Can Veloce defend their Le Mans Esports Series title

Can Veloce defend their Le Mans Esports Series title?

Sep 15, 2020 5 Min Read Posted by Nana Krustofski

Veloce Esports, Red Bull, Williams: the 2020 Le Mans Esports Series Super Finals features some top teams. But who has the fastest drivers?

Photo credit: Veloce Esports

27 top esports racers in nine different teams are waiting to race each other in the pro division at the Le Mans Esports Series Super Final 2020 from Tuesday until Friday. But which driver has the highest chance of winning? We took a closer look at the list of participants, so you know which storylines might be interesting at the event.

Noah Schmitz from Veloce Esports

Veloce Esports always assembles top contenders, and Noah Schmitz definitely counts as one of the hottest candidates in this tournament. The German esports racer successfuly claimed the trophy in last year’s Le Mans Esports Series, together with his team-mates James Baldwin and David Kelly.

One year ago, Schmitz was able to overtake French driver Aurelien Mallet – a maneuver that boosted the confidence of the now 21-year-old. As he told news page motorsport.de after his victory, Mallet was the driver to beat as he was considered king of Forza. And Schmitz was the one to dethrone him. The winner went on to explain: “I suddenly felt comfortable in the car. So comfortable that that was probably the main reason why we won convincingly.”

If the reigning LMES champion feels comfortable in his car again this time around, he might be able to defend his title. But the competition is rough, as above-metioned Mallet will be on the grid as well.

The winning trio
Image source: Veloce Esports The winning trio of the Le Mans Esports 2019

Aurelien Mallet from Red Bull Racing Esports

What makes an event more interesting than a potential neck-and-neck race with last year’s champion and the close runner-up? French esports driver Aurelien Mallet is one of the best-known drivers in Forza and therefore a serious contender. While his team got overtaken by Schmitz in 2019, he is now back in action and eager for the revenge race. He won the Qualification Series for the event together with his team-mates from Red Bull Racing Esports and with that a $10,000 cash prize.

Mallet has been part of the competitive Forza scene for multiple years and collected several trophies along the way. Most notably, he emerged victorious from the Forza Racing Championship 2019 Finals.

Kuba Brezinski and Nikodem Wisniewski from Williams Esports

Fans from Poland can cheer for Williams Esports as the team features two promising Polish drivers: Jakub Brzezinski and Nikodem Wisniewski.

Williams made their way through the Autosport International event in Birmingham. What really makes the two racers interesting: they were part of the winning team at the rFactor 2 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual in June. The mega-event served as substitute for the official Le Mans endurance race as the real-life version could not take place due to the pandemic.

Tom Lartilleux from Veloce Esports

Veloce Esports changed their roster for this years race and bring in a new challenger: French esports racer Tom Lartilleux. He has not been part of the latest edition of the virtual Le Mans, but is definitely up to take on the challenge. Lartilleux is experienced in several esports racing disciplines as he for example was awarded ‘Driver of the Day’ at the #FIAGTC Manufacturer Series in Salzburg. It will be interesting to see how he is going to perform at his first Le Mans Esports Series.

More content about the Le Mans 2020 Super Final:

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