Thrustmaster V10 R-League Moments of the Week: Overtaking in the most unlikely places

The V10 R-League is home to the fastest head-to-head racing in esports.

With a 900bhp single-seater car that sounds as good as it looks, the best drivers in the world are constantly on the edge as they battle it out around some of the most iconic circuits in the world.

Week 3 saw four huge matchups as teams battled for every point available as the group stages near their end.

These are the best moments from the weeks racing, presented by Thrustmaster.

Sportsmanship at its finest

The V10 R-League may be all about fierce competition, but it is also about respect. During their duel at Monza, there was plenty of respect on show between R8G Esports’ Erhan Jajovski and YAS Heat’s Manuel Biancolilla.

Heading into the della Roggia chicane side-by-side at over 200mph, Jajovski tried to keep his V10 beast pinned to the outside of the first corner, hoping to then take the inside at the second part of the chicane.

Biancolilla left him space, but Jajovski overcooked it and ran wide, cutting the chicane and taking the lead. He quickly relinquished the position back, respecting the rules and his opponent, but the battle quickly resumed through the Lesmos and into Ascari. The cars came within inches of each other, with the drivers needing some precise control to avoid disaster.

Blakeley pushes too hard

Aston Martin has had a fine start to the season, thanks in part to star driver Lucas Blakeley who claimed Thrustmaster Driver of the Week in the first round of this season.

Against Red Bull though, the green machines were on the back foot. Joni Tormala led around Mugello during the team race, but Blakeley was right on his tail.

That is, right up until he put a wheel into the grass on the exit of Savelli. Blakeley went from 0.7 seconds off the lead to the gravel trap and dead last in a heartbeat. The V10 R-League car is a fearsome beast that can bite back in an instant!

Spinning out

In a top vs bottom clash in Group B, the minnows of JAESA Suzuki had a tough job to get any points from the rapid BMW team. Which is why they quickly got their elbows out and pushed the very limits of grip. It didn’t always go to plan though, as they soon found out!

Track position in Mugello is key, so in the team race JAESA tried to force their way through in the opening corners. The result was a spin for Kamil Pawlowski as he pushed too hard on the exit of San Donato.

Moments later Giovanni De Salvo tried to squeeze his way past Alen Terzik of BMW, only to come to blows through Borgo San Lorenzo. The contact saw the JAESA Suzuki car go spinning off.

Terzik would have his own moment in the team race at Spa, losing the car at the top of Raidillon and tumbling into the barriers and down to last.

Parabolica overtake!?

There are plenty of overtaking places around Monza, but the final corner of Parabolica is not usually one of them.

That didn’t phase McLaren Shadow’s Isaac Gillissen though, as he got a great exit from Ascari and a run on Williams’ Martin Stefanko. Gillissen braked later and got his nose up the inside into Parabolica, forcing Stefanko to stay wider.

The change of line gave Gillissen the ideal slingshot into the pit straight and he was able to make the move stick into the first chicane.

You’re not supposed to race through here!

Our final moment of the week is Williams & McLaren once again, and it had commentator Ben Daly out of his seat.

In a hotly contested team race around Silverstone, Williams attempted to work some team magic to salvage a draw. Kuba Brzezinski went defensive into Copse corner, forcing the McLaren of Isaac Gillissen to take a slower line, which left him vulnerable to the Williams of Nikodem Wisniewski.

Wisniewski was able to slip past going into the famous Maggots-Becketts section, only for Gillissen to slide himself back alongside the Williams and retake the position by the time the pair arrived at Hangar Straight.

It was a breathtaking overtake that took real guts and precision from Gillissen, as well as amazing skill from Wisniewski to avoid a huge crash.

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