A classy performance and 20 points sees the FDA Esports Team join McLaren Shadow in fifth place in the standings after the first two races of the third round of the F1 Esports Series Pro Championship: the Portuguese Grand Prix was run on the Algarve circuit and the Dutch race was held at Zandvoort. David Tonizza finished sixth and fifth respectively in the two events while Brendon Leigh added two points for a ninth place at Zandvoort, after the first race was one to forget for the Englishman.
Portugal. Tonizza did well in the all-important qualifying at Portimao, on the front row just 13 thousandths slower than poleman Lucas Blakeley (Aston Martin.) Leigh got no further than Q2 and had to settle for 12th. In the race, David had a great scrap with Dani Moreno (Mercedes) with plenty of passing and repassing up until the pit stops, going from Soft to Medium tyres, after which the Italian was 14th and the Englishman 16th. Once the entire field had pitted, Tonizza was second again but had to give best to Fabrizio Donoso (Alpine) and Frederik Rasmussen (Red Bull) to find himself once again fighting with Moreno. They collided which relegated David to sixth. Leigh was hit by Bardia Boroumand in the McLaren, which dropped him back to 17th.
Holland. Qualifying did not go too well at Zandvoort even though both FDA drivers made it to Q3. David was only eighth and Brendon ninth and could therefore expect a difficult race. At the start, Leigh passed Tonizza and after the pit stop got as high as seventh, still with his team-mate behind him.
With just a few laps remaining, Brendon collided with Jarno Opmeer(Mercedes) while fighting for sixth place, which dropped him to ninth at the chequered flag, With a clear track ahead of him, Tonizza caught and passed Patrik Sipos in the Alpine to take fifth at the flag.
Standings. With the points from this first day of the third round of the championship, the FDA Esports Team is level pegging with McLaren on 68 points in fifth place, while David Tonizza has caught Donoso in seventh spot. Brendon Leigh drops to twelfth while his points total is now 22. The final race of Round 3 takes place tomorrow against the backdrop of the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, where Tonizza and Leigh can both expect to be competitive. The races can be seen starting at 20.30 CET on the FDA Facebook channel - @FDAFans – as well as on Formula 1’s Facebook, YouTube and Twitch channels.