Porsche dominate GTE in 24 Hour Virtual Endurance Championship

Porsche can claim all the bragging rights as there was a podium lock out in the GTE field. Buschfink Racing won the first round of the Virtual Endurance Championship, at the legendary Le Mans circuit. PorscheSport came home in second, followed by Juncos Racing eSports in the final podium step.

Buschfink drivers Jari Tallgreen, Carter Hutcherson, Daniel Page, Giles Hubin and Joris Thielen in the digital version of the 911 RSR, took the flag in first place on the 13.626-kilometre Circuit des 24 Heures after a total of 369 laps. It was a flawless drive by the GTE winners as they led the majority of the 24 hours and came home a lap ahead of second place. PorscheSport eSports drivers Carl Sharkey, Ryan Parkins, Austin Greatorex, Paul Riga and Josh Camm climbed through the field after qualifying didn't go to plan, to eventually claim second after a spectacular battle of strategy and all out pace with Juncos Racing and n'Race esports.

The endurance race was contested for the first time in the new series on the iRacing platform. With a multiclass of LMP1, LMP2 and GTE, it was a busy grid, with many of the teams and drivers battling with the ever present traffic management. The victorious Porsche 911 RSR from Buschfink Racing swept into the lead after incidents occurred upfront and then set out a sprint approach throughout the night, setting impressive lap times as the track became cooler. PorscheSport eSports always looked in contention for a podium with their longer fuel strategy, which eventually paid off. Josh Camm and Ryan Parkins both turning heads with their blistering pace in the virtual RSR, whilst Paul Riga also completed his debut for the team.

“The race was really good, we played it out as a twenty four race and there was a couple of teams that were far faster than us, especially in those Corvettes. The team really held it together and I have to give a massive shout out to all of our drivers, they drove really well and just kept putting in constant laps. We had to play our luck throughout the race and those Corvettes were faster and had a fuel advantage over the Porsche, but It feels really good to come out on top.” Carter Hutcherson, Buschfink Racing

“It was a great race for PorscheSport eSports, we had some small moments through the race but nothing too eventful. We came home with no damage on the car and really just kept a consistent pace throughout the 24 hours. We were pushing for fifteen lap stints with most of the field only managing fourteen laps, the team worked really hard on the fuel strategy. The qualifying was a little tricky, the track was really hot and we hit some traffic, without that and a small lockup from myself, we would have qualified in third position. It's great to see the Porsche dominate the podium steps, in the summer the RSR was hit with a really harsh balance of performance. We worked hard on the set up for this race, we found a good balance of straight line speed and been comfortable with the car. Congratulations to all the class winners, especially Bushfink in GTE, they did a really good job.” Ryan Parkins, PorscheSport

Standings GTE

Buschfink Racing 30 Points

PorscheSport eSports 20 Points

Juncos Racing eSports 16 Points

n’Race esports 13 Points

Hexa Racing Team Purple 11 Points