Sebastian Job from Team Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports has won the feature race in Long Beach, joining the title fight in the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup. The Briton narrowly beat Charlie Collins (VRS Coanda) in the third round of the season, taking the lead of the overall standings. With exciting duels and numerous accidents, the two races on the 3.1-kilometre street circuit in the Californian port city delivered some surprising results.
In the sprint race, Simone Maria Marcenò from the Altus Esports squad secured a surprising victory ahead of teammate and pole setter Jordan Caruso. In the feature race, Bobby Zalenski (VRS Coanda) had luck on his side in a chaotic last lap, securing pole position. However, he was unable to hold the top spot and slipped back to tenth position, leaving Sebastian Job to control the top spot for 25 laps and celebrate his first win of the season.
In the All-Stars competition, guest entrant Laurin Heinrich and Esport professional Casey Kirwan left their mark on the sprint race. Heinrich made a blistering start off the line, catapulting past Kirwan to eventually cross the finish line 1.5 seconds ahead of him, with third place going to Oliver “Basic Ollie” Furnell. In the feature race, Dave “Davecam” Cameron took the flag first, with Heinrich clinching second place in a photo finish just ahead of Casey Kirwan.
The Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup will head to Austin, Texas for the fourth event of the 2023 season in two weeks, with the All-Stars set to compete in the virtual version of the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport for the first time this season.
Comments on the race
Sebastian Job (UK/Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports): “Quite honestly, I was pretty lucky today. The pace was clearly not there. I could count myself lucky with seventh place in qualifying. In the chaotic first lap, I managed to put in a downright lucky lap in the first race – and was able to maintain the position. In the main race, I simply had to force the car through the laps. That was extremely difficult. The pace just wasn’t what I wanted – and unfortunately, that’s been the case in every race so far this season. I’ve made some progress, but there’s still a lot of work ahead of me to get up to speed.”
Charlie Collins (UK/VRS Coanda): “It feels like a victory. Going into this race I had very little confidence. That’s because we discovered during testing that we might not be so fast, so I’m happy with how it went. On top of this, I saw a lot of cars in the rear-view mirror that unfortunately got into trouble.”
Jordan Caruso (AUS/Altus Esports): “My second pole position was a great success. I really managed to put in a great lap. After second place in the sprint, I was also able to position myself well ahead in the feature event. That was really fun. At first, Yohann was pretty fast in front of us, but when Charlie squeezed past, I was able to follow. That was brilliant. Unfortunately, I hit someone at the beginning of the race. A car in front of me braked earlier than expected and I couldn’t avoid it. I was very sorry about that. But afterwards, I simply had to put it behind me. We’ve been working hard for months. It’s great that our work is now paying off.”
Results
Long Beach, sprint race
1. Simone Maria Marcenò (I/Altus Esports)
2. Jordan Caruso (AUS/Altus Esports)
3. Alejandro Sanchez (E/Stormforce Racing ART)
4. Bryn Collins (UK/VRS Coanda)
5. Charlie Collins (UK/VRS Coanda)
Long Beach, feature race
1. Sebastian Job (UK/Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports)
2. Charlie Collins (UK/VRS Coanda)
3. Jordan Caruso (AUS/Altus Esports)
4. Cooper Webster (AUS/Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports)
5. Yohann Harth (F/Stormforce Racing ART)
Overall standings after 3 of 10 rounds
1. Charlie Collins (UK/VRS Coanda), 197 points
2. Jordan Caruso (AUS/Altus Esports), 194 points
3. Diogo C. Pinto (P/Team Redline), 146 points
4. Sebastian Job (UK/Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports), 146 points
5. Cooper Webster (AUS/Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports), 120 points