A full season of racing in the V10 R-League came down to this.
The top four positions for Season 2 were decided this week. With £120,000 prize pool on the line and bragging rights throughout the sim racing world, Aston Martin Cognizant Esports Team went toe-to-toe with BMW Sim Racing Team in the final.
Beaten Semi-Finalists McLaren Shadow and Team Redline also squared off to see who would finish third.
These are the best moments from this week’s action, presented by Thrustmaster.
Silverstone squeeze
You can’t leave anything in reserve during a final, especially not one as potentially explosive as the V10 R-League final.
Lining up 1-2 for the team race at Silverstone, BMW was starting on the front foot and from P3 Aston Martin’s Lucas Blakeley needed to do something about it.
He got a great launch off the line, and with the inside covered he went for a daring move around the outside of Michael Romanidis to try and split the two BMWs.
He drifted out to the edge of the track, and as the young Scot tried to come back onto the circuit found the BMW of Romanidis blocking his way. The two collided, and unsteadied already thanks to being off-track, it was Blakeley that was sent spinning to the back of the field.
Three into one
In the third/fourth playoff, McLaren Shadow and Redline quickly found themselves in a drawing position in the team race at Yas Marina.
With James Baldwin out in front and tailed by a trio of Redline cars, the two other McLaren’s had to make a move to avoid the pointless outcome.
Elvin Smith made a bold move on Enzo Bonito into the chicane at the end of the first straight. He went a little deep, and the two battled through the corner, allowing Isaac Gillissen to enter the fight down the next long straight.
Bonito was the meat in a McLaren sandwich as they entered the braking zone, and it was Gillissen who swept around the outside into the first part of the triple chicane to take fourth place. Bonito ended up bouncing over the kerb and colliding with Smith, who would spin out.
Nightmare scenario
Entering the final race of the Final, Aston Martin needed to collect a win. With Kevin Siggy’s BMW on pole, Daniele Haddad and Lucas Blakeley needed to make a move from P2 and P3 respectively.
Unfortunately, they never got a chance. Getting a great launch from P4, the BMW of Michael Romanidis ended up right under the rear wing of Haddad, and gave him a nudge into the braking zone of turn 1.
This pushed Haddad deep and into Blakeley, and plummeted the two down into P4 and P6 respectively. A truly awful outcome for Aston Martin.
Pressure tells
The pressure of the final took its toll on everyone this week, with one mistake snowballing for BMW driver Alen Terzic in the final team race at Yas Marina.
Playing rear-gunner for Kevin Siggy, Terzic went defensive into the triple chicane and ended up going deep, allowing Shanaka Clay through. The error also allowed Daniele Haddad to get right onto the back of him.
The next lap the error seemed to play on Terzic’s mind, as he stuck to the racing line into the triple chicane, leaving the door open for Haddad on the inside who gladly took the place.
Champions
There’s nothing quite like taking the chequered flag to seal a championship.
Despite having Shanaka Clay all over the back of his BMW, star driver Kevin Siggy kept a cool head through the tight and technical final sector on the last lap. Hitting his apexes and keeping a good pace, he didn’t give Clay a sniff to get by.
Bringing it home in first place, Siggy wrapped up the V10 R-League crown for BMW and bought the curtain down on an amazing season of racing.
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