Alexey Nesov probably didn’t have the fastest pace in the Spa-Francorchamps round of the FANATEC ESports GT Pro Series, but a smart race done by him secured victory for the No. 90 MadPanda Motorsport Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo.
The unusual combo of MadPanda and Rutronik were leading the field at the race start, with the No. 96 Rutronik Porsche having the advantage in what was initially a towing game with sparse side by side moments along the field.
While the frontrunners were quite comfortable in their places, hell was breaking loose further down the field as contact was a thing everywhere, from light taps to real bulldozing, which was obviously giving a lot of work to the race control, though initially Kelvin van der Linde in the No. 32 WRT BMW and the Gold Cup leading No. 5 Optimum McLaren of Charlie Fagg being penalized, but Gilles Magnus in the No. 11 ComToYou Audi received a drive through a bit later.
Laurin Heinrich opted to pit early during the window, which worked as intended as the No. 96 needed to cover the No. 54 Dinamic Porsche of Ayhançan Güven, while the Silver Cup top three left the stop for as late as possible, though Alexey Nesov somehow outsmarted Heinrich to put the No. 90 MadPanda Mercedes in the lead, also covering himself against the No. 10 Boutsen VDS Audi of Cesar Gazeau.
The Gold Cup was a totally different story as Charlie Fagg not only had the flurry of penalties on his back but also his pit stop wasn’t registered, which could mean that the No. 21 ComToYou Audi of Nicolas Baert could be handed the class win after the flag, but race control acted before with 10 minutes to go as Fagg was disqualified.
Being from different classes wasn’t mattering too much for Heinrich as he was gaining on Nesov, but once the No. 96 was right behind the No. 90, Heinrich simply couldn’t find room to pass as the cornering advantages were nullified by the straight line grunt of the Mercedes engine, and the No. 90 MadPanda Mercedes prevailed on top until the checkered flag was waved to Nesov.
The No. 96 Rutronik Porsche of Laurin Heinrich may have lost the overall win but he still scored the Pro Cup win with certain ease as the No. 54 Dinamic Porsche was boxed in fourth overall due to the fight with the No. 10 Boutsen VDS Audi, which ended in second in the Silver Cup. After the disqualification of the No. 5 Optimum McLaren, the No. 21 ComToYou Audi of Nicolas Baert prevailed in the Gold Cup as he was mixed with the Pro Cup cars, which gave him some cushion to the opposition.
The ESports GT Pro returns to action at the Nürburgring as it will preceed the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup race on 29 July.
PHOTO: SRO/Jules Benichou
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