Tommy Ostgaard Wins Porsche Esports Supercup Feature at Spa With Last-Lap Pass

Tommy Ostgaard scored a thrilling last-lap victory in the feature race of the Porsche Esports Supercup round at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday. After stalking sprint winner and feature polesitter Patrik Holzmann for the whole race, Ostgaard made a pass on the final lap to score his first victory of the season and a $1,000 bonus in the season’s first night race.

“Obviously, on the last lap, I wanted to get by, but during the race I was just trying to go as quick as I could and trying to catch Patrik,” said Ostgaard. “It wasn’t until the last lap that I was really close enough to make a move, and boy, was it close! The car felt amazing during the whole stint, and I could brake really late compared to Patrik, so a big thanks to the team for setting up the car for this week.”

Ostgaard’s VRS Coanda Simsport teammate Josh Rogers remained the class of the series in qualifying by scoring the pole, but would once again start eighth in the sprint race thanks to the top-eight inversion. Holzmann benefitted from the race format and cruised to a large gap at the front of the pack, while Ostgaard, Jamie Fluke, and Maximilian Benecke fought for second place. Ostgaard took over the spot early, and Benecke held the spot briefly, but Fluke regained the position and held on to the checkered flag.

Holzmann had another strong start in the feature race, taking the lead over Ostgaard, while fifth-place sprint finisher Sebastian Job climbed to third and put the Norwegian in a Red Bull Racing eSports sandwich. The gap between the trio got smaller and smaller as the race continued, but Job’s hopes of giving his team a 1-2 result evaporated when he spun in the race’s final minutes.

No longer pressured from behind, Ostgaard pulled even closer to Holzmann and finally made the pass in the race’s final minute. To his credit, Holzmann attempted to close the gap cleanly, not threatening to punt Ostgaard out of the lead to regain the position.

Rogers, meanwhile, resurfaced in third place in the feature, returning yet again to the podium and further extending his championship lead to 108 points over Holzmann. After finishing sixth in the sprint race, the Australian benefitted from both Job’s spin and late-race contact between Graham Carroll and Mitchell deJong to inherit the final podium spot. As Carroll spun out of a top-five spot, Rogers closed in on his VRS Coanda Simsport teammate and deJong respectfully let the faster car pass.

“In the sprint race, my main focus was just to stay as clean as possible,” Rogers admitted. “There were a few times, especially on Lap 1, where I was conceding a position to Graham (Carroll). It was aggressive, so I didn’t want to force the issue too much. Coming through the field in a series as close as this, it’s not always easy to keep down on the accidents, but at the end of the day, we tried to push forward as far as we could while keeping it clean.”

The Porsche Esports Supercup point standings are as follows:

1. Josh Rogers, 368
2. Patrik Holzmann, 260
3. Tommy Ostgaard, 254
4. Sebastian Job, 250
5. Mitchell deJong, 247
6. Jamie Fluke, 232
7. Maximilian Benecke, 202
8. Martin Kronke, 201
9. Jarrad Filsell, 194
10. Jeremy Bouteloup, 193

The Porsche Esports Supercup season resumes on May 25 with a round at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the first race of a two-event Canadian swing. The event will be shown live on the iRacing eSports Network on Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube at 9AM ET.

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