2022 Alpine Esports Series: Baldwin Has One Hand on the Trophy Already

Is anyone going to be able to stop James Baldwin? The 2019 World's Fastest Gamer went into round two of the 2022 Alpine Esports Series at Paul Ricard as the championship leader - and extended his lead from three to 24 points with two victories in virtual France. With a maximum of 35 points on offer per round, the Brit looks set to win the title in the final round on June 23rd.

@JaaamesBaldwin could not have gotten off to a better start, qualifying on pole for the sprint race. Meanwhile, his championship rivals Marko Pejic and George Boothby only got seventh and ninth on the grid, respectively, with Andrea Miatto and Michele Nerbi rounding out the top 3 instead.

From there, the pole sitter went on to score his second win of the championship with relative ease considering the wet conditions. The slippery track seemed to benefit Luke Whitehead, however, who had started fifth but worked his way up to second when the checkered flag flew after seven laps. Miatto secured the final spot on the podium.

Points Scorers - Sprint Race

1. James Baldwin
2. Luke Whitehead
3. Andrea Miatto
4. Marko Pejic
5. Isaac Gillissen
6. Michael Romagnoli
7. Mariusz Torzydlo
8. Michal Nowakowski

In the following main race qualifying session, Whitehead continued his pace, barely missing out on pole position which - again - went to Baldwin. A last-minute effort by Whitehead saw him almost pull off the upset on Baldwin, with only .072 of a second separating the pair. Behind them, Nerbi would start in third again.

The race was not as close, though: This time in the dry, Baldwin once again took the checkered flag first with 4.9 seconds of an advantage over Whitehead, who held off Nerbi for P2. After a lowly P9 in the sprint race, Boothby meanwhile recovered to fourth in the main race after having started fifth, meaning he would stay in third place overall - but only just: Pejic is just one point behind the Englishman heading into the final round of the championship.

Points Scorers - Main Race

1. James Baldwin
2. Luke Whitehead
3. Michele Nerbi
4. George Boothby
5. Andrea Miatto
6. Mathias Kuhn
7. Marko Pejic
8. Michael Romagnoli
9. Artur Czanecki
10. Isaac Gillissen

While the first two rounds were held in relatively quick succession, the title decider will have to wait: Round three of the 2022 Alpine Esports Championship is scheduled for June 23rd - and the track is yet to be decided: Alpine is holding a community vote on the circuit until May 19th, so make sure to cast your vote for either the Hungaroring, Silverstone or the Nürburgring on Twitter!


Who is your favorite for the final? Do you think Baldwin has the title and the prize of a GT4 test day in the bag? Or can Whitehead and Boothby stop their compatriot just before the finish line? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter @RaceDepartment!

2022 Alpine Esports Series - Standings After Round Two