Sebastian Job talks about this year’s PESC, his wishes for the series, and his goals for the future!
The 2020 champion of the 2021 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup had a rough season. Coming into 2021, many believed a tooth and nail battle between Sebastian Job and Joshua K Rogerswould decide the championship. But as it turned out, Rogers would take the crown at the penultimate round and finish the season head and shoulders above the rest of the field.
However, that doesn’t mean Red Bull Racing Esports Team sensation Sebastian Job is anything other than motivated to right out any wrongs next year. In an Interview with OverTake, he recapped the season as follows.
OverTake: Hey Sebastian, nice to talk to you again! In this hard-fought season, what are some key takeaways for you?
Sebastian Job:
This was a weird season. There was lots of crazy stuff going on with the qualifying at the start, which meant we were always on the back foot.
Sebastian is talking about the so-called “brake dragging” that seemed to have happened at the start of this year’s season of the PESC. It is a way to warm tyres faster, but at the same time an exploit to the iRacing system, some argue. There was a heated debate about whether the technique is allowed or not. iRacing banned it in the pit lane, and some racers have been retroactively banned for it. At least for the first few races, it is believed to have made an enormous difference.
As a team, we did not perform to the level we should have. Partly due to being behind early, but even as the season progressed, the performance wasn’t quite there compared to previous years.
Hopefully, we can pick up the pace a bit. We have a good seven months to prepare for next season. While we really did struggle, it was more so Coanda that upped their level. Fair play to them, but we have to close that gap for next year. At the moment we are not close enough. There is work to do, but it was still a solid season, I suppose. But I’m not over the moon with it.
OverTake: You touched on a few things, but what were other key differences this year compared to last year?
Sebastian Job:
The pace in general, just wasn’t quite there this year. That can be attributed to slightly less time but not the drop that we saw. More so, Coanda Simsport probably found something within the very limited setup that worked. I don’t know what because we are really struggling. So we are missing something that they seem to have found.
So it is not something we certainly know how to fix for next year. Josh, Charlie Collins, Mitchell deJong, and Dayne Warren were probably all quicker than me every round, making it very challenging. We will make a few changes. Yuri Kasdorp came on board recently, as well as some other rFactor guys. Yuri will be doing iRacing as well and hopefully qualify for the PESC next year. That will be a bit more support, and fingers crossed, we can improve with that.
OverTake: Aside from Coanda, how do you assess the general level of the field from this year compared to last year?
Sebastian Job:
Throughout the field, I think the level probably increased a little bit. But some people dropped off, which I did not expect. Alejandro Sánchez was really quick last year and didn’t have the pace this time. Granted, he had an awful year of luck. Team Redline seemed to struggle as well. But it is all kind of relative. Because Coanda upped the level, and no one else kept up with it.
OverTake: Even though this year went differently than expected, were there some highlights for you?
Barcelona was a good one. I was way further back but managed to get the reversed grid pole and pulled away from the rest of the field, so I was pretty happy with that.
Pure racing ✅ Last lap drama ✅
— Red Bull Racing Esports (@redbullracingES) January 16, 2021
The moves that secured Feature Race pole for @G2Sebi 👏 #PESC pic.twitter.com/mcV6f3gQ6Y
Also, Spa being my only double win this year. The only problem has been that it feels really inconsistent. It has felt like a win or top three or DNF every race. Especially when you lack pace, you have to take risks a lot, which can be wins or DNFs.
OverTake: As you mentioned, you found success in rounds like Spa. What worked then that didn’t work in other rounds?
Sebastian Job:
Spa was one round where I really liked how the car was feeling. I liked the pace there. But I think this year, the slipstream of the car is incredibly powerful. They changed it a little bit. If this was last year’s car, it would be even more of a struggle. I don’t think I would have nearly as many wins. When the slipstream is that strong, you can still fight while being down a couple of tenths. So if you think about it, if the slipstream hadn’t changed Josh would have dominated even harder this year.
OverTake: You have touched on a few unfair aspects of this season. What would you like to see change in the future?
Sebastian has spoken out against some behavioural problems in the past. That is what this question refers to.
When you are against 6 people all teaming up against you you have to try a risky move, unfortunately didn’t work out this time, but can say I tried. One of the most frustrating races I’ve been a part of, something needs to change as this really isn’t fair.
— Sebastian Job (@G2Sebi) April 10, 2021
Sebastian Job:
I would like to see a smaller grid size. This has two positives to it. The first one is that I don’t think it’s right having one team making up a massive chunk of the grid. You have 40 cars, and 11 are in the same team. When one of them is fighting for the championship, the rest can help him out. But also, having a smaller grid would make it feel a little more elite. It makes it harder to get in, making it more of a privilege to be part of it. I wish there were rules about how many people you can have per team, but that is not realistic.
OverTake: Lastly, what is next for you?
Sebastian Job:
This week, I have been doing some F1 Esports Qualifier. I did the first stage last week, and now I’m doing the next one. It ends on the 2nd of May. For the first time ever the schedules of PESC and F1 Esports will line up so I can do both. As long as I can qualify, I will do the F1 Esports series for the second half of the year. But obviously, I want to get the title back next year!
That certainly is very intriguing to hear. If Sebastian can qualify, we can’t wait to see him compete against the elite. Maybe he will be able to challenge this gentleman. We at OverTake certainly wish him the best of luck!
What is your favourite Sebastian Job moment? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!