until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
Reigning Porsche Esports Supercup champion Josh Rogers took his second race win of the season and closed in further on points leader Sebastian Job at Brands Hatch.
For the first time in the championship Job beat Rogers in qualifying, ending Rogers’ 100% record of pole positions this season.
Rogers finished the qualifying session as the fourth fastest and wasn’t able to better his time as he spun while rounding Clearways at the end of the session.
The reversal of the top eight qualifiers for the sprint race’s starting grid put the Australian ahead of Job at the Red Bull driver’s home race.
Jamie Fluke started on pole and stayed at the head of the grid for the opening lap, but Aljeandro Sanchez was able to overtake him around the outside of Graham Hill Bend to take his second sprint race victory in two rounds.
What a battle! ⚔️ The top two in #PESC go head to head at @Brands_Hatch as @G2Sebi takes P2 👏🥈 #givesyouwings pic.twitter.com/SlzOw9xGS0
— Red Bull Racing Esports (@redbullracingES) August 15, 2020
Rogers and Job were able to carve their way through the field but, in an attempt to get ahead of Fluke, Rogers ran wide onto the grass on the exit of Westfield – which put him behind Job.
Job eventually passed his countryman down the inside at Hawthorns for second place.
Rogers followed Job through to get ahead of Fluke for the final podium position.
In the remaining six minutes of the race Job and Rogers weren’t able to close down the four second gap that Sanchez had built up, as all three lined up on the podium in reverse order to how they finished the last race in the previous round.
Fluke and Yohann Harth were able to maintain track position ahead of Maximillian Benecke, who dropped further away from championship contention with sixth in the sprint race.
Sanchez and Job shared the front row for the main race and both vied for the race lead as they ran side by side around Druids.
The polesitter ran Job out wide on the exit of the corner, which compromised their exits and dropped Job down to fifth.
The battle also left Rogers free to take second place by sticking to the inside of the turn – leaving him behind only championship rival Sanchez.
It wasn’t until halfway through the main race when Rogers overtook Sanchez for first, taking the inside line for the double right-handers of Hawthorns and Westfield to grab the lead.
Job recovered to claim the final spot on the podium, passing Harth on the opening lap and Fluke after a further 10 minutes.
Fluke had by far his best round of the season with two fourth place finishes, with his previous best result being sixth in the opening round’s main race.
A pair of sixths were enough for Benecke to maintain fourth place in the championship, although he dropped a further 22 points to championship leader Job.
Despite scoring more points than Rogers in both qualifying and the sprint race, losing out in the main race means Job’s points lead goes from 18 to 14 points.
Sanchez accrued the same points total as Job, maintaining a 27 point gap with four rounds of the championship still to go.
The next circuit on the calendar is Spa-Francorchamps in a fortnight.
