After a wet race at Monza, The Sim Grid Academy Cup has crowned its first-ever champion in a race that was full of drama. Heading into the race, it was a battle between Joe McAuley and Amir Hosseini for the title crown. With both qualifying and the race being in wet conditions for the second time this season, the stage was set for a finale full of surprises.
What led to Hosseini’s championship victory?
After qualifying on pole, Hosseini was in the driving seat of the race and had the prime opportunity to take victory. If Hosseini won the race, McAuley had to be second to snatch the championship victory from Amir’s clasp. McAuley made good progress after a disappointing qualifying and on the first lap as he hustled his Porsche Cup car into fifth, but an incident with Samir Ibraimi was the first event in his race that rapidly turned sour. As McAuley attempted to make a move, he hit a puddle large enough to unsettle the car. This jerked Ibraimi’s car to the left, and into the now spinning McAuley. He recovered, but just laps later his race was brought to a close as he spun on the Ascari Chicane’s exit astroturf, forcing him out of the race.
At the top of the standings, the only driver who could now mathematically stop Hosseini was now Egor Ogoronikov. Whilst Ogorodnikov was unable to match the pace of Hosseini to challenge, Ogorodnikov now had the chance to pass McAuley for second in the championship – which he did so by just one point in the end. Egor has been full of pace this season and was so once again today, but a spin at the first Lesmo made it much harder for him and he dropped from fifth to tenth. Crucially, he managed to pass David Michel for ninth to secure his second place in the drivers standings.
Monza’s podium stars
The Academy Cup’s final victorious driver couldn’t have been a better fit, as Amir Hosseini took the checkered flag first to also win the drivers’ championship.
After entering Monza as the second place driver in the championship, he had to finish ahead of his title rival, Joe McAuley, to win, so the pressure was all on his shoulders. However, after qualifying on pole, the stage was set for him to take a poetic victory. He got a mega start to put him clear of any possible threats from behind as he headed down to the ominous first chicane. From that moment onwards, his lead was not threatened once, taking home the top cash prize of the season and the pride of winning the championship. Whilst championship rival, McAuley, tumbled down the order.
In the treacherous conditions, Chris Hoeke saw himself take his first podium of the Academy Cup. He made a good start and from the very first lap looked to be right on the pace. He battled hard with Luca Tavernari for the first segment of the race, but after passing him, Hoeke saw a relatively uneventful race come his way. Nonetheless, it is impressive enough to keep these traction control stripped beasts in a straight line.
Taking his second podium of the cup was Samir Ibraimi, who moved up to fourth in the overall standings after his great result. After qualifying fourth, he, along with his Pro RennWelten teammate Chris Hoeke, made great starts and rocketed straight up the order, but after a mistake, Ibraimi was under attack from the feisty podium-hungry drivers. As he reflected on his championship as a whole, he said;
‘The pace was there from the first round, but some silly mistakes and incidents brought me down… but it is what it is and things like this happen.’
Our top performers
With Monza set to be in wet conditions, anyone was in with a chance of a good result. As we saw in Barcelona, the order can be flipped on its head when the Heavens open.
Arguably our standout driver from the field was one of the grid’s two wildcard entries, Florian Becker. Becker qualified in tenth place, but this was not satisfactory for him, as he expressed that he ‘messed up qualifying’ in a post-race interview. However, his race day performance was one he was certainly happy with as he crossed the line fifth after an action packed forty-five minutes of racing; an amazing feat for someone who failed to qualify for the event.
Another eye-catching performance was from Dominik Golz. Golz is a driver from who we have seen flashes of brilliant pace, but overall hasn’t been fighting for the top five spots. He qualified in fourteenth, which typically would leave you in the midst of the mad midfield, but Golz managed to keep himself out of trouble. After a battle with David Michel, he emerged victorious to take a cup best result of eighth.
Final Standings*
- Amir Hosseini #92 – 173pts
- Egor Ogorodnikov #41 – 161pts
- Joe McAuley #18 – 160pts
- Samir Ibraimi #49 – 151pts
- Chirs Hoeke #99 – 147pts
*Standings are reflected prior to any penalties and/or adjustments.
The Academy Cup’s great success
The first season of The Academy Cup has been a massive success, as we have seen some of The Sim Grid’s top drivers attempt to conquer the infamous Porsche Cup cars across a five race season. With it being a sepc series, it has given us some amazing races that have kept us all on the edge of our seats.
The Academy Cup’s title sponsor throughout the series has been Trackwerks, who are currently holding a 20% discount of their top of the range Thrustmaster brake pedal mods, so make sure you make the most of this offer whilst you have the chance.
Coach Dave Academy have also sponsored this series, and for the duration have offered Assetto Corsa Competizione’s Porsche Cup car’s setup bundle at a reduced price, so this is your last chance to buy these high quality setups not at full price.
