New car & battle for next season: Monza concludes PESC

New car next season: Monza concludes PESC

iRacing
Apr 25, 2021 7 Min Read Posted by Marvin Miller

With the championship question off the table, the last race of the 2021 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup found other ways to impress.

Photo Credit: Porsche Motorsport

While Joshua K Rogers secured his second PESC championship with the 2021 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup in Round 9 two weeks ago, the final race at Monza still had an impact on the final standings. On top of that, iRacing revealed a new car during the final, which is going to be relased in June.

Top 20 qualify for next season

The story of the race on Saturday was the question of who would be able to remain in the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup for next season. The top 20 drivers are automatically requalified, and that meant a great struggle for some originals of the series. With his victory in the sprint race, Dayne Warren made sure to punch his ticket into the upper brackets. After an incredibly close sprint race, the Australian made sure to take over at the top of the table.

Another racer who made the cut was Yohann Harth. The Frenchman still had to fight for his spot, as he sat at P24 in the overall standings before the race. The featured race saw Harth start from pole position due to the reversed grid.

Over the course of the 14 laps, he and Italian sim racer Moreno Sirica engaged in a battle that tested everyone’s heart rate. While Sirica was further down the order, he tried to gain enough points to keep him at the so important 20th spot. The live points flickered back and forth as the drivers were swapping positions at their respective packs.

Until two laps before the end, the points between the two were tied. A few corners before the finish saw misery unfold. Sirica got a drive-through penalty, ending his hopes of getting a guaranteed spot next season. His French opponent will, meanwhile, remains in the series for 2022, as he scored a third place in the feature race. In the post-race interview he expressed his relief: “Third place at the end of the season is a dream. Finally, everything came together perfectly. Just in time because now, as one of the top 20 drivers of the year, I automatically qualify for the coming season. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

The King’s return

The two best racers of the season Rogers and Mitchell deJong let the field behind them in the final race. The prematurely crowned champion Rogers claimed yet another victory, proving how far ahead he was of the field in the 2021 season. Mitchell deJong, who’s had been his fiercest competitor, placed second.

What a way to regain the throne after narrowly missing it last year. Rogers and his teammates from Virtual Racing School have put on a show throughout the whole series, which proved a few of OverTake’s predictions right.

Unlike his first championship in 2019, Rogers won this year’s title in a dominant fashion. After the penultimate round at Le Mans, the championship was already in Rogers’ bag, whereas in the previous years, it was a fight until the last race. His teammate, deJong is the 2021 PESC runner-up, Charlie Collins claims third in the overall standings. Rogers commented after the race:

I’m incredibly relieved that I can now officially call myself champion again. The season was exhausting, exciting and a real rollercoaster ride. At the first events, my qualifying results weren’t exactly what I’d expected. We worked on this as a team and made huge progress. The better grid positions then helped me to achieve the many successes over the rest of the year. It was great fun, especially after experiencing a really bad season in 2020. I think Mitchell and I put on another great show for the fans at the final race.

Emily Jones won the All-Stars trophy against other notable esports racing influencers such as Jaroslav ‘Jardier’ Honzik and Maxime MXM.

911 GT3R: New car for iRacing revealed

The finals of the PESC were the perfect stage for iRacing to announce a new car. The Porsche 911 GT3R will be available from June. The 911 GT3R has made appearances in endurance series such as Bathurst 12 Hour or the 6 Hours of Imola.

Maybe we can look forward to seeing this car in coming competitions such as the Porsche All-Star Race next year. In the meantime, you can vote for the best overtake of the season right here:

TAG HEUER OVERTAKE AWARD: YOUR VOTE COUNTS!

What was the most thrilling moment in this year’s Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!

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