until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
Sebastian Job extended his lead in the Porsche Esports Supercup further as his nearest championship rivals, Maximilian Benecke and reigning champion Josh Rogers, crashed into each other again.
The round started off strong for Rogers – who was 45 points behind Job at the start of the weekend – as he was the fastest in qualifying around the 24 Hour layout of the Nurburgring Nordschleife.
Job dropped two points to Rogers in qualifying as he was the second-fastest, but started one position ahead of Rogers for the three-lap long sprint race.
In the opening few corners, both Job and Rogers gained a position as they passed Mack Bakkum for sixth and seventh respectively.
At the exit of Bergwerk Job had the better drive and the inside line for the following corners which gave him enough of an advantage to overtake Benecke for fifth.
Rogers went to get ahead of Benecke with the use of slipstream down the long Dottinger Hohe straight and was on the outside as they left the straight.
They ran alongside one another but on entry to Tiergarten Benecke went off onto the grass, failed to slow down for the chicane, and rejoined the track into the side of Rogers’ car.
The contact dropped the pair down the order and Rogers maintained a spot in the points positions as he finished in 18th, with Benecke down in 26th and accruing no points.
Job gained one more position in the remaining laps as he passed Alejandro Sanchez on the inside on entry to the first corner to secure his finishing position of fourth.
His Red Bull Racing Esports team-mate Patrik Holzmann led from start to finish to become the third driver in the team to win a race in the Porsche Esports Supercup this season.
Kevin Ellis Jr and Mitchell DeJong rounded off the podium positions in the sprint race.
At the start of the four-lap long feature race Job took the inside line into the first corner to pass Mitchell DeJong for third.
Ellis Jr pulled off the same move on Holzmann for the lead of the race after getting a better launch off the starting grid and braking later for Turn 1.
Both Red Bull drivers drafted past Ellis Jr at the Dottinger Hohe straight, but a double tow for Job as well as taking the inside line on the run to Tiergarten meant he moved into first place.
His lead was momentary as Holzmann broke late for the first chicane and Job took avoiding action so the teammates wouldn’t make contact.
Halfway around the lap, at the northern end of the track, Job was able to get back in front of Holzmann for the lead and eventual race win, with Holzmann finishing second and securing a 1-2 for Red Bull.
At the same part of the circuit on the final lap, Mack Bakkum took the bottom step of the podium away from Ellis Jr.
Rogers gained a total of nine positions during the race to finish in ninth with Benecke moving up from 26th to 19th in the feature race.
Sanchez, who was third in the championship before the round started also dropped points as he tagged the back of DeJong on entry to the first corner, which ultimately caused Bakkum to rear-end Sanchez.
After the contact Sanchez retired from the race, dropping further behind Job in the championship, with DeJong recovering to end the race in sixth.
Job’s 76 points compared to Rogers’ 37 scored in the latest round means Job’s championship lead has extended from 45 to 84 points with two rounds of the championship left to run.
The penultimate round of the season will take place at the Circuit de la Sarthe on September 26.
