PESC : Fuel Drama At LeMans / PESPC : Libeert & Gibson Inside Top-10
PESC | With a months break between rounds, Setsaas and Jansson had a great opportunity to kick on in the fourth round of the Porsche Tag Heuer Esports Supercup. Setsaas entered in 7th in the standings, and Jansson was looking to push towards the top 20 after a continuation of his bad luck in Donington Park last time out. Qualifying at such a long circuit gave the drivers their biggest test to date, and Setsaas would again provide a strong laptime, seeing himself qualify in position 8, which with the reverse grid would line him up on pole for the opening race. Jansson would line up in a solid 26th.
With Setsaas taking an early lead after a strong start, things were looking good for the Norwegian. The draft however would not allow any gap to form over Kevin Ellis Jr and Alejandro Sanchez behind. The Apex #98 of Ellis would collide with the CoRe car in the second Mulsanne chicane, forcing a slowdown penalty and dropping Setsaas down to the back of the leading group. Jansson made an impressive start and found himself within the top 20 on the opening laps of the Sprint race also. However, with a technical glitch meaning the race would go one lap longer than scheduled, both CoRe cars ended up stricken on the final lap with no fuel, and therefore a double pointless score for both drivers. With the pace in the car, the only way was forward for both drivers, and Setsaas could once again nail his start and made his way through the pack in the opening laps. However bad luck would fall on the way of the #3, as a poorly timed defense from Brian Lockwood resulted in damage and Sindre would limp home in 28th position, 27 positions lower than may have been on the cards after qualifying. Jansson would only go upwards however, and perhaps this was a sign of the luck changing for the Swede. Carl would cross the line in 20th position, fending off a large pack of cars in the final laps to bring home the points position.
Both drivers would again feel like more could have been gained from the result, but will both look forward to the next round in the Nordschleife, where both drivers have gathered much success in the DNLS this year.
PESPC | Round Four of the Porsche Esport Sprint Challenge series steered away from conventional GT4 racetracks and arrived at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans. Northern Irishman Thomas Gibson entered as championship leader, with Libeert looking to consolidate his 7th position in the standings in his home round.
With the unique set-up demands on the Porsche 718 GT4, the two CoRe cars seems to miss a trick in the set-up and qualified far lower than usual in 7th for Gibson and 12th for Libeert. The large straights would set the race up for close pack racing within the draft, but unfortunately Gibson lost sight of the leading pack after an unfortunate off track in the second lap, while Libeert was held up in some mid-pack battling, and the leading six cars could pull away. Gibson remained the spearhead of the second group, until the final lap when Altus Simone Maria Marceno made a move, after catching Williams Moreno Sirica for 7th. An unfortunate netcode collision saw Marceno and Gibson make contact, resulting in the Altus car facing the wrong face at the exit of Mulsanne Gibson would finish in 8th, and Libeert in 10th. A disappointing round for both drivers, but still picking up solid points despite the lack of overall pace. Gibson would leave France with his championship lead cut to just 7 points, while Libeert would drop to 10th position in the standings. Both drivers would hope for a strong recovery next time round at the Green Hell.