David Tonizza will have to pull out all the stops in the fifth and final round of the SRO E-Sport GT Series, the virtual version of the GT World Challenge Europe. The Ferrari Driver Academy Hublot Esports Team driver will have to go on the attack if he’s to bring home the title in this Sunday’s race run on the Kylami in South Africa layout. The venue was selected by an on-line poll, in which it beat Mount Panorama in Australia, the venue for the Bathurst 12 Hours, Japan’s iconic Suzuka and the spectacular Laguna Seca track in the USA. Tonizza has to finish in the top three and hope his rivals, McLaren Patrick Selva (team Racing oN3) and Arthur Kammerer (team G2 Esports) don’t do too well.
Riding shotgun for the F1 Esports Series world champion will be Enzo Bonito, who was recently in great form in the final SRO round, held on 31 May at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit and especially in the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual, during which the Italian was clearly the bewst of the crew made up of the aforementioned “Tonzilla,” Antonio Giovinazzi and Charles Leclerc. Bonito will be aiming to help David by making life complicated on track for his rivals. As usual, the professional sim drivers race in the Silver Class, with the real drivers competing in the Pro Class.
Winning combination. After an underwhelming performance in Barcelona, when Tonizza scored a single point, againsts Kammerer’s win and a second place from Selva, David must give it his best shot, while two other elements come into play: his Ferrari 488 GT3 will have to be well set up for the Kyalami track and the rival McLarens will be carrying a big load of ballast after taking the three top places in Spain. To win the title, “Tonzilla” has to win at Kyalami, while hoping the current leader does no better than fifth and that Kammerer is not on the podium. It’s a lot to ask, but it’s not impossible and the FDA Hublot Esports Team driver has everything in place to get the job done.
Three more Ferraris. In the Silver Class, there will be five Ferraris racing at Kyalami: apart from the two FDA Hublot Esports Team cars, there will be two in the hands of privateers, who qualified in the pre-championship sessions: Italian Moreno Sirica (Williams Esports) and Brit Keiran Prendergast (MTR Racing.)
Pro Class. Having competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual, Nicklas Nielsen will be the only real driver representing the Maranello works team in the Pro class, flying the flag for Ferrari Competizioni GT. A lot is expected this time of David Perel (Rinaldi Racing) who went well at Le Mans and is now racing on his home track. Also driving Ferraris are David Fumanelli (Kessel Racing), Nicolas Hillebrand (Buttler-Pal Motorsport), Chris Froggatt (Sky Tempesta Racing) and Maksim Yefanov (Fasttuning.)
Timetable. The Kyalami race takes place on Sunday 21 June and will be streamed on the SRO site, on the GT World YouTube platform and on the Ferrari FDAFans e FerrariRaces Facebook pages. The green light for the Pros is at 14 CET and at 15:15 for the Silver class.