
Florian Lebigre, Cooper Webster earn Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup victories in opening round at Daytona
February 3rd, 2025 by Justin Melillo
Saturday saw the return of the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup in 2025, racing from the famed World Center of Racing at Daytona International Speedway. As expected, the racing in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – 992 cars did not disappoint, as Verstappen.com’s Florian Lebigre dominated the opening Sprint Race while Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing’s Cooper Webster scored the Feature victory in a photo finish.
Prior to the top-level eSports event, the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup All-Stars also returned, taking on the same venue, but in the much faster Porsche 963 GTP machines. Two-time and defending All-Stars champion, eNASCAR’s Casey Kirwan stole the show in the opening race, winning by multiple seconds over the field. Popular streamer Basic Ollie was victorious in the second race, holding off a late surge from Kirwan to take the victory.
Next week, both the Supercup and the All-Stars will return with racing from the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, the Italian venue making its series debut on the schedule.
The opening round of the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup belongs to @LebigreFlorian at Daytona!
Tune in for the final race of the day! https://t.co/pqt86Ti0G1@PorscheRaces | @TAGHeuer pic.twitter.com/uPx7juoznb
— iRacing (@iRacing) February 1, 2025
Cooper Webster takes Round 1 of the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup at Daytona by a nose – what a finish! 🔥🏁@PorscheRaces | @TAGHeuer pic.twitter.com/g0IqzUq4Dh
— iRacing (@iRacing) February 3, 2025
PESC QUALIFYING:
Up to 85 points are available every event in the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup, with 25 points up for grabs in the Sprint race and 50 in the Feature. The other 10 can be won by winning the TAG Heuer Pole Award, with points distributed through the top-five in qualifying.
Making his series debut just weeks after his part in Team Redline’s IMSA Esports Global Championship GTD title, Lebigre took the pole position in his #2 Porsche, just barely beating Webster by a single thousandth. The other Verstappen.com Racing driver in the field, Chris Lulham, qualified in third with Stormforce Gaming’s Alejandro Sánchez in fourth and Williams Esports’ Alessandro Bico rounding out the top-five.
Down the order, all the defending champions of the series found themselves in the thick of it. 2022’s champion, Diogo Pinto (Team Redline), was the best of the trio, down in 13th. Jordan Caruso (Team Indian Racing Festival by APPL), the 2023 series champion, wound up qualifying 18th. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the defending champion and two time champion of the series, Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing’s Sebastian Job, who was only able to muster a 22nd place effort.
2025 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup Top 5 Qualifying results from Daytona International Speedway were as follows:
- #2 Florian A Lebigre, 1:44.601 seconds (10 points)
- #37 Cooper Webster, -0.001 (8 points)
- #20 Chris Lulham, -0.062 (6 points)
- #47 Alejandro Sánchez, -0.068 (4 points)
- #77 Alessandro Bico, -0.074 (2 points)
PESC SPRINT RACE:
Lebigre led the field into the infield for the first time, most drivers minding their surroundings early on. Unfortunately, with as mired back as he was, Job was sent off-course after things got out of sorts in Turn 4. Job would finish 27th and score no points in the opening round.
Half a lap later, in the Le Mans Chicane, two of the Kubina Racing entries, Oscar Py and Bryn Collins, were sent spinning in synchronization, collecting multiple cars in the process.
After that, the race calmed down, and the fight was on for eighth place, also known as the coveted transfer to the pole for the Feature. Up front, Lebigre pulled the train, with Lulham, Webster, Sánchez, Luke McKeown (Apex Racing Team), and Bico all in the main draft. The next pack saw Mitchell deJong (Team Indian Racing Festival by APPL) in his return leading his teammate Elvis Rankin as they attempted to fend off a Team Redline trio of Gustavo Ariel, Pinto, and Josh Thompson.
On the final lap, Lulham looked low on Lebigre at the line, but couldn’t get there, the two teammates finishing 1-2 ahead of Webster in third. 1-for-1, Lebigre’s entrance to the series was everything he could have asked for. “I’m feeling awesome,” Lebigre said post-race. “That was just amazing, and I wasn’t expecting that. I just don’t have anything to say, it’s just amazing. First year, first pole, first win… so happy.”
2025 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup Sprint results from Daytona International Speedway were as follows:
Fin. |
St. |
No. |
Driver |
Laps |
Interval |
Led |
Best |
Pts. |
1 | 1 | 2 | Florian A Lebigre | 8 | 0 | 8 | 1:44.379 | 25 |
2 | 3 | 20 | Chris Lulham | 8 | -0.05 | 0 | 1:44.279 | 22 |
3 | 2 | 37 | Cooper Webster | 8 | -0.105 | 0 | 1:44.367 | 20 |
4 | 4 | 47 | Alejandro Sánchez | 8 | -0.301 | 0 | 1:44.230 | 18 |
5 | 6 | 96 | Luke McKeown | 8 | -0.52 | 0 | 1:44.217 | 16 |
6 | 5 | 77 | Alessandro Bico | 8 | -0.852 | 0 | 1:44.005 | 15 |
7 | 8 | 24 | Mitchell deJong | 8 | -1.967 | 0 | 1:44.216 | 14 |
8 | 7 | 91 | Elvis Rankin | 8 | -2.153 | 0 | 1:44.188 | 13 |
9 | 9 | 21 | Gustavo Ariel | 8 | -2.183 | 0 | 1:44.612 | 12 |
10 | 13 | 44 | Diogo C. Pinto | 8 | -2.289 | 0 | 11 | |
11 | 12 | 43 | Josh Thompson | 8 | -2.621 | 0 | 1:44.219 | 10 |
12 | 16 | 76 | Xander Reed | 8 | -2.945 | 0 | 1:44.290 | 9 |
13 | 17 | 9 | Elliott Vayron | 8 | -4.287 | 0 | 1:44.284 | 8 |
14 | 10 | 69 | Moreno Sirica | 8 | -4.862 | 0 | 1:44.362 | 7 |
15 | 11 | 88 | William Chadwick | 8 | -4.971 | 0 | 1:44.385 | 6 |
16 | 14 | 3 | Kevin Nielsen | 8 | -5.18 | 0 | 1:44.152 | 5 |
17 | 18 | 12 | Jordan Caruso | 8 | -5.25 | 0 | 1:44.305 | 4 |
18 | 15 | 90 | Yohann Harth | 8 | -5.354 | 0 | 1:44.129 | 3 |
19 | 23 | 7 | Beckham Jacir | 8 | -5.84 | 0 | 1:44.117 | 2 |
20 | 26 | 5 | Nicolas Mateo | 8 | -5.945 | 0 | 1:44.191 | 1 |
21 | 20 | 92 | Michael Janney | 8 | -6.14 | 0 | 1:43.940 | 0 |
22 | 19 | 38 | Tristan Iglesias | 8 | -10.961 | 0 | 1:44.664 | 0 |
23 | 29 | 28 | Sam Kuitert | 8 | -11.014 | 0 | 1:44.784 | 0 |
24 | 27 | 16 | Luca Kita | 8 | -11.075 | 0 | 1:44.553 | 0 |
25 | 24 | 54 | Oscar Py | 8 | -11.203 | 0 | 1:44.407 | 0 |
26 | 30 | 74 | Daniel Pásztor | 8 | -11.269 | 0 | 1:44.167 | 0 |
27 | 22 | 1 | Sebastian Job | 8 | -15.893 | 0 | 1:44.843 | 0 |
28 | 28 | 11 | Carlos Fenollosa | 8 | -23.572 | 0 | 1:45.089 | 0 |
29 | 25 | 93 | Julien Soenen | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1:45.366 | 0 |
30 | 21 | 8 | Bryn Collins | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
PESC FEATURE RACE:
In the battle for eighth place, Rankin won out, but just barely over Ariel. That cycled another first-time competitor to the front row, but through the longer 16-lap Feature, it looked as though he had been in the series for many years. Rankin, followed by deJong, led the field early, but this time around, it was way more physical.
A multi-car incident in Turn 1 set the tone, as the elbows were out the entire way. That also included the battle up front, as Rankin attempted to keep the field at bay.
Bico and Sánchez were both able to steal laps led at one point, but Rankin and deJong were putting on a master class up front, working together to keep their Porsches in the lead. This all changed at halfway, when deJong was moved out of the way by McKeown for second spot. Both drivers would fall behind, but deJong would fall farther, ultimately finishing ninth by the race end. This left Rankin to defend on his own up front.
As the laps wound down, three drivers had separated themselves from the pack. Rankin led Webster and McKeown to the white flag, and the chess pieces were in place for the run to the checkers. Rankin was a sitting duck, but it almost looked as though Webster started his run too early, and sat behind through the exit of the corner, transferring momentum to the leader. Behind them both, McKeown was on his way, and made his move off the corner. Webster moved up perfectly, taking the momentum at the right time to pull alongside Rankin. At the stripe, it was Webster by a nose.
“I felt really good coming into this round,” Webster said post-race. “I knew I could do it, I’ve kind of changed the way I prepare for these races since the INDYCAR championship, and that was going really well. I had confidence coming into here, but this was a better result than I thought was possible.” Webster collects his third-career Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup Feature victory and exits Daytona the points leader, by 15 points over Lebigre in second.
2025 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup Feature results from Daytona International Speedway were as follows:
Fin. |
St. |
No. |
Driver |
Laps |
Interval |
Led |
Best |
Pts. |
1 | 6 | 37 | Cooper Webster | 16 | 0.000 | 1 | 1:44.735 | 50 |
2 | 1 | 91 | Elvis Rankin | 16 | -0.021 | 13 | 1:44.717 | 45 |
3 | 4 | 96 | Luke McKeown | 16 | -0.074 | 0 | 1:44.553 | 40 |
4 | 5 | 47 | Alejandro Sánchez | 16 | -0.441 | 1 | 1:44.072 | 37 |
5 | 9 | 21 | Gustavo Ariel | 16 | -0.634 | 0 | 1:44.567 | 34 |
6 | 10 | 44 | Diogo C. Pinto | 16 | -1.068 | 0 | 1:44.364 | 31 |
7 | 8 | 2 | Florian A Lebigre | 16 | -1.097 | 0 | 1:44.025 | 28 |
8 | 13 | 9 | Elliott Vayron | 16 | -1.544 | 0 | 1:44.121 | 26 |
9 | 2 | 24 | Mitchell deJong | 16 | -1.863 | 0 | 1:44.460 | 24 |
10 | 3 | 77 | Alessandro Bico | 16 | -2.286 | 1 | 1:44.502 | 22 |
11 | 12 | 76 | Xander Reed | 16 | -2.653 | 0 | 1:44.585 | 20 |
12 | 11 | 43 | Josh Thompson | 16 | -2.847 | 0 | 1:44.467 | 18 |
13 | 27 | 1 | Sebastian Job | 16 | -3.219 | 0 | 1:44.569 | 16 |
14 | 24 | 16 | Luca Kita | 16 | -8.594 | 0 | 1:44.436 | 14 |
15 | 23 | 28 | Sam Kuitert | 16 | -8.652 | 0 | 1:44.737 | 12 |
16 | 22 | 38 | Tristan Iglesias | 16 | -8.733 | 0 | 1:44.804 | 10 |
17 | 17 | 12 | Jordan Caruso | 16 | -8.795 | 0 | 1:44.536 | 9 |
18 | 16 | 3 | Kevin Nielsen | 16 | -9.240 | 0 | 1:44.614 | 8 |
19 | 26 | 74 | Daniel Pásztor | 16 | -9.543 | 0 | 1:44.554 | 7 |
20 | 19 | 7 | Beckham Jacir | 16 | -10.053 | 0 | 1:44.367 | 6 |
21 | 29 | 93 | Julien Soenen | 16 | -11.147 | 0 | 1:44.436 | 5 |
22 | 25 | 54 | Oscar Py | 16 | -17.678 | 0 | 1:44.962 | 4 |
23 | 21 | 92 | Michael Janney | 16 | -18.012 | 0 | 1:45.093 | 3 |
24 | 20 | 5 | Nicolas Mateo | 16 | -18.021 | 0 | 1:44.918 | 2 |
25 | 14 | 69 | Moreno Sirica | 16 | -26.773 | 0 | 1:45.131 | 1 |
26 | 15 | 88 | William Chadwick | 16 | -33.346 | 0 | 1:44.958 | 0 |
27 | 28 | 11 | Carlos Fenollosa | 16 | -33.408 | 0 | 1:44.952 | 0 |
28 | 18 | 90 | Yohann Harth | 16 | -46.441 | 0 | 1:44.609 | 0 |
29 | 30 | 8 | Bryn Collins | 16 | -56.896 | 0 | 1:44.616 | 0 |
30 | 7 | 20 | Chris Lulham | 15 | -1L | 0 | 1:45.023 | 0 |
PESC POST-RACE PENALTIES:
One feature of the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup is the penalty system, which penalizes points from those who cause issues in each event. Perhaps the most notable penalty this week came from the Feature, around halfway when Luke McKeown attempted to get around the two leading Team Indian Racing Festival by APPL cars. McKeown was slapped with a five point penalty as a result.
The defending champion, Sebastian Job, was also hit with a five point penalty for his involvement in the opening lap crash of the Feature, bringing his total earned points down from 16 to 11. The biggest penalty from the event was handed to DRAGO Racing’s Nicolas Mateo, a 10 point penalty for the Le Mans Chicane incident in the Sprint Race. Mateo also was penalized five more points for another incident, bringing his point total into the negatives leaving Daytona.
- #1 Sebastian Job | -5 points
- #5 Nicolas Mateo | -15 points
- #7 Beckham Jacir | -5 points
- #69 Moreno Sirica | -5 points
- #88 William Chadwick | -5 points
- #96 Luke McKeown | -5 points
2025 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup points through the opening round at Daytona International Speedway are as follows:
- #37 Cooper Webster | Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing, 78 points
- #2 Florian A Lebigre | Verstappen.com Racing, 63 points
- #47 Alejandro Sánchez | StormForce Gaming, 59 points
- #91 Elvis Rankin | Team Indian Racing Festival by APPL, 58 points
- #96 Luke McKeown | Apex Racing Team, 51 points
- #21 Gustavo Ariel | Team Redline, 46 points
- #44 Diogo C. Pinto | Team Redline, 42 points
- #77 Alessandro Bico | Williams Esports, 39 points
- #24 Mitchell deJong | Team Indian Racing Festival by APPL, 38 points
- #9 Elliott Vayron | Kubina Racing, 34 points
PESC ALL-STARS RECAP:
The Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup All-Stars opened the show with a field of 16 drivers in the Porsche 963 GTP, the same winning car from the real-world Rolex 24 at Daytona last weekend. Many favorites return in 2025, including all the former champions such as Casey Kirwan, Emree, and Quirkitized. Tony Kanaan is among the real-world contingent competing, along with many Porsche factory drivers, this week the field graced with Formula E driver Antonio Felix da Costa on the grid.
Kirwan was quick to get back to his winning ways, winning the opening round over Pablo “Pulpo” Lopez and da Costa. After a full-field invert, Kanaan found his way to the pole position. Unfortunately, the top spot didn’t last long after collecting a slowdown in the Le Mans Chicane. After the field settled down, popular streamer Basic Ollie took the lead from another popular streamer, Borja Zazo. Kirwan worked his way back up to second, but couldn’t get to Ollie by the end.
2025 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports All-Stars Sprint results from Daytona International Speedway were as follows:
- Casey Kirwan
- PulpoLopez
- Antonio Felix da Costa
- Daniel Gray
- Sampsoid
2025 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports All-Stars Feature results from Daytona International Speedway were as follows:
- Basic Ollie
- Casey Kirwan
- Borja Zazo
- Quirkitized
- Grizzle
2025 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports All-Stars points through the opening round are as follows:
- Casey Kirwan, 50
- Basic Ollie, 32
- Quirkitized, 24
- Antonio Felix da Costa, 24
- Daniel Gray, 23
Kirwan leads the standings once again after the first two races of the season. He earned the pole position and scored an additional three points. The fastest lap in both races also belonged to Kirwan, increasing his total by another two points. Leaving Daytona, Basic Ollie sits second, 18 points back, with former champion Quirkitized in tied for third with Antonio Felix da Costa, both 26 points behind.
Next week, the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup heads to Mugello for the first time ever in the second race of the 2025 season.
Coverage for the event will kick off on Saturday, February 8th at 18:00 GMT (1PM ET) with the Porsche All-Stars up first. After the All-Stars, the Supercup begins their second round at 19:00 GMT (2PM ET).
For more information on the 2025 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup season, visit www.iracing.com/pesc.
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