The final round of the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup took place last weekend and we have a brand new champion: Altus Esports racer Jordan Caruso from Australia!
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Just like in 2022, it all came down to four drivers. In contention were Stormforce Racing ART’s Alejandro Sánchez, 2020 series champion Sebastian Job of Red Bull Racing Esports, VRS Coanda’s Zac Campbell and long time series leader Jordan Caruso of Altus Esports.
In the previous round, Caruso endured his worst points haul throughout the season. Heading into Round 9, he was 78 points ahead, with 85 being the maximum a driver could score in one round. After being involved in a last lap incident in the Main Race, that figure went down to 36 points heading into the finale.
A Chaotic Sprint
In qualifying, pole went the way of outgoing champion Diogo Pinto. All of Caruso’s championship rivals had a torrid time, with Campbell failing to set a time, Job only managing 13th and Sánchez 11th. Caruso was the last one to set a time, and a top four starting place would eliminate Sánchez from title contention. The Australian wasted no time dispatching his first tital rival.
Sánchez was now mathematically unable to win. But, Caruso not grabbing pole meant the Australian had failed to overcome the Spaniard in the TAG Heuer Pole Award. Some small comfort for Sánchez in light of his championship elimination.
Caruso knew he had to take advantage of his rival’s lowly starting positions. In doing so, he probably made some enemies. In one instance heading towards the last corner, he tapped Alessandro Bico into a spin. Then, a few laps later, he seemed to cause leaders Pinto and Yohann Harth to take to the gravel in T2.
This left Caruso in the lead and with Job down in tenth, he was able to stretch his points lead to over 50. Thus, Jordan Caruso wrapped up the title, joining 2-time champion Josh Rogers as well as Job and Pinto as Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup champions.
Who has to Requalify?
Another element to factor in for the PESC finale is the fact that the top 15 in the points standings have automatically requalified to compete in the series next year. The bottom 15, however, have to go through the Contender Series along with some potential new names from the Qualifying Series.
Main Race winner Gustavo Ariel just made the cut, along with Lasse Bak, Oskari Rinne and Luca Kita. Some of the big names that will have to go through the Contender Series include Max Benecke and Jamie Fluke. Both drivers have been juggling commitments between PESC and ESL R1, with Benecke even absent from the PESC finale as he was competing in the R1 Major.
Round 3 Sprint winner Simone Maria Marcenò will also be going through Contenders. The Altus driver’s best result aside from his race win and 7th place in Round 3’s Main Race was a lowly 15th, placing 27th in the standings.
eNASCAR Stars in All-Stars
Before the Supercup pros took to the track, the All-Stars competed in their finale using the all-electric Porsche Mission R. eNASCAR champion Casey Kirwan had a relatively easy run to winning the championship. However, he finally had some competition in the finale in the form of his eNASCAR contempories.
Current eNASCAR championship leader Michael Conti, Williams Esports’ Matt Bussa and Tony Kanaan Esports’ Parker White all joined for the PESC All-Stars finale. Immediately, all of them were on the pace. White qualified fastest ahead of Conti, Bussa, Pablo López and Kirwan.
In the Sprint Race, Conti jumped the start and earned himself a drive through penalty. Kirwan ended up winning the Sprint, but it was Conti who held off the pressure from 2021 champion Emily Jones to win in the Main Race.
With Kirwan so far out in front of the championship, the battle for second was very interesting. During the season, it looked to be between 2022 All-Stars champion Tyson ‘Quirkitized’ Meier, the aforementioned Jones and Jaroslav ‘Jardier’ Honzik. With the mid-season addition of López though, his charge made him a genuine contender despite missing the first few races.
In the end, Quirkitized just fended off López for second behind the dominant Kirwan.
What’s Next?
The Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup will begin again early 2024 for its sixth season. The Qualifying Series will open up in the not too distant future, with any Class A licence iRacing player able to compete. The top 15 will then face the bottom 15 from the Supercup in the Contender Series, taking place in the latter part of 2023.
To rewatch all the action from the finale, catch the YouTube stream below.
What did you make of the racing in the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup finale? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
