Michi Hoyer is the first winner of an official race with the 1,000 hp electric sports car eX ZERO. The Esports Racing pro, entered as a guest driver by the Automobile Club of Germany (AvD), won the first race of the season in the RCCO E-Sport Series, which is being held on the rFactor 2 platform for the first time this year. With DTM champion Mike Rockenfeller, a guest driver also won the second race.
On the 4.32-kilometer circuit in the dunes of the Netherlands, which has been slightly modified for Formula 1, 13 starters took up the challenge of taming the tremendous power of the newly developed electric prototype in their simulators. Not an easy task, but one that the entire grid solved with flying colors. Oliver Sittler commented on the racing action in the live stream in a confident, exciting manner and with lots of information about the new format.
In free practice, Esports Racing pro Michi Hoyer set the best time of the evening in the bright red AvD guest car with a lap time of 1m 19.251s and not unexpectedly slipped into the role of favorite.
In qualifying, Hoyer was again out in front, with a lap time that was only marginally worse (1m 19.310s). Mike Rockenfeller already proved to be the fiercest pursuer at this point, also taking his place on the front row of the grid for the subsequent first race, 0.682 seconds behind.
The duel of the evening came to a head over nine laps in the race. Hoyer and Rockenfeller pulled away slightly from the field in the first two laps before “Rocky” actually managed to squeeze past his rival in the “Tarzanbocht” after the start-finish straight on the third lap. Hoyer kept in touch, took no risks, set the decisive attack on the final lap and is thus the first winner of an official race with an eX race car.
Rockenfeller at this point: “Michi is an absolute crack, I’ll have to practice a lot more. I braked a bit too aggressively, and he immediately took advantage of that.”
The chance for revenge came for “Rocky” in the second race, which started in reverse order of the result of Race 1. Jan Sellner (bspowersports) led the field and successfully defended his position several times.
However, the favorites pressed forward from behind. But while Rockenfeller plowed through the field with a relaxed routine and closed the gap to last year’s champion Michael Niemas (Niemas Racecars eSports) on lap four, Esports Racing pro Hoyer got caught up in duels with other drivers, including a spin in the “Tarzan” bend. Hoyer later said, “It was difficult for me because other racers reacted unfamiliar to me.” After a drive-through penalty, Hoyer ended up only in the midfield.
At the front, the pressure on Niemas increased more and more. On lap five, Rockenfeller took the lead in the fierce duel – and didn’t relinquish it until the end of the race. Rockenfeller, who played a key role in the development of the eX ZERO: “I simply enjoyed driving through the field. Compliments to the racers, who all gave their best and acted extremely fairly.”
Behind Michael Niemas in second place, Volkswagen engineer Denny Wenzel (Heikki21 Simracing) secured third place on the podium, as in the first race.
Next stop for the RCCO E-Sport Series is the Sebring circuit in the USA. There, an even larger field of competitors will go hunting for Mike Rockenfeller, who is now leading the overall standings, at the beginning of February. The AvD guest car will then have a new driver. The RCCO E-Sport Series races will be streamed live on the RCCO Facebook page.
Race 1
1st Michi Hoyer (AvD)
2nd Mike Rockenfeller (RCCO)
3rd Denny Wenzel (Heikki21 Simracing)
Race 2
1st Mike Rockenfeller (RCCO)
2nd Michael Niemas (Niemas Racecars eSports)
3rd Denny Wenzel (Heikki21 Simracing)
