The second Porsche Esports Carrera Cup GB season got underway on Sunday 20 February with rounds one and two of the championship taking place on a virtual Silverstone Grand Prix circuit. 2021 champion Sebastian Job returned to defend his crown alongside a mix of familiar and new names in professional sim racing. Retaining its 2021 format, an open qualifying session was followed by two 25-minute races broadcast live online via the Porsche Twitch channel.

Reigning champion Job set the pace in practice and qualifying with fellow returnees Peter Berryman, Graham Carroll and Kevin Ellis Jr very close behind – that set the scene for the Silverstone weekend. In the opening round Job resisted intense pressure from his three main rivals to take victory from a pursuing Berryman. However, it was Berryman who made the best start to take the lead of the second race early on, maintaining his advantage to finish ahead of Ellis Jr with Job coming home in third.

Qualifying
A roster of 24 professional sim racers took part in a 17-minute qualifying session to set the grid for the day's first 25-minute race. Job laid down a benchmark time in the first half of the session with Berryman and Jamie Moone lapping within a few tenths of a second. Improvements in the final few minutes of qualifying saw Carroll move to third and Ellis Jr to fourth.

Job's time of 2:01.822 stood throughout the session and was enough to secure pole position and the championship point that goes with it. However, the top four drivers were ultimately separated by just 0.264-seconds in qualifying – the top 10 by less than one-second – establishing a close fight for victory in the first of the weekend's two races.

Race one
When the lights went out Job got away cleanly to retain his lead into the first corner, Berryman tucked in behind him while Carroll and Ellis Jr fought for third position – Ellis Jr edging ahead. Keen to maintain his position, Job went defensive as early as the Wellington Straight but the closest action was just behind as Moone and Josh Thompson went wheel-to-wheel for fifth position. The top four cars of Job, Berryman, Ellis Jr and Carroll soon broke away from the chasing pack to run nose-to-tail with little to choose between them.

Early drama for Dane Baird and Lewis Goodway resulted in separate spins for both, but attentions soon turned to an incident between Thompson and Moone, their ongoing fight concluded with a spin for Moone before he continued. The recovering Moone then engaged in a close battle with Craig A Williams for 12th – Moone would prevail, meanwhile just up the road Thompson became involved in an exciting scrap for seventh.

At the front of the race Berryman began putting Job's lead under increasing pressure. With 12 minutes remaining on the clock Berryman launched his attack towards the end of the lap, however he was denied and shuffled rearwards via a switchback move as Ellis Jr snatched second spot. The new order of Job from Ellis Jr, Berryman and Carroll established an exciting closing phase to the race.

With four minutes to go an attacking Ellis Jr moved to the inside of Job at Luffield and held his line through Woodcote and into Copse – the pair ran side-by-side through the challenging corner giving each other just enough racing room. Ellis Jr briefly got ahead but Job soon returned fire with a confident overtake at Stowe to retake the lead of the race. Just behind Carroll replicated Job's move to pass Berryman for third.

On the final lap Job pushed hard to build a small gap while Carroll looked up the inside of Ellis Jr at The Loop but he did not mount a move. Job crossed the finish line to take victory in the opening race of the season with his 2021 championship rival Ellis Jr coming home in second, Carroll third and Berryman fourth.

Following the race, for an incident on lap four between Moone and Thompson, 10 seconds would be added to the race two time of Moone. For an incident on lap six between Wearn and Tregurtha, five seconds was added to the race time of Tregurtha.

Race two
The grid for the second race was determined by reversing the top six finishing positions from race one. Blair Mann started on pole position with Jack Sedgwick second, Berryman and Carroll shared the second row with Ellis Jr and Job starting from row three. Berryman made an electric start to challenge for the race lead almost straight away, that left Sedgwick second followed by Ellis Jr, Job slotted into fourth at the Maggots and Becketts complex as Mann dropped back.

Towards the end of the first lap Ellis Jr began a challenge on Sedgwick for second which started at Vale, the pair switched around each other through Vale and Club before Ellis Jr completed the move at Abbey at the start of lap two. Before the leaders reached the Wellington Straight Job had overtaken Sedgwick too, making the new order at the front Berryman from Ellis Jr and Job.

Sedgwick was soon defending from a fresh attacker, this time it was Carroll who tapped the rear of his car as they battled for fourth, Sedgwick suffered a spin at Club as a result but recovered to continue his race. The fight with Sedgwick allowed the top three to slightly pull away from Carroll, just 0.533 seconds now covered Berryman, Ellis Jr and Job.

With 16 minutes of racing remaining Job began a challenge on Ellis Jr for second, the round one victor looked up the inside of his rival on more than one occasion and finally made his move at the end of the Hanger Straight but it was to no avail. The intensifying scrap for second gave Berryman some breathing space from the chasing Ellis Jr and Job, while Thompson – now fourth – and Carroll behind closed in. The top five cars were now in close formation with half of the race remaining.

As the fight at the front settled down battles further back provided plenty of interest. Dane Baird, Jon Derrick, Adam K Brown and Michael Weddell became embroiled in a thrilling fight for P18. Derrick emerged ahead but not before several changes of position as a result of some extremely close racing. In the closing stages of the race Job closed up to Ellis Jr making his main move at Stowe but it did not stick. Berryman took the flag first from Ellis Jr, Job was third and Carroll fourth – under one second covered the top four drivers setting the scene for an exciting season of racing between the quartet.

Following the race, for an incident on lap one between Derrick and Tregurtha, five seconds was added to race time of Derrick. For an incident on lap one involving Brown, Baird and Thomas, 15 seconds was added to race time of Thomas. For an incident on lap one between Emery and Moone, five seconds was added to the race time of Moone. On lap two an incident between Wearn and Tregurtha resulted in 10 seconds being added to the race time of Tregurtha. For the incident on lap two between Sedgwick and Carroll, resulting in a spin for Sedgwick, 10 seconds was added to the race time of Carroll. Finally, for an incident on lap 11 between Baird and Brown, five seconds was added to race time of Brown.

Rounds three and four of the championship take place on 27 February at a virtual Brands Hatch. Keep up to date with Porsche Esports Carrera Cup GB news via the Porsche Motorsport GB Twitter feed: twitter.com/PorscheRacesGB

Championship positions:

1st - Sebastian Job - 43
2nd - Kevin Ellis Jr - 41
3rd - Peter Berryman - 39