The sixth round of the all-American eSport Endurance Series season 4 gave us an outsider winner in LMP2, while LMGTE is taking one precise direction. Anything can happen in the final two races in LMGTE AM
Rain mixed up things in Mid-Ohio. After the wet race we had in COTA, weather played a big part again in the sixth round. And to come home victorius in LMP2 has been a team outside the title fight, Hyperion Esports. Pawel Andrzejewski, Patryk Szwajkowski and Mateusz Ziubinski started to build their success in qualifying by getting pole position, and consolidated the advantage they had over the 6 hours of racing. In the GTE class, Wave Freem eSports once again dominated, and the sister Junior team joined the party by completing a 1-2 ahead of the rebranded TeamRGPL, previously Panica Gaming. Tomelli RT bounced back after a disappointing 12 Hours of Sebring to get a precious win in GTE AM.
Outsiders spoil plans to title contenders
Mika Hakimi and Roland Szucs fighting through traffic in the early stages of the race
Hyperion Esports might steal the headlines with their win, but we need to mention the Hydra Tech Blue Steel Racing as well. After starting from P3, Mika Hakimi gave life to a wonderful fight with Roland Szucs during the first stint under the pouring rain, emerging victorious from it. Joining them was Luca Martino in the ARMS Cyrba #41, in what looked like a four way battle for the win, as Wave Freem was struggling in the midfield. The decisive sliding door for the LMP2 class has been at the halfway mark. As the rain stopped for a while, teams had to make a quick decision. Almost the entirety of the LMP2 field switched on the intermediate tyres. Exceptions to that have been the Blue Steel car and the Hyperion Esports. By keeping the same tyres, the two teams took the lead of the race, but started to struggle in terms of lap times on a drying track.
A day to remember: first win in EES for Hyperion Esports
The rain starting to fall down again saved the day to Hyperion and Blue Steel, while everyone else was forced to change tyres again. With around 2 hours and a half to go, Andrzejewski overtook Haziq and never looked back. «We are incredibly happy to win the 6h of Mid-Ohio» told us the Polish simdriver. «The pace we were showing maybe wasn’t the best and spectacular, but we avoided adventures on track. Patryk made glorious job in the qualifying. Blistering lap that put us on the Pole». Andrzejewski explained that the decision to keep the wet tyres on the car was not randomic, but the result of an important work behind the scenes. «Pawel was non stop monitoring the weather radars giving absolutely spot on strategic calls. When people started changing their tires for Inters, we decided to stay out because we knew about the rain coming up. And it worked! Everything went in our was this race and we are extremely happy to take the chequered flag for our first time in endurance history. We will not forget this day, also we can’t wait what the future will bring us».
ARMS Cyrba fends off MUGEN, Wave Freem stays in the fight
ARMS #41 and MUGEN are the other two teams stepping on the podium
Unfortunately for them, Hyperion’s main rivals for this race, Hydra Tech Blue Steel Racing, suffered from a connection loss in the final part of the race, relegating them down in P5. The same happened to MUGEN early on in the race, when Zoltan Varkonyi was behind the wheel. The Oreca #49 did not give up though and came back firing from all cylinders. Their march towards the front of the field could have been completed by getting a P2, but Andrea Martino did a stellar job in the ARMS Cyrba #41 to keep the Hungarian-duo at bay.
Coming home in P4 was the Wave Freem eSports #47. It has definitely not been the day of the reigning champions, who can still take some positives from this round. Despite always being quite away from the lead, Wave Freem did some damage limitation and sit now just 21 points behind the leading MUGEN Simracing in the standings. With 80 points still up for grabs, there are plenty of chances to close that gap.
Wave Freem LMGTE keeps the streak alive and get first match point
Family pic to celebrate the 1-2, why not?
While in LMP2 Wave Freem is the hunter, in LMGTE they are the hunted – but with a clear advantage and with an important ally by their side. In Mid-Ohio the Junior Team completed the “perfect” 1-2. They did it already in Sebring, but with the Caspian Motorsport wild card between the two Corvette C7R. An important result, that could gift the LMGTE title to #99 already in Road Atlanta. Their direct rival is #126: in fact, Wave Freem Junior Team occupies now the second place in the standings, ahead of TeamRGPL. Following the end of activities of Panica Gaming, the team rebranded itself with a new name and livery and collected a P3 in the “debut” race.
A brave maneuver by Masciulli under braking in the final few minutes gifted P4 to Pescara ADG
TeamRGPL has an important gap from the lead in the standings, and the chances of closing it are minimal. They can still compete for the second spot, though, while they will need to watch their backs from MUGEN Simracing. Christopher Kianek and Adam Serege have been underperforming a bit following their win in round 3 at COTA. It did not go much better here in Ohio, as they took the chequered flag in P5, right behind Pescara ADG. A result matured in the final few minutes thanks to a nice move by Masciulli, who banged tyres with Serege under braking and took the position at the end of an overall enjoyable fight. The Porsche is a new entry in the GTE overall: following their appearance in the 12 Hours of Sebring as a wild card, they decided to stay for the remainder of the season.
AM leaders separated by 8 points heading into the final two rounds
With the win in Mid-Ohio, Tomelli are back on top of the AM standings: will they keep the position through the final 16 hours of the season?
In Mid-Ohio there has been an important turnaround in the LMGTE AM standings as well. Tomelli RT got redemption after the DNF in Sebring and won in style by a comfortable margin. Another team bouncing back has been the one in P2, 3DRAP Endurance. Following a complicated middle part of the season, Di Gregorio and Marazzi have finally something to smile for, even though it might be a bit too late to join the group fighting for the title. Inside that, there is definitely the Carloni Racing Red, getting a podium ahead of MR Motorsport and sitting just 8 points behind the championship’s leaders. The other Carloni team, Black, suffered a costly DNF.
With just 16 hours of racing left in Season 4, we are now impatient to know who will be the three teams crowned champions: in Road Atlanta, on the 16th of April, we might already get the first verdicts.
The 6 hours of Mid-Ohio on Pitlane TV