Chaos Reigns in Explosive Porsche Pro Debut at Hockenheim

As the field rolled out for qualifying, it was Damon Woods at the front of the pack. He failed to set a valid lap on his first flyer, but he quickly made up for it as he vaulted to the top of the times on his second effort. He was followed by Vermillion Esports duo Ric Kuznetsov and Antal Sabo, both three-tenths behind in the early stages.

At the halfway mark Woods still led the field, holding a three-tenth margin over Sabo, as Hugo Allan from Automoves Racing Team arrived in the Top-3. Eclipse Simsports drivers Zach Rattray-White and Byron Pearce struggled to find their feet early on, sitting six-tenths behind their established teammate and on the outside of the Top-10, well below expectation. Kuznetsov also failed to improve through the middle part of the session and was dropping down the order, as the field gained lap after lap with tyres that were now entering their peak performance window.

As the 20 minute qualifying session came to a close, it was Damon Woods representing Falken Simracing Team, holding on by just 0.048 seconds to take the first ever pole position in the series. His fellow teammates at Eclipse Simsports, Zach Rattray-White and Byron Pearce, finished up 2nd and 3rd respectively, improving late to get themselves out of the midpack. Hugo Allan impressed in 4th for Automoves Racing Team and Reece Wakefield also did a great job rounding out the Top-5 for OPR x Gammaflare Sim Racing. Bewley, Sabo, Mackay, Morella and Widdas rounded out the Top-10. Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Champion Dylan O’Keeffe performed well below expectation, with the #1 qualifying 44th for the first sprint race of the season.

As the green flag dropped the first three cars got a clean getaway, the #777 of Hugo Allan however, lost out big time with a terrible launch off the line. With others behind getting a far better start, he was caught in the middle of a three-wide battle into Turn 1 and was unfortunately tagged, and sent to the outside of the circuit. Falling from 5th to stone cold last, he was left with plenty of work to do for the remainder of the night.

The field made it through the opening sector reasonably cleanly until contact between Dean Mackay and Zak Kerr sent Mackay into the outside fence through Parabolika. Unfortunately Mackay’s car was severely damaged and after requesting a tow, the first of many safety cars was called.

 The race was restarted on Lap 4 but the field was quickly back behind the safety car again as 9INE5IVE SimSport driver Pat Klien was left stranded on the outside of Turn 1. A simple mistake on the entry to the first corner sent him spinning and unfortunately the #19 sustained race-ending damage.

The race was once again restarted on Lap 6, and at the back of the field an incident between Hugo Allan and the #32 of Jedd Van Hemert left the track essentially blocked on the exit of Turn 4. Van Hemert’s teammate Josh Purwein unfortunately collected the #32 and his race was finished after returning to the pits.

As the leaders headed to the Turn 6 hairpin, it was Tom Bewley making an aggressive move on Byron Pearce to put himself in a podium position. As they pushed on through the fast bend at Turn 7, Reece Wakefield got loose after jumping the kerb and spun to the outside of Turn 8, narrowly avoiding the wall. In the same moment, Sebastian Eskandari attempted a bold move on Byron Pearce and unfortunately sent the #506 spinning. 

Over the next few laps the leading group had spread out and Damon Woods began to set the pace. On Lap 8 he set the fastest lap of the race with a 1:36.777 and two laps later Zach Rattray-White set his fastest lap, just half a tenth slower than Woods. For the next few laps the field continued to battle and with just 3 laps remaining for the leaders, the safety car was back on the circuit.

Jack Widdas and Lockhart Brownlie made contact at Turn 8 and following a spin Widdas was unfortunately collected by an innocent Angus Lawford. After some more contact at the following corner, Widdas was left stranded on the exit of Turn 10 and requested a tow. A quick turnaround from race control and the field was left with one final lap of racing for the sprint.

The leaders got away clean but a big battle at the tail of the Top-10 ensued. After multiple side by side moments, Kory Lazarus found himself in the outside wall at Turn 10 after an unfortunate bounce on the exit kerb. With major damage, he unfortunately failed to make the line and made it 7 DNFs for the field in the first race of the season.

At the front however it was Damon Woods with a statement lights to flag win. He was followed closely by the #17 of Rattray-White and Tom Bewley rounding out the podium. Antal Sabo and Team Maxboost driver Sebastian Eskandari performed well to finish in the Top-5, Eskandari gaining 10 spots from his starting position. Morella, Veld, Greathead, Kuznetsov and Varndell rounded out the Top-10, with Varndell securing the Invert pole position for the feature race. Some other notable performers were Stefan Mccartain and Stuart Ellis, the OPR x Gammaflare Sim Racing duo rising from 37th and 42nd respectively to just outside the Top-10 to start the season off strong.

The field reset for the 22-lap feature race and with double points on offer it was sure to be exciting. Following the Top-10 Invert, it was three Vermillion Esports cars at the front of the grid. From the green flag, Sebastian Varndell led Ric Kuznetsov and into Turn 3, Eskandari made a decisive move to pass Greathead and move into 3rd.

Further back in the field, the luckless Byron Pearce was given a drive-through Penalty for a jump start, sending him right to the back of the pack. The field battled away through the hairpin and after being side by side for multiple corners, Eskandari once again made a pass and moved up to 2nd. Bewley was not far behind as he moved into 4th entering Turn 10, passing Hayden Veld.

Just behind, Eclipse Simsports’ Marino Morella made a move up the inside of Lewis Greathead. An unfortunate bounce off the inside kerb at Turn 10 sent the #77 into the door of the #112 and both cars spun in front of the field. Cars fanned out across the track to avoid the incident. Luckily Morella was the only car to sustain significant damage.

On Lap 2, a similar incident ensued as Jacob O’Reilly lost control following another unfortunate bounce off the Turn 10 kerb. O’Reilly spun on the racing line and multiple cars made heavy contact. One of them was his Vermillion Esports teammate, Lewis Greathead, who suffered major damage and eventually found himself 4 laps down after starting in 3rd. 9INE5IVE SimSport drivers Luke Swan and Simon Mezzomo also suffered major damage. Kory Lazarus was collected but managed to continue on.

Ben Pedersen’s night was ended along with O’Reilly, and after the #222 requested a tow, the safety car was deployed for the 4th time on the night. The race restarted on Lap 6 and Sebastian Eskandari suffered a similar fate to Klien in the sprint race. A massive moment sent him into the outside wall at Turn 1 and out of the race. An unfortunate ending to what had been an impressive outing for the #44 car.

This brought out the safety car once again and after 2 laps under yellow, the race returned to green flag conditions. On the run down to Turn 2, Kuznetsov made a decisive move on his teammate Varndell and moved into the lead. Throughout the lap the battles continued behind as Varndell defended from Veld and Bewley, who were both trying to move into 2nd place. At Turn 11 it all turned sour, as Antal Sabo misjudged the braking zone and sent Veld off the circuit, and into the sand trap. Bewley was lucky not to be caught in the incident and continued to pressure Varndell into Lap 10.

After battling into the hairpin, Woods, Sabo and Seth Brown found themselves three-wide into the Turn 7 bend and unfortunately for Woods, he was forced off the circuit by Sabo, who was seemingly unaware of his presence on the outside. Sabo was given a 5-Second Penalty for the incident which saw Woods lose 2 positions. Ric Kuznetsov began to check out at the front of the field, as Varndell continued his stout defence of 2nd place from Tom Bewley. After continuous corners side by side, Bewley lost momentum on the exit of Turn 11 and Rattray-White snuck past into the infield hairpin at Turn 12. Bewley tried to repass the #17 immediately and unfortunately spun to the outside of the corner after losing control. He rejoined the circuit in 19th and became another victim of the aggressive racing that occurred throughout the night.

Over the next few laps the battles raged on up and down the order, but it was Damon Woods who found himself moving into 2nd, passing Varndell into the Turn 6 hairpin. With 9 laps remaining, Woods found himself 4.5 seconds behind the leader, needing another safety car to realistically contend for the win.

It wasn’t long before Zach Rattray-White moved into 3rd with a late move on Varndell into Turn 8. Brock Gilchrist followed him through, moving into 4th after starting the feature race well down the order in 17th. The last 5 laps of the race flew by as the battle from 4th to 9th continued on, but it was Varndell who eventually succeeded, repassing Gilchrist and maintaining the gap to the flag.

Up front it was Ric Kuznetsov who took the win by 3.2 seconds over sprint winner Damon Woods. A great recovery for Kuznetsov who qualified 24th at the start of the night and pushed forward in both races. Woods, likely unsatisfied with 2nd, still walking away with the championship lead after Round 1.

Zach Rattray-White joined teammate Woods on the Podium, surviving with a damaged front end for the majority of the race. Varndell and Gilchrist rounded out the Top-5, with Brown, Shepherd, Kerr, Jones and Stuart Ellis completing the Top-10. Hugo Allan recovered well from starting 30th to finish 12th, whilst setting the fastest lap of the race on Lap 20 with a 1:37.047. Jaxon Reihana also made his way through the field from 42nd on the grid to 17th. Byron Pearce showed great pace in the feature, fighting his way back from a drive-through penalty to finish 14th.

The Hockenheimring certainly delivered some incredible moments to kick start the season, and we won't have to wait very long to see more great action as the Moza Porsche Pro Invitational heads to Belgium and the iconic Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for Round 2 on the 22nd of April. See you there!