Early out for Porsche Coanda Esports at round four of the ESL-R1 series 27.03.2023: Esports race, ESL_R1, Round 4, Spa-Francorchamps (B) Esports ESL R1, Spa-Francorchamps (B): Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team, Porsche 911 GT3 R, Mack Bakkum (NL), Mitchell deJong (USA), Joshua Rogers (AUS), Dayne Warren (AUS)

Esports race, ESL_R1, Round 4, Spa-Francorchamps (B)



Esports ESL R1, Spa-Francorchamps (B): Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team, Porsche 911 GT3 R, Mack Bakkum (NL), Mitchell deJong (USA), Joshua Rogers (AUS), Dayne Warren (AUS)



•    Works driver Joshua Rogers again wins quarter-final race


•    Collisions caused by rivals rob Rogers and Mack Bakkum of a chance at the finale


•    Ulas Ozyildirim (FaZe Clan) plants private 911 GT3 R on P8



The second guest appearance of the new sim racing series ESL_R1 on the virtual Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps came to an early end in the semi-finals for the Porsche Coanda Esports Racing works team. The previous points’ leader Joshua Rogers and his works driver colleague Mack Bakkum were eliminated before the final race after being shunted out of contention by rivals.



Stuttgart. As always in the new ESL_R1 series, the quarter-finals were held on the previous Friday. This was also the case on the virtual Grand Prix circuit of Spa-Francorchamps. All twelve teams compete with four drivers, each of whom tackles a quarter-final. From those twelve, the top six progress through to the semi-finals. There again, only the top six qualify for the final round of the top twelve.



Mitchell de Jong from America and his Australian Porsche Coanda Esports teammate Dayne Warren were denied the chance: both finished the quarter-finals in eighth place. Mack Bakkum performed better and ended up fourth, while Joshua Rogers repeated his winning form from the season opener in Spa and then at Hockenheim, claiming first place in his quarter-finals.



Like at the Nürburgring, the two Porsche works drivers went head-to-head in their semi-final. Two other 911 GT3 R took part with the Dane Mikkel Gade (Heroic) and Ulas Ozyildirim (FaZe Clan) from Turkey at the wheel. While Ozyildirim turned heads in qualifying with the fourth fastest time, Rogers and Bakkum faced a more challenging task: they took up the race from positions seven and ten.



In the first of seven laps, however, both became entangled in collisions caused by other competitors and were thrown far down the field – ultimately taking the flag in positions nine and ten. Gade finished eighth and only Ozyildirim reached the finals in sixth place. There, he concluded round four of the ESL_R1 championship in eighth place.



The new ESL_R1 series of the Electronic Sports League is primarily aimed at factory teams and major esports organisations. It is based on the new sim racing platform “Rennsport”. The world premiere took place in mid-February as a doubleheader event with the Intel Extreme Masters in Katowice, Poland, and is followed by six online races until mid-May.



The Spring Major Finale will be watched by spectators at the Rennsport Summit in Munich. This event has been postponed to 3 and 4 June 2023. The spring season is followed by the next round of races in autumn.






Holger Eckhardt- photos Porsche