Le mans virtual series team redline and tesla r8g win shortened nurburgring race

After a wet qualifying, where Jernej Simoncic put the championship-leading #4 Floyd ByKolles-Burst LMP car on pole position, team-mate Jesper Pedersen took the reins for the race start.

In GTE, the #92 Porsche Esports Team entry headed the field after Joshua Rogers put in a qualifying lap just 41.68 seconds overdue the quickest LMP time and moreover took to the wheel for the opening stint.

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Mercifully, the conditions were dry as the 38-car grid charged lanugo to the first corner on the Grand Prix Circuit, surpassing heading onto the Nordschleife – where overtaking and lapped traffic were the primary concerns superiority of the event.

Marcell Csincsik in the #22 GPX Rebellion Williams took the initiative at the start, snatching the lead during a relatively well-behaved opening segment, while in GTE the leading #92 Porsche kept first position and its #91 squad-member slotted into second.

In the mid-pack, four GTE entrants visited the gravel at turn one, but all were worldly-wise to continue. The #89 BMW Team BS COMPETITION car driven by Porsche Supercup race winner Laurin Heinrich ended up at the when of the field. Later virtually the lap, Gustas Grinbergas in the #66 SIMMSA Esports Ferrari hit the windbreak at Aremberg.

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At the end of the first lap, Pedersen made his move to retake the lead from Csincsik at Turn 1. Once four laps had been completed, several LMP cars pitted, including leader Pedersen, while those tropical overdue chose to proffer their stints.

Drama unfurled near the 30-minute mark when Csincsik span at Wippermann allowing Jeffrey Rietveld through into a net second and Erhan Jajovski into third – but not without a pulp slide. Once everyone had visited the pitlane, Pedersen remained ahead.

The lead was short-lived, however, as Team Redline started marching forward with a sense of inevitability. From fifth on the grid, Formula Pro Series champion Bono Huis took the #123 to first without a duel that lasted seven corners.

Fun and games were stuff had in the GTE pack, in particular lanugo the slipstream-inducing Dottinger Hohe. Martin Hemmingsen in the #888 TESLA R8G Esports BMW came to grief, spearing into the barriers without side-by-side contact with the #55 BMW Team GB car driven by Jack Keithley, but was worldly-wise to swiftly recover.

The first GTE pitstops happened at the end of lap six, with the exception of the #71, #51 and #888 entries who stayed out for one spare lap with well-spoken air virtually them. Then, as the second stint began, the #91 Porsche of Mitchell deJong made an early second visit to the pitlane.

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With an hour completed, the traffic started, as the LMP leaders unprotected the GTE class. The first victim of the tight confines and obvious speed differential was Tom Lartilleux in the #14 Race Clutch Alpine, who made contact with Pero Stoyanov Peev in the #57 Team Project 1 x BPM Porsche and cannoned into the barriers at Galgenkopf.

Following this, the field witnessed an unfortunate spate of red flags. As motorsport rules dictate, all cars visited the pits, any forfeiture was repaired and fuel tanks topped up – some teams plane swapped drivers. Without safety car and insemination laps, the rolling start got the event moving then with just under five hours left on the clock.

The #123 Team Redline entry was lanugo the field, having pitted from the lead surpassing the red flag. That meant the #4 Floyd ByKolles-Burst car was when in front, but with Simoncic now at the helm. Rietveld in the #70 looked to have a connection issue and dropped out of second surpassing the restart.

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The stoppages moreover unliable for the #44 ARC Bratislava, who missed the race start of the race due to internet connection challenges, to join the field at the when of the grid – albeit nine laps behind.

At the restart, the #10 MAHLE RACING TEAM vehicle was tipped into a spin. Unsighted, Muhammed Patel tried reversing from the scene, but moved straight into the path of the leading GTE #Proton Competition Porsche, which was luckily unharmed.

A disaster for the GTE championship-leading #91 Porsche happened as we approached half-distance, with Mack Bakkum climbing up the barriers at Mutkurve, forcing a visit to the pits. Meanwhile, Keithley in the #55 was having a storming drive, making calculated overtaking manoeuvres to make it into third.

As the race progressed into the final four hours, the red flag was to strike then due to technical difficulties, and without a period of consultation, race director Eduardo Freitas tabbed the race complete.

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That meant the #123 Team Redline Racing car driven by Huis, Felix Rosenqvist and Collin Spork – that had fought its way to the lead, then been pushed when in the first red flag surpassing opting to pit on opposite laps to every other LMP entrant – won the race without countback, superiority of the #4 Floyd ByKolles-Burst LMP of Simoncic, Pedersen and Tom Dillmann.

The #966 Team Fordzilla car of Rafel Lobato, Nuno Pinto and Pablo Lopez Padin finished in third, the strongest showing yet by the team.

In GTE, victory went to the #888 TESLA R8G Esports BMW of Hemmingsen, Alex Smolyar and Timotej Andonovski, recovering without their older excursion. Red Bull Racing Esports in the #111 Corvette finished second with Cem Bolukbaşı, Yuri Kasdorp and Nestor Garcia and third fell to the #88 Proton Competition Porsche driven by Dayne Warren, Charlie Collins and Dylan Pereira.

Given increasingly than two laps were completed and no increasingly than 75% of the race distance, half points were awarded. Any outstanding penalties were converted to time and are reflected in the final results.

The next round of the Virtual Le Mans Series is the Sebring 500, 18^th December 2021.