The second season of the RCCO E-Sport Series is turning into the home stretch at full throttle. At the fifth round of the series, which has been contested since the beginning of the year with the 1,000 hp electric sports car eX ZERO on the rFactor 2 platform, defending champion Michael Niemas (NR eSports) showed all his class, extended his overall lead.
The venue for the fifth event was pure tradition: the Grand Prix circuit at the Nürburgring in the Eifel region proved to be a treacherous course that gave many an e-sports racer involuntary excursions off the tarmac.
In the qualifying race, Andre Dietzel (tv racing) took pole position ahead of guest driver Ralf Piringer (AvD) and Jan Sellner (bs powersports).
The duel between Dietzel and Piringer continued in the first of the two races – and in a dramatic way: While in the rear of the field a number of spins and pushes ensured that the competition was never able to seriously catch up with the leading duo, a battle for every meter broke out at the front. Dietzel fended off all attacks – until the last chicane before the final bend, when he just briefely went off track with his eX ZERO. Piringer took advantage of the small mistake, passed him and crossed the finish line in first place ahead of Dietzel. Dominik Heussen (nikdom) took third place. Remarkable: After 13th place in qualifying due to technical problems with his simulator, Michael Niemas improved to fourth with a strong race performance.
The second race was started in reversed order of the result from race 1. Here, all the pitfalls of the sometimes tight corners at the Nürburgring became apparent. Piringer and Dietzel, who had dominated the first race and now had to start from the back of the grid due to the regulations, were repeatedly involved in duels in their race to the front, which ended off track. Michael Niemas was completely unimpressed, worked his way to the front with a safe and low-risk driving style – and decided the race in his favour. Steffen Walter (tv racing) underlined his recent strong performance with second place ahead of Dietzel, who still made it onto the podium.
This means that Michael Niemas is the overall leader ahead of Andre Dietzel befire the Super Final on June 7. Then it’s back to the Eifel, but with a completely different set of circumstances. The race will be held on the legendary Nordschleife, which will also demand everything from the esports racers in their simulators. It is eagerly awaited to see who will leave the “Green Hell” as the winner. The ten drivers who achieved at least one podium result in Season 2 are qualified for the all-important 2-lap sprint. Defending champion Michael Niemas (NReSports) and Andre Dietzel (tv racing) are considered clear favourites.
Race 1
1st Ralf Piringer (AvD)
2nd Andre Dietzel (tv racing)
3rd Dominik Heussen (nikdom)
Race 2
1st Michael Niemas (NReSports)
2nd Steffen Walter (tv racing)
3rd Andre Dietzel (tv racing)
RCCO E-Sport Series standings after 10 of 11 races:
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 Dominik Heußen (nikdom)
8th Jens Wippermann (MSC Ruhr-Wenne e.V.)
9th Stefan Waschow (NReSports)
10th Thomas Voigt (tv racing)
