If you’ve been following along with the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup for some time now, the winners in Saturday’s action at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours probably read like a list of who’s who in the series. If you’re new to the action, get familiar with the names that came out on top: sprint race winner Zac Campbell, feature winner Charlie Collins, and new points leader Diogo Pinto.
The first-ever visit to the French track saw Campbell back up his season-opening feature win in Hockenheim with the top spot in qualifying (although it was by the narrowest of margins, just .005 seconds over former series champion Sebastian Job) and a checkered flag in the sprint race ahead of Cooper Webster and Pinto. Collins, the incoming points leader, gave up ground in the championship standings by finishing eighth in the sprint, but that gave him the advantage for the feature race, with the top eight drivers facing inversion on the grid.
And so, when the lights turned green for the 20-lap main event, Collins was able to check out as an early crash ended Campbell’s hopes of a sweep on the first lap. Pinto, Job, and Webster were all able to improve their positions during the feature, joining second and third place starters Tuomas Tahtela and Jordan Caruso in a thrilling battle for the final two podium spots. Pinto and Caruso would end up taking them on the final lap, relegating Job from second to fourth, and Pinto would secure a two-point championship lead over Collins as a result.
In the All-Star races, real-world Porsche driver Laurin Heinrich made a guest appearance and secured the sprint race win ahead of defending eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series champion Casey Kirwan and former All-Stars champion Emree. But with a full-field inversion for the feature race, only Kirwan would repeat on the podium in the main event; he’d go from second-to-last on the grid to second place before the halfway point, pass open-wheel racing legend Tony Kanaan for the lead, and hang on to beat Basic Ollie and Jardier to the line, as both drivers scored their second podium in as many features to start the season.
Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup feature results from Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours were as follows:
Fin. | St. | No. | Name | Laps | Interval | Led | Best | Pts |
| 1 | 1 | 93 | Charlie Collins | 20 | 0.000 | 20 | 1:39.065 | 63 |
| 2 | 6 | 1 | Diogo C. Pinto | 20 | -6.600 | 0 | 1:39.037 | 65 |
| 3 | 3 | 12 | Jordan Caruso | 20 | -7.079 | 0 | 1:39.057 | 55 |
| 4 | 5 | 22 | Sebastian Job | 20 | -7.500 | 0 | 1:39.116 | 55 |
| 5 | 7 | 37 | Cooper Webster | 20 | -7.841 | 0 | 1:39.239 | 56 |
| 6 | 2 | 97 | Tuomas Tähtelä | 20 | -8.527 | 0 | 1:39.232 | 45 |
| 7 | 4 | 99 | Oscar Mangan | 20 | -8.823 | 0 | 1:39.260 | 44 |
| 8 | 9 | 47 | Alejandro Sánchez | 20 | -9.231 | 0 | 1:39.310 | 38 |
| 9 | 20 | 69 | Moreno Sirica | 20 | -13.568 | 0 | 1:39.280 | 25 |
| 10 | 22 | 16 | Luca Kita | 20 | -16.642 | 0 | 1:39.549 | 22 |
| 11 | 17 | 40 | Julien Soenen | 20 | -18.062 | 0 | 1:39.457 | 24 |
| 12 | 27 | 11 | Maximilian Benecke | 20 | -18.558 | 0 | 1:39.380 | 18 |
| 13 | 29 | 3 | Kevin Nielsen | 20 | -19.417 | 0 | 1:39.376 | 16 |
| 14 | 24 | 92 | Mathias Stokbæk Jensen | 20 | -22.097 | 0 | 1:39.516 | 14 |
| 15 | 18 | 27 | Simone Maria Marcenò | 20 | -23.243 | 0 | 1:39.549 | 15 |
| 16 | 13 | 83 | Bobby Zalenski | 20 | -23.648 | 0 | 1:39.586 | 18 |
| 17 | 26 | 10 | Christopher Dambietz | 20 | -24.046 | 0 | 1:39.552 | 9 |
| 18 | 25 | 24 | Lasse Bak | 20 | -24.976 | 0 | 1:39.581 | 8 |
| 19 | 14 | 5 | Oskari Rinne | 20 | -27.154 | 0 | 1:39.640 | 14 |
| 20 | 21 | 49 | Jamie Fluke | 20 | -28.260 | 0 | 1:39.269 | 6 |
| 21 | 23 | 28 | Sam Kuitert | 20 | -31.273 | 0 | 1:39.549 | 5 |
| 22 | 15 | 21 | Gustavo Ariel | 20 | -34.724 | 0 | 1:39.578 | 10 |
| 23 | 12 | 90 | Yohann Harth | 20 | -40.748 | 0 | 1:40.383 | 12 |
| 24 | 28 | 4 | Salva Talens | 20 | -42.050 | 0 | 1:39.819 | 2 |
| 25 | 11 | 77 | Alessandro Bico | 20 | -1:17.858 | 0 | 1:39.355 | 11 |
| 26 | 8 | 15 | Zac Campbell | 19 | -1L | 0 | 1:39.491 | 25 |
| 27 | 10 | 46 | Bryn Collins | 19 | -1L | 0 | 1:39.618 | 11 |
| 28 | 16 | 81 | Quentiin Vialatte | 1 | DNF | 0 | ——— | 5 |
| 29 | 19 | 33 | Alexey Nesov | 1 | -19L | 0 | ——— | 2 |
Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup points through two rounds are as follows:
- Diogo Pinto, 138
- Charlie Collins, 136
- Jordan Caruso, 122
- Zac Campbell, 100
- Sebastian Job, 87
- Cooper Webster, 71
- Alessandro Bico, 64
- Alejandro Sanchez, 64
- Oscar Mangan, 62
- Maximilian Benecke, 53
The 2023 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup season rolls on in two weeks with a visit to the streets of Long Beach, winner of a fan vote to determine the third round of the season. Coverage will kick off on Saturday, March 4 at 18:00 GMT (1PM ET) with the All-Star action, before the pros do battle at 19:00 GMT (2PM ET).
For more information on the 2023 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup season, visit www.iracing.com/pesc. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.
Images via Porsche Motorsport
