Rogers Takes Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup Points Lead With Imola Win

Two years ago, Joshua Rogers became the first champion in Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup history with a dominant 2019 season. Three races into the 2021 season, his motivation to become the series’ first two-time champion couldn’t be any clearer.

After scoring sprint race victories in the first two rounds of the season, the Australian finally put it together when it matters most, becoming the third different feature event winner so far after slicing and dicing his way through the field at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, better known as Imola. Starting seventh after a runner-up finish to 2020 champion Sebastian Job in the sprint race and the subsequent eight-car invert, it took Rogers only three laps to claw his way into podium position, and he made the decisive pass for the win on Alejandro Sanchez halfway through the 18-lap main event.

Sanchez would hang on for second, while Interlagos winner Kevin Ellis Jr. would complete the podium. Incoming points leader Mitchell deJong wound up seventh, a solid recovery from a 15th place result in qualifying, but nonetheless not enough to retain his championship lead against Rogers’ win. Job, meanwhile, would see his hopes of two straight feature victories fall victim to both the invert and first-lap drama; after being dropped to the back of the field, he’d only recover to 24th place.

As always, the All-Star race preceding the Supercup provided its share of excitement to set the scene. When all was said and done, Dan Suzuki made the most of the feature race, holding off Jimmy Broadbent after multiple incidents and passes in the main event.

Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup feature results from Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari were as follows:

Fin.

St.

No.

Driver

Laps

Interval

Led

Best

Pts.

1792Joshua K Rogers1891:44.37080
2147Alejandro Sánchez18-0.39791:44.55360
3230Kevin Ellis Jr18-0.72801:44.50754
4411Maximilian Benecke18-3.39701:44.73853
5615Zac Campbell18-4.59101:44.58460
61049Jamie Fluke18-4.71401:44.58742
71224Mitchell deJong18-4.78201:44.55637
8957Dayne Warren18-5.04201:44.36938
9590Yohann Harth18-7.83701:44.79846
10157Jeff Giassi18-8.08201:44.61328
111404Salva Talens18-8.35701:44.58827
121777Jeremy Bouteloup18-8.89901:44.75622
131318Sindre Setsaas18-9.15101:44.59824
14393Charlie Collins18-13.34201:44.45929
15118Graham Carroll18-13.71801:44.64722
163027Patrik Holzmann18-14.67401:44.63510
171816Mack Bakkum18-18.85301:44.74812
182331David Williams18-20.55601:44.7258
1921121Diogo C. Pinto18-20.77701:44.8757
2033729Maxim Ramsteijn18-20.92901:44.6026
2129211Thibault Cazaubon18-22.14401:44.7845
221658Tommy Østgaard18-22.24801:44.8899
233569Moreno Sirica18-22.93601:44.8283
2481Sebastian Job18-24.72801:44.48037
252443Brian Lockwood18-24.95201:44.8181
262899Mikkel Gade18-25.30301:44.7900
2726312Daniel Lafuente18-27.18601:44.9600
283733Ricardo Castro Ledo18-28.92701:44.5770
29345Martin Krönke18-30.34001:44.7870
302710Jack Sedgwick18-46.40001:44.7760
313151Josh Thompson9-9 L01:44.6340
322212Alexander Thiebe9-9 L01:45.0410
332542Matti Kaidesoja6-12 L01:44.7420
343913Alexander Wolters3-15 L00
3519911Ayhancan Guven3-15 L02:08.2632
363850Ricardo  Rico1-17 L00
3720119Pekka Tuomainen0-18 L01
3832110Christopher Dambietz0-18 L00
3936107Tuomas Tähtelä0-18 L00

 

Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup points through three rounds are as follows:

  1. Joshua Rogers, 198
  2. Mitchell deJong, 161
  3. Dayne Warren, 145
  4. Maximilian Benecke, 139
  5. Kevin Ellis Jr., 127
  6. Alejandro Sanchez, 126
  7. Sebastian Job, 109
  8. Zac Campbell, 108
  9. Charlie Collins, 106
  10. Sindre Setsaas, 84

The Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup season resumes next weekend at Silverstone Circuit, which will become the first track to host the series three times. As always, coverage kicks off at 1PM ET with the All-Star action, and continues with the sim racing pros at 2PM ET. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.