esports Racing), 255 points 10. Dayne Warren (AUS, Porsche Coanda Esports Racing), 31 points 17. Mitchell deJong (USA, Porsche Coanda Esports Racing), 15 points Team standings after 1 of 8 rounds 1. Wiliams Esports, 176 points 2. R8G Esports, 168 points 3. G2 Esports, 104 points 4. Porsche Coanda Esports Racing, 96 points
2023 ESL R1 autumn series
31.8/1.9 Monza (I) 7./8.9 Spa-Francorchamps (B) 21./22.9 Hockenheim (D) 28./29.9 Nürburgring (D) 5./6.10 Monza (I) 28./27.10 Race 6 (tbd) 2./3.11 Race 7 (tbd) 9./10.11 Race 8 (tbd) 24.11 Major Finale Jönköping (S)