The second season of the RCCO E-Sport Series has its new champion – and it’s the old one. At the exciting Super Final 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, Michael Niemas (NReSports) defended his title and was crowned double champion.
The worthy setting for the Supe Final was the legendary Nordschleife of the Nürburgring, where the 24-hour race had been held the day before. In contrast to the real event, the seven finalists of the esports racers had the best conditions during their chase over two laps, which was commented live on Twitch by Oliver Sittler from the Phoenix Racing garage. His expert co-commentator was Le Mans winner and DTM champion Mike Rockenfeller, who has completed countless laps of the Nordschleife himself.
The starting grid was based on the standings in the overall standings. All drivers who managed to clinch at least one podium place in the ten rounds of the regular season qualified. With Paul Wingens (Wingens Racing Team) and Bodo Kräling (bs powersports) two qualified protagonists had to pass due to professional reasons, so that in the end seven finalists took up the race.
Top favorite Michael Niemas got off to a good start, leading the field on the Grand Prix circuit until the turn onto the Nordschleife – pursued by his toughest rival Andre Dietzel (tv racing). At Hatzenbach, Niemas slid against the guard rail, which Dietzel took advantage of to take the lead. Behind him the rest of the field sorted itself out, led by Dominik Heussen (nikdom). Dietzel mastered all the difficult corners of the Nordscheife, but Niemas refused to be shaken off and waited for his chance.
As expected, it came on the long straight at Döttinger Höhe, where Niemas overtook Dietzel out of the slipstream. The tv racing driver tried a counterattack but went off track at Tiergarten and lost valuable time in the Hohenrain chicane. Niemas pulled away from his rival, always led by around three seconds on the final lap, did not take any more big risks – and brought the lead to the finish line with ease. Dietzel tried everything, but in the end had to settle for second place.
Behind him, Dominik Heussen saved third place against the strongly pushing Jens Wippermann (MSC Ruhr-Wenne e.V.). More than satisfied was also Thomas Voigt (tv racing), who saw himself as a clear outsider in the Super Final, but in the end was able to secure fifth place with a flawless drive. Voigt benefited from small mistakes by Stefan Waschow (NReSports), who had to settle for sixth place in spite of making up ground. Steffen Walter (tv racing) suffered a particularly bitter fate when he did not finish the race after rolling his car at Aremberg.
Niemas, the double champion, was overjoyed after defending his title: “I didn’t think it would be such a tough race. After Dietzel’s mistake, I tried to concentrate only on the difficult course.” Dietzel was heartbroken by his mistake: “I had to go all-in and got caught really cold at the Hohenrain chicane. I underestimated the effect of the slipstream. But wipe your mouth and move on. The new season will certainly be even more exciting.”
After the season is before the season – this also applies to the RCCO E-Sport Series. Accordingly, planning and track selection are already underway for the next series, which will begin after a short summer break.
Result Superfinal:
1st Michael Niemas (NReSports)
2nd Andre Dietzel (tv racing)
3rd Dominik Heussen (nikdom)
4th Jens Wippermann (MSC Ruhr-Wenne e.V.)
5th Thomas Voigt (tv racing)
6th Stefan Waschow (NReSports)
7th Steffen Walter (tv racing)
Final standings RCCO E-Sport Series season 2:
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)
