Job Returns to Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup Winner’s Circle, Kanaan Wins All-Star Race at Spa

It came down to the very last lap, but in the end, Sebastian Job successfully defended his 2020 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup victory at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday, outfoxing Alejandro Sanchez in an intense last-lap duel to score his series-leading third win of the 2021 season. The victory enabled the defending series champion to climb to second in series points, jumping ahead of both Mitchell deJong and Kevin Ellis Jr. in the chase to catch Joshua Rogers with just three races remaining.

While Job looked set for a strong finish throughout the day, topping the practice sheets and qualifying fourth, Rogers and deJong proved that starting up front is no guarantee of a good result. The duo made contact on the first lap of the sprint race and ended up in the Bruxelles gravel trap, plummeting from first and second to 26th and 29th at the end of the sprint. Rogers would salvage a 13th place finish in the feature to mitigate the points damage, but deJong could only muster 25th place at the end of the main event.

That opened the door for some fresh faces up front alongside Job, who eventually took the sprint race victory, in the feature. Sanchez, Job, and Charlie Collins were the top three finishers in the sprint, but they didn’t let the subsequent eight-car invert faze them. All three would be back in podium position by the end of lap one and each would lead at least one lap, although Collins’ time up front was shortened by a nudge off track from Job and subsequent slowdown penalty that dropped him to ninth.

From there, Job and Sanchez would take the gloves off and settle it amongst themselves. Sanchez would sneak past Job for the lead on the penultimate lap, but Job would use the draft to make the eventual winning pass back early on the final lap. An effective challenge from Sanchez would pull the duo nearly neck and neck coming out of the final bus stop chicane, but Job would manage to hang on in the drag race to the finish line.

The All-Star event that preceded the Supercup action saw a fresh infusion of names on the grid, and both races ended with newcomers on top. Dave Cam claimed the checkered flag in the sprint race ahead of Borja Zazo, but it was IndyCar legend Tony Kanaan who took top honors in the feature by nearly five seconds ahead of Xabier “Heikki_360” Sanchez. Emily “Emree” Jones completed the podium in both races.

Results from the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup feature at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps were as follows:

Fin.

St.

No.

Driver

Laps

Interval

Led

Best

Pts.

181Sebastian Job1292:21.81979
2647Alejandro Sánchez12-0.14722:21.77665
31411Maximilian Benecke12-3.53302:21.51347
41258Tommy Østgaard12-3.90502:21.84646
5793Charlie Collins12-4.07412:21.56562
6115Zac Campbell12-4.52402:21.59144
717107Tuomas Tähtelä12-4.80002:21.85532
8168Graham Carroll12-5.00202:22.36831
923121Diogo C. Pinto12-5.30002:21.79124
10990Yohann Harth12-5.64902:21.82234
11115Martin Krönke12-6.15102:21.84530
12134Salva Talens12-6.51702:21.76226
132692Joshua K Rogers12-6.57302:21.39226
142016Mack Bakkum12-8.89902:21.66415
151030Kevin Ellis Jr12-9.02902:21.76323
163118Sindre Setsaas12-9.30902:21.78310
171849Jamie Fluke12-9.50502:21.49712
1819729Maxim Ramsteijn12-10.60502:21.85610
19577Jeremy Bouteloup12-11.67002:22.04325
202899Mikkel Gade12-12.07702:21.8636
213269Moreno Sirica12-17.69102:22.1525
2215312Daniel Lafuente12-18.11802:21.74410
232733Ricardo Castro Ledo12-18.46202:22.0033
243543Brian Lockwood12-18.57702:22.1662
252924Mitchell deJong12-19.09302:21.9139
263610Jack Sedgwick12-27.10402:22.8180
273031David Williams12-27.15902:21.9590
2827Jeff Giassi12-29.31202:23.14614
2921119Pekka Tuomainen12-56.16102:21.9160
302213Alexander Wolters8-4 L02:21.9040
312428Carlos  Fenollosa6-6 L00
323450Ricardo  Rico5-7 L02:23.9810
333342Matti Kaidesoja3-9 L02:23.9600
343911Ayhancan Guven1-11 L015
35457Dayne Warren0-12 L018
3625211Thibault Cazaubon0-12 L00

 

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

  1. Joshua Rogers, 435
  2. Sebastian Job, 336
  3. Mitchell deJong, 331
  4. Kevin Ellis Jr., 304
  5. Charlie Collins, 289
  6. Maximilian Benecke, 254
  7. Alejandro Sanchez, 254
  8. Dayne Warren, 237
  9. Graham Carroll, 235
  10. Zac Campbell, 230

The Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup season resumes on March 27 at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, as Job looks to equal his 2020 total of four race wins at another track where he won last season. 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.

All-Star Race image via Justin Prince