Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup Contender Series closes at Nürburgring GP with Vialatte win, Nielsen title

Battle for the expected cut line gets tense between Stokbæk, Thompson, Zalenski, and Lulham

The final round of the 2023 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup Contender Series took to the Nürburgring GP-Strecke on Saturday to wrap up its six-race season. The finale would determine possible eligibility for at least 15 drivers to compete in the next iteration of the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup.

With six drivers mathematically locked into a chance at an invite, there were still nine more potential spots to determine through qualifying, the sprint and the feature events. One of the drivers above the cut line, Simone Maria Marcenò, maximized his points early by winning the pole position and leading every lap in the sprint race. For the feature, Quentiin Vialatte inverted to the pole position with an eighth place sprint race finish and led all 14 laps there, winning the race and nearly the championship. He came up four points short of Kevin Nielsen, who had just enough to score 12 points through it to win the title.

The action got rowdy early as top 15 hopeful William Chadwick went around before Turn 1, effectively setting the tone for how the rest of his event would go. Nielsen also went off, as did a few others, but the battle up front was mostly sorted out among the front runners by the end of the first lap. On the final lap, there was contact between two other top 15 hopefuls, which would change the complexion of the cut line. Bobby Zalenski entered the afternoon below the line, while Chris Lulham entered above it. After contact between the two, Zalenski moved on to finish ninth and grab another point, while Lulham fell to finish 16th, losing a possible six or seven points in the process.

Nürburgring GP Sprint Race Top 10:

1. Simone Maria Marcenò
2. Matti Sipilä
3. Dino Lombardi
4. Sam Kuitert
5. Julien Soenen
6. Jakub Maciejewski
7. Michael Janney
8. Quentiin Vialatte
9. Bobby Zalenski
10. Josh Thompson

In the feature, Vialatte was dominant, eventually winning by over two seconds over Dino Lombardi. Lombardi wasn’t fully locked coming in, but was plenty good enough in the finale after scoring the most points with podiums in both races.

All eyes were on the battle for the top 15, as the line shifted among Zalenski, Lulham, Josh Thompson, and Mathias Stokbæk Jensen. In finishing sixth, Zalenski had enough points initially to finish 14th and seemingly qualify. The battle for 15th initially ended in a tie, with Thompson, finishing seventh, and Stokbæk, in 11th, on opposite sides of the line. Lulham, in losing those valuable points in the sprint, wound up three points below the line after only being able to recover to 13th in the feature.

After results were finalized and the points were adjusted for penalties. Zalenski was levied a five-point penalty, which drops him to 17th in the standings and back below the cut line. Lulham moves up to 16th, still below the cut by three points, but now ahead of Zalenski if another spot on the 2024 roster were to open up. If the tie for 15th would have stood, Stokbæk would have won the tie breaker over Thompson by having a better average finish in all six feature races. Chadwick, who entered the finale above the line as well, wound up 24th in the feature and finished 18th in the final standings.

Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup Contender Series Round 6 results at Nürburgring GP were as follows:

Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup Contender Series points through Round 6 are as follows:

1. Kevin Nielsen, 298
2. Quentiin Vialatte, 294
3. Michael Janney, 251
4. Luke McKeown, 250
5. Parker White, 225
6. Bryn Collins, 205
7. Sam Kuitert, 198
8. Oscar Py, 194
9. Dino Lombardi, 193
10. Julien Soenen, 190
11. Simone Maria Marcenò, 188
12. Matti Sipilä, 176
13. Jakub Maciejewski, 151
14. Mathias Stokbæk Jensen, 136
15. Josh Thompson, 136
    ———————————–
16. Chris Lulham, 133
17. Bobby Zalenski, 132
18. William Chadwick, 122
19. Xander Reed, 88
20. Rasmus Christensen, 85

Following the finale, the 15 highest points-scoring drivers after results finalization will be eligible for a chance to race in the top level of competition in 2024. Further details on the 2024 season, including the complete roster, full season schedule and more, will be announced at a later date.

For more information on the 2023 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup Contender Series season, visit www.iracing.com/pesc/contender/. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.

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