In the fourth round of the RCCO E-Sport Series, which has been contested since the beginning of the year with the 1,000 hp eX ZERO electric sports car on the rFactor 2 platform, Andre Dietzel (tv racing) was able to close in on the overall leader and last year’s champion Michael Niemas, who did not compete in Berlin, by winning one race and finishing third in the other.
The venue for the fourth event was the Formula E circuit in Berlin-Tempelhof, where the Berlin ePrix has been held since 2015 with a one-year interruption (2016). The temporary course on the apron of the former Tempelhof Airport is characterized by many tight curves that demand high driving skills from the participants. Exciting duels developed in the first city race in the history of the still young RCCO E-Sport Series, which were expertly commented live on Twitch by Oliver Sittler.
With a victory in the qualifying race, Thomas Voigt (tv racing) captured the pole position for Race 1, which is particularly important in Berlin, ahead of teammate Roland Zumsande and Jens Wippermann (MSC Ruhr-Wenne e.V.).
The first corners in Berlin have it all – and this was also evident in Race 1. After a frantric start phase, the field only gradually sorted itself out in the subsequent laps. Andre Dietzel kept the best overview, took the lead ahead of Wippermann – and did not relinquish it until the end of the race. Behind him, Voigt maintained the all-important third place that secured him a spot in the Super Final. “That was a hard piece of work – I just tried not to make any mistakes after I had gambled away the podium in Estoril shortly before the finish,” said Voigt. “I was all the more pleased in the end that I was able to bring P3 to the finish – also thanks to a great team performance.” Voigt’s teammate Steffen Walter kept the trailing competition at bay in fourth place.
The second race was started in reverse order of the result from race 1. Voigt produced a jump start that briefly put him in second place æ but also meant a stop-and-go penalty that left him with no chance of finishing among the front runners. Man of the race was Paul Wingens (Wingens Racing Team), who outclassed his rivals and at times led by more than ten seconds – and safely claimed his first victory in the RCCO E-Sport Series. Behind him, Steffen Walter delivered another strong performance in second place, narrowly beating Dietzel. The winner of race 1 crowned his strong day’s performance with third place and further points for the overall standings. Remarkable was the team performance of tv racing with four of six possible places on the podium.
The next and last stop for the esports racers is pure tradition: the Nürburgring. Races 9 and 10 will be held on the Grand Prix circuit before the all-important Super Final between the qualified protagonists takes place on the legendary Nordschleife. So far, ten drivers have qualified for the Super Final. Currently, Michael Niemas and Andre Dietzel would start the Super Final from the front row of the grid.
Race 1
1st Andre Dietzel (tv tacing)
2nd Jens Wippermann (MSC Ruhr-Wenne e.V.)
3rd Thomas Voigt (tv racing)
Race 2
1st Paul Wingens (Wingens Racing Team)
2nd Steffen Walter (tv racing)
3rd Andre Dietzel (tv racing)
Standings RCCO E-Sport Series after 8 of 11 races and already qualified for the Superfinal:
1st Michael Niemas (NReSports)
2nd Andre Dietzel (tv racing)
3rd Paul Wingens (Wingens Racing Team)
4th Denny Wenzel (Heikki21 Simracing)
5th Bodo Kräling (bspowersports)
6th Steffen Walter (tv racing)
7th Jens Wippermann (MSC Ruhr-Wenne e.V.)
8th Dominik Heußen (nikdom)
9th Stefan Waschow (NReSports)
10th Thomas Voigt (tv racing)
