The fourth and penultimate round of the Endurance Cup took place at Circuit Paul Ricard and as the pressure began to build, so did the challenges the drivers had to overcome. Not only did the drivers have a new circuit to master, but the weather threw a new challenge in the mix bringing down the rain in the final hours of the race. Round four saw the #27 Jean Alesi Esports Academy Aston Martin take the win, bringing the series its fourth new winner in four races. The results of this race have brought the #27 Jean Alesi Esports Academy Aston Martin into the final podium position in the overall standings, showing that the championship is still up for grabs with the final and most gruelling eight hour round at the circuit of Silverstone coming up next.
The Podium performers
The #27 Jean Alesi Esports Academy Aston Martin brought home their best result to date with their maiden win in the season two Endurance Cup. The win was not one that came easy with a qualifying position of sixth giving them a third-row start and some of the fastest teams of the season to challenge to gain the lead. The first hour of the race was one of success for the team with a great initial getaway taking fifth place from the #58 Smoked Salmon & Fries Ferrari into the first turn. From here on out a heated battle with the #23 Zansho Rocket Esports Mclaren for fourth position began with the #27 Aston. Continuing their momentum #27 Jean Alesi Esports Academy Aston Martin then took the challenge to the #191 RacingLine Motorsport Ferrari taking third place with three hours thirty still to go. As the pitstops were served after the first hour the top two teams both had penalties to be served helping the #27 close down that gap to the lead. This led to a close battle with the #149 YAS HEAT Mercedes and unfortunately a racing incident occurring leading to the #27 Aston having to hand back the place to the #149 Mercedes dropping the team down to third. Soon after the #27 Aston was able to regain the place from the #149 Mercedes but a brilliant stint from the #151 GTWR Simulator Giantruck seen them fall back down to third with two hours to go.
However, in the final hour, as the heavens opened up and the rain began to fall, the #27 Aston took a gamble making an early pitstop onto wets one lap before the other giving them the lead of the race. The action did not end there with the #191 Ferrari mounting a challenge and taking the lead back but unfortunately for the #191 Ferrari, a late-race incident handed the #27 Aston Martin back the lead. With that final piece of the action, the #27 Jean Alesi Esports Academy Aston Martin took the win finally getting that result they have seemed to be capable of achieving all season.
The #149 YAS HEAT Mercedes certainly had a race to remember with action from start to end. The team qualified with a great starting position of second on the grid giving them a chance to escape all the first lap drama. This allowed the team to break away from the pack with the #191 Ferrari and #157 GTWR Simulator Giantruck Lamborghini leading to a heated battle for the top spot within the first fifteen minutes of the race. However, after gaining the lead due to an incident between the #191 Ferrari and #157 Lamborghini the #149 YAS HEAT Mercedes was handed a time penalty due to some avoidable contact while taking the lead. Despite this, after serving their penalty the #149 Mercedes managed to keep the lead going into the second hour of the race. They continued to hold the lead until an incident with the #27 Aston led to the team dropping back to second place and consequently then third due to the #191 Ferrari making a recovery after the incident for the lead. Fortunately, the team was then handed back the place by the #27 Aston due to the contact but this only gave them second as the #191 Ferrari had managed to gain a position due to all this action.
From here on out the #149 YAS HEAT Mercedes attempted to hold their place but both the #157 Lamborhioni and #27 Aston managed to gain back their lost positions earlier in the race dropping the team down to fourth. But as with all races the battle is not done until the race is over as both the #191 Ferrari and #157 Lamborghini suffered incidents in the rain giving the #149 YAS HEAT Mercedes the second place on the podium. The race was one of attrition for the #149 YAS HEAT Mercedes but perseverance and consistency prevailed for them as a team and giving them the lead in the championship going into the final race.
The #62 G2 Esports BMW brought home the final place on the podium with their best result of the season showing us all again that despite the unfavourable car the team can still produce the results. Despite qualifying on the fourth row the #62 was caught up in the action of lap one losing out and dropping down the outskirts of the top ten. However, after the first hour, the #62 BMW was able to gain back two places with some great on-track racing and a well time pitstop call placing them in eighth position. It was a pleasantly quiet second hour for the #62 BMW, making one overtake down the long back straight on the #14 Odox Motorsport Mercedes. Throughout the rest of the race the #62 G2 Esports BMW’s capitalised on every opportunity placed in front of them. Just up the road #34 Expat Simracing Audi getting tangled with #39 Food Critics Mercedes handing sixth place to the #62 BMW. The team then made a brilliant on-track overtake on the #39 Food Critics Mercedes to place them in the top five with just under two hours to go. As with many in this race as the heavens opened up the #62 G2 Esports BMW took advantage of this and showed that sometimes all it takes is staying out of trouble. The team managed to gain two more positions in the final twenty minutes of the race due to incidents from others and the changing conditions, securing them their first podium of the season.
The stand out teams
The #995 KEK SimRacing Aston Martin produced one of the most impressive performances of the whole field. The #995 team started their race down in thirtieth in the field but came home to finish in an astonishing eleventh place, which was by far the most places made up by any team during the four hours of Paul Ricard. Many of their places were made up in the opening laps of the race with the #995 Aston reaching fourteenth place before the first hour had ended. From here on out the team showed that they had the pace to deserve the result displaying great on-track pace and making, even more, overtakes as the race began to settle down. The #995 KEK SimRacing Aston Martin managed to achieve a highest place of tenth place throughout the race. However, as the rain began to fall as with many they lost out on a place dropping them down to eleventh, which was where they finished out their race. Despite an unlucky final hour, the #995 KEK SimRacing Aston Martin put in an astonishing performance making up a total of nineteen places from their starting position showing us all that race is where it all counts.
Another great performance was seen by the #96 SideMax Motorworks Mercedes starting down in eighteenth place and coming home to finish in ninth place. However, this result did not come easy as in the first lap the team dropped back towards the back of the grid giving them a mountain to climb to regain their qualifying position. Despite this seemingly impossible task within the first hour the #96 Mercedes rose to seventeenth, one better than where they started the race. Throughout the next two hours, the team was able to put in lap after lap without any mistakes giving them a further two more places. Then as the rain began to fall the #96 Mercedes came alive and the team put down several brilliant laps. This pace and their confidence in the rain allowed them to gain a further six places in the final hour of the race coming home in an astonishing ninth place. The #96 SideMax Motorworks team showed perseverance and brilliant outright pace across the whole four hours and displayed to everyone how to take advantage of the changeable conditions at Paul Ricard.
The teams who missed out
As with all racing, not everyone can have their best day some win and as a result, others will lose out. One of those teams was the #23 Zansho Rocket Esports Mclaren. The team started with a brilliant qualifying performance placing them on the second row. The first hour of the race displayed just what pace they had seen the #23 Mclaren rise to third place as the second hour began. However, after the first round of pitstop, unfortunately, the team was hit with a drive-through penalty due to track limits violations. The #23 Mclaren then began to claw their way back towards the top ten looking like they would recover from their costly penalty. Unfortunately, as they say, when it rains it pours and as the rain began the #23 Mclaren stopped onto their wets they dropped back down the field. Despite a great showing and a number of overtakes the #23 Mclaren could only make it back to thirteenth. If it wasn’t for the costly penalty the #23 Zansho Rocket Esports Mclaren looked on for a great result in the top ten.
Another team that had the unfortunate bad luck strike during there race was the #14 Odox Motorsport Mercedes. The team started the race within the top ten putting them in a great position to attack the top five positions. The start of their race got off on the right foot with the #14 Mercedes reaching the top five positions. After the first round of the pitstops, the team continued to stay within the top ten looking to make some progress and make inroads to the leaders. Then moving into the final two hours the #14 Odox Motorsport Mercedes was in a heated battle with the #39 Food Critics Mercedes when the unthinkable struck and connection issues led the team to have to stop. This issue cost them a number of laps putting them at the back of the fields. Fortunately, the team could reconnect but despite this, the #23 Odox Motorsport Mercedes came home to finish five laps down. Without this issue, they would have been in a great position to take advantage of the changeable conditions that came at the end of the race.
What to expect at Silverstone
The final round of the season will see the first eight-hour race at the well known British classic Silverstone. The double-length race bringing a new set of challenges for the competitors focusing more on consistency and stay clear of incidents as fatigue begins to hit the drivers. With such a dramatic round at Paul Ricard, the championship standings have been turned on there head but the fight for the top three positions are still at play. Racing gets underway on the 6th of March and is not one to be missed. The final round will be the hardest yet on the drivers and with the final opportunity to score championship points, this will surely be a race filled with drama.
As always if you want to test your racing skills against some of the best drivers in ACC get yourself signed up to The Sim Grid and try your hand out at some competitive ACC racing leagues. Not only this but if you want to stay one step ahead and get yourself a tried and tested setup created by real-life professional racers and engineers then head over to the Coach Dave Academy and purchase a setup for your favourite car.
