Last winter, our eSports racers, Olivier Bellanger and Quentin De Boever, took on the challenge of running a TCR League. Although both were unable to complete all the rounds due to schedule conflicts, they are back for another season of sim racing. This time, they're competing in GT4 specification cars. For the first time, they've chosen different vehicles to run: Olivier is in a BMW M4 while Quentin wields an Aston Martin Vantage.
The full season schedule can be found on our Calendar - Sim Racing page. The format for each event is simple: two-lap qualifying followed by a 45-minute race with limited fuel allowance. The important note is that pit stops will be necessary in every race due to the fuel supply limit. This should lead to more interesting races as drivers will inevitably try various pit stop strategies. Furthermore, the GT4 class cars hold up well in battles, so we expect to see plenty of tight racing!
At the time of writing, our pair of drivers have completed the first two rounds of the championship. Round 1 was held at Daytona International Speedway, where our drivers achieved something astonishing. After both of them qualified well, Quentin was involved in a Lap 1 incident leaving him with car damage amounting in a 2-second per lap drop in pace until his first pit stop. Meanwhile, Olivier held his own at the very front of the pack, but the nature of the circuit meant that no one was sure if a one stop strategy would suffice. Luckily for Olivier, Quentin's misfortunes played in his favor. A few laps from the finish, Olivier was close to lapping Quentin, but he was running out of fuel quick. This led to the pair plotting a scheme only viable at a track like Daytona. After some careful planning, Olivier ran out of fuel at the end of the final lap with Quentin positioning himself directly behind. Quentin proceeded to push Olivier to the checkered flag, handing the win to Olivier by less than half of a second. A fantastic result which can not be 100% accurately be described in words.
Round 2 at Fuji International Speedway was slightly less chaotic with both drivers qualifying well once again. Olivier led the pack for more than half of the race before encountering a rare pit stop error resulting in a 40-second penalty. Meanwhile, Quentin ran a solid, consistent race fighting near the front throughout. However, Olivier pulled a little something extra out and lit the timing screens ablaze after serving his penalty. He managed to come back from the back to earn a top-10 finish. Quentin's consistent pace in the race granted him a solid 5th place at the end of the day.
Both drivers are looking forward to the remainder of the season, and hope to complete as many rounds as possible. As always, we would like to thank all of our fans and sponsors for the continued support of these endeavors! Stay tuned for our progress throughout the remainder of the season!