Bonito, Benecke Prevail in Intense BMW SIM GT Cup Battle at Suzuka
March 8th, 2021 by Chris Leone
Maximilian Benecke clawed through the field from the eighth starting spot, and Enzo Bonito took the lead for good with 29 laps to go, in the top split of Sunday’s BMW SIM GT Cup event from Suzuka International Racing Circuit. The duo joined Team Redline teammates Gianni Vecchio and Jonas Wallmeier in punching their tickets to this year’s BMW SIM Live event with the victory, taking the lead after pit stops and holding off MSI eSports’ Salva Talens in the final stages of the race.
Joshua Rogers qualified first for VRS Coanda Simsport and led the first seven laps of the race, but contact with Max Verstappen in the early stages dropped both cars out of winning contention. Rogers and teammate Mitchell deJong would recover to finish third, although Verstappen and Vecchio would retire 17 laps short of the finish and be scored 38th. Talens’ teammate Alejandro Sanchez would take over the top spot after the contact and lead until pit cycles, where R8G Esports’ Vlad Khimichev and Sportteam Competicion’s Raian Norbert would each spend fleeting moments at the front.
But on Lap 34, Bonito would cycle into the top spot and never look back. Despite a spirited drive from Talens, Bonito’s lead would be a comfortable 3.918 seconds at the checkered flag, with deJong just over 10 seconds adrift of the winning car. Of the 44 starters in the top split, 21 would finish on the lead lap, with another 11 cars coming home just one lap down.
Top split results from Sunday’s BMW SIM GT Cup round at Suzuka were as follows:
Fin. |
St. |
No. |
Team |
Laps |
Interval |
Led |
Best |
| 1 | 8 | 71 | BMW Team Redline | 62 | 29 | 1:55.177 | |
| 2 | 4 | 474 | MSi eSports 120 | 62 | -3.918 | 23 | 1:55.271 |
| 3 | 1 | 81 | VRS Coanda Simsport $81 | 62 | -10.093 | 7 | 1:55.211 |
| 4 | 6 | 1 | R8G Esports #10 | 62 | -19.563 | 2 | 1:55.197 |
| 5 | 12 | 108 | VRS Coanda Simsport $8 D24 Backup | 62 | -23.782 | 0 | 1:55.396 |
| 6 | 13 | 777 | KOVA #2 | 62 | -24.053 | 0 | 1:55.334 |
| 7 | 5 | 707 | KOVA #1 | 62 | -25.711 | 0 | 1:55.390 |
| 8 | 15 | 4 | Team Redline Ice Blue | 62 | -26.332 | 0 | 1:55.512 |
| 9 | 7 | 89 | BS COMPETITION | 62 | -34.276 | 0 | 1:55.385 |
| 10 | 11 | 2 | Williams Esports | 62 | -37.734 | 0 | 1:55.412 |
| 11 | 18 | 1 | R8G Junior | 62 | -43.013 | 0 | 1:55.400 |
| 12 | 22 | 24 | Vendaval Simracing Blue | 62 | -48.411 | 0 | 1:55.682 |
| 13 | 10 | 118 | VRS Coanda Simsport $18 D24 Backup | 62 | -48.846 | 0 | 1:55.432 |
| 14 | 2 | 88 | VRS Coanda Simsport $88 | 62 | -58.103 | 0 | 1:55.119 |
| 15 | 20 | 260 | Zennith Esports | 62 | -58.344 | 0 | 1:55.832 |
| 16 | 19 | 219 | Triple A Esports $219 | 62 | -1:25.201 | 0 | 1:56.532 |
| 17 | 44 | 218 | Triple A Esports $218 | 62 | -1:28.084 | 0 | 1:56.244 |
| 18 | 21 | 23 | Team Anatolia GTE | 62 | -1:33.292 | 0 | 1:55.951 |
| 19 | 23 | 228 | Sportteam Competicion #208 | 62 | -1:37.567 | 1 | 1:56.273 |
| 20 | 43 | 5 | Triple A Esports $220 | 62 | -1:37.902 | 0 | 1:55.804 |
| 21 | 30 | 14 | Artifact Racing | 62 | -1:45.715 | 0 | 1:56.375 |
| 22 | 32 | 66 | SIMMSA Esports | 61 | -1 L | 0 | 1:56.485 |
| 23 | 37 | 77 | Volante Racing | 61 | -1 L | 0 | 1:56.673 |
| 24 | 39 | 39 | Vulcan Sim Racing | 61 | -1 L | 0 | 1:56.883 |
| 25 | 28 | 207 | Carbon Simsport | 61 | -1 L | 0 | 1:56.597 |
| 26 | 34 | 10 | Zecarul eSports #10 | 61 | -1 L | 0 | 1:56.687 |
| 27 | 31 | 255 | RSR by G-Performance #255 | 61 | -1 L | 0 | 1:56.393 |
| 28 | 27 | 9 | AXA SimSport $138 | 61 | -1 L | 0 | 1:56.704 |
| 29 | 35 | 7 | Sampsoid Kanaan Esports | 61 | -1 L | 0 | 1:56.856 |
| 30 | 40 | 13 | 5Star Motorsport Black | 61 | -1 L | 0 | 1:57.160 |
| 31 | 42 | 55 | Team Down Under Wombat | 61 | -1 L | 0 | 1:56.324 |
| 32 | 26 | 11 | H4SR X RaceKraft | 61 | -1 L | 0 | 1:56.343 |
| 33 | 41 | 12 | Last Minute Motorsport | 60 | -2 L | 0 | 1:57.487 |
| 34 | 24 | 227 | Lotema Racing Team Carbon | 60 | -2 L | 0 | 1:56.255 |
| 35 | 9 | 18 | VRS Coanda Simsport $18 | 53 | -9 L | 0 | 1:55.480 |
| 36 | 17 | 43 | RaceKraft Esports Gold | 49 | -13 L | 0 | 1:55.449 |
| 37 | 38 | 15 | TLDR Simsport White | 46 | -16 L | 0 | 1:57.170 |
| 38 | 3 | 72 | Team Redline Orange | 45 | -17 L | 0 | 1:55.061 |
| 39 | 16 | 3 | R8G Esports #8 | 41 | -21 L | 0 | 1:55.521 |
| 40 | 14 | 78 | Ronin SimSport | 41 | -21 L | 0 | 1:55.864 |
| 41 | 33 | 8 | GermanSimRacing #Friends 1 | 41 | -21 L | 0 | 1:56.762 |
| 42 | 36 | 6 | AXA SimSport $128 | 0 | -62 L | 0 | |
| 43 | 25 | 27 | Lotema Racing Team | 0 | -62 L | 0 | |
| 44 | 29 | 97 | Monaco Esports | 0 | -62 L | 0 |
The BMW Sim GT Cup will feature 10 races over the course of 2021, split into two seasons. The first five-race season will feature the BMW M8 GTE, while the second will shift to the new BMW M4 GT3 that made its iRacing debut in December. Each race features a mandatory driver changeover and a $4,200 prize pool split among the top three finishers in the top split, with the winning duo taking home $2,400. The remaining three rounds of 2021 Season 1 are as follows:
- March 21: Silverstone Circuit
- May 2: Road Atlanta
- May 16: Nurburgring GP-Strecke
For more information on BMW Motorsport, including BMW Motorsport Sim Racing, visit www.bmw-motorsport.com. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.
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