The second round of The Sim Grid Endurance Cup at the legendary Imola circuit brought some exciting action. With a chaotic first lap taking out some of the favorites for the win and a heated first hour between #999 Ambassadors for Rennwelten and #149 Yas Heat for the lead before disaster struck during the pitstops. The #999 Ambassadors for Rennwelten took the win with a 12-second lead keeping them in the title fight and showing round one of the seasons only made them more hungry for the win.
The Podium performers.
After an unfortunate first round for the #999 Ambassadors for Rennwelten team, their form certainly shone through for the second round at Imola. With a great qualifying result putting the car on the front row which became crucial, giving them the chance to gap the rest of the field with the #149 Yas Heat car. What became the deciding factor was the pitstops, with #149 Yas Heat suffering unfortunate issues leading to a slow stop and conceding the lead. After the stops, the #999 Ambassadors for Rennwelten car continued to pull away from the field, showing consistency was key to racing at Imola. The #999 Ambassadors for Rennwelten team came home to finish the race with a commanding 12-second lead proving they truly were the top team in round two of the endurance cup.
The second-place on the podium was secured by the #157 GTWR Simulator Giantruck team once again showing their strengths in another Sim Grid racing season. The #157 GTWR Simulator Giantruck Lamborghini had an almost faultless first lap climbing from 7th to 3rd taking advantage of all the chaos that comes during the first laps of such a competitive field. After the great start, their race could not be faulted putting in constant pace lap after lap avoiding the incidents around them. Despite the consistent pace, they did not have an easy run with the #1 Rennwelten Pro Team in the final hour. Due to this the #157 GTWR Simulator Giantruck team could not pass to make a late charge for the leaders. Despite only taking second this continues to cement the lead of the #157 GTWR Simulator Giantruck team showing that even on an unfavourable track for the car they can still score big points.
Rounding out the podium was the #39 Food Critics showing that one-lap qualifying pace does not determine the final result. The #39 Food Critics had an exceptional showing climbing from 10th all the way to 2nd, gaining five places in the first five minutes of the race. At no point did they fall back only moving forward climbing their way to third by the midpoint of the race. For the next two hours of the race, the #39 Food Critics began to hunt down the #157 GTWR Simulator Giantruck slowly but surely eating away at the gap to finish the final lap of the race only 1.1 seconds behind. Their podium place was well deserved after unfortunately missing out on a podium at round one due to a late-race contact not going their way.
The stand out teams
The #27 Jean Alesi Esports Academy team certainly put in a brilliant performance to back up the big name behind the team, coming from outside the top ten to finish 5th. After the unfortunate events of round one leading to big points being lost, round two’s performance certainly made up for this. Their first hour of racing gave little reward in terms of positions. However, their consistent pace and relentless attitude drove them forward through the coming hours. Within the final hours, their hard work came good putting in some punchy overtakes combined with a great strategy allowing them to jump to all the way to fifth. However, fourth was almost in their grasps but a strong defensive drive from #62 G2 Esports BMW held of the #27 Aston for one of the closest finishes of the race, with only 0.2 seconds between the two.
It has to be said the #191 Racingline motorsport 191 Ferrari put in a stellar performance starting 21st and crossing the line to finish in the last spot of the top 10. Out of the gate, the #191 Ferrari showed pace jumping up eight positions in the first hour showing the raw pace was there. For the remaining hours, they displayed their ability in on-track craft battling hard with several generally more favourable cars for the old school Imola track. Despite this, the team triumphed against all with some late pitstops from other teams propelling them into the top 10.
The #1 Rennwelten Pro Team were on screen at almost all points of the race for all the right reasons. The team’s sister car getting the win showed how strong the outfit can be and the #1 BMW certainly didn’t break this trend with the on-track battles throughout. Starting the race in 20th although seemingly unfavourable played right into their hands, with first lap chaos ensuing the #1 car was there to capitalise raising them to 11th. From there on out the #1 Rennwelten Pro Team capitalised on the BMW’s punchy straight-line speed holding off a number of the big names for laps on end. Most notably they hit a high of second place fighting off the #157 GTWR Simulator Giantruck Lamborgini for second place before a late-race pitstop brought them down to finish in 13th.
The teams who missed out
As with all racing with the highs come the lows, with not all teams getting the most out of the historically punishing Imola circuit. This is not to say that they can’t turn it all around in the coming rounds.
One of the biggest upsets of the race was from the #14 Odox Motorsport Mercedes, having a great qualifying starting on the second row but unable to turn this into a top spot finish. The bad luck began right from the get-go with unfortunate contact on the first lap sending them falling down the order undoing all the hard work put in to get to the front row. From there on out it was an uphill battle for the #14 Mercedes trying to fight there way back up the field. As is with back luck when it rains it pours and they were handed a drive-through penalty in the first hour of the race sending them all the way down the field. With this, recovery was always going to be difficult and the #14 Odox Motorsport Mercedes eventually brought it home in 23rd.
Another unfortunate victim of the Imola circuit was the #99 Sidemax Motorsport Mercedes with a DNF. As with many others, the #99 Mercedes was caught up in the first lap incidents dropping down to 20th in the first lap of the race. With this, the team never gave up clawing themselves back up the field to a high point of 12th place. Despite this great recovery drive the team soon retiring halfway through the race with an unfortunate disconnect ending their hopes for points.
What to expect at Zolder
After racing on the excitement of racing on a new track, we return to Zolder, one of the tracks all the racers will know very well. With this said it is not to say the track won’t bring exciting racing. As with Imola, the track is unforgiving, requires aggressive driving and risky moves to make overtakes stick so expect action throughout the 4-hour long race.
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