Fact is often better than fiction, but sometimes the virtual world can match the real one which is what happened in the Spa 24 Hours Esports race, a round of the SRO World Challenge Esports series Endurance Cup. A week on from the real race in Belgium, the Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 of David Tonizza, Giovanni De Salvo and Amos Laurito emulated the achievements of Iron Lynx drivers, Alessandro Pier Guidi, Come Ledogar and Nicklas Nielsen.
Qualifying. While the FDA Esports Team went on to dominate the race, qualifying had not augured that well. The 51 Ferrari was only 13th on the grid, four seconds off the pole sitters from Unicorns of Love. Three hundredths further back was the second Ferrari of Jean Alesi Esports Academy, in the hands of Pawlowski, Santoro and D’Alcamo. The 192 Ferrari entered by Kessel Racing by Racing Line for Blotto-Gyetvan-Chiesa-Pryde was 19th, while the 97 car of SideMax Motorworks di Kruezer-Van Der Velde-Caims-Malinowski was 21st.
Start. The 51 Ferrari got a great start with De Salvo soon up to seventh, before handing over to David Tonizza. The F1 Esports World Champion immediately passed Gregor Schill in the BMW Motorsport Sim Racing G2 Esports and during the third hour managed to get as high as second, behind the Unicorns of Love car. Then, in the sixth hour, the leader made a mistake at the pit stop, which saw the 488 GT3 Evo 2020 FDA Esports Team car inherit the lead.
Rainy night. As night fell, Amos Laurito gradually came to the fore, with his first stint coming at 1am and then put in the crucial stint between 3 and 5 in the morning, increasing his lead. However, it began raining at the Belgian track and going well in these conditions was the 18 car of VRS Coanda Simsport driven by Rogers-Gkergkis-Ostgaard-Bakkum, which even took the lead for a while. When the track dried, the Ferrari easily retook the lead and pulled out a gap. Through the morning and early afternoon, Tonizza and De Salvo’s pace was too strong for the others and they overtook almost the entire field. Amos Laurito drove the final stint, passing the 600 lap mark to be first past the chequered flag, ahead of the 191 car of Racing Line Motorsport in the hands of Siclari-Schinz-Ratz-Batfouller and the 18 car of VRS Coanda Simsport, the only two other cars on the same lap as the winners. No other Ferraris finished in the points, even if the Jean Alesi Esports Academy car finished just outside, in 11th place.
Standings. Thanks to this amazing result, the 51 crew has extended its lead to 19 points ahead of the VRS Coanda Simsport 18 car and is 37 points in front of the 191 Racing Line crew. There are just two rounds remaining, the first of those on 11 September at the Nurburgring.