Following the winter break, the E1 Championship resumed this week at Silverstone with the sixth round of the inaugural eSports series and with it, GT Radial Eurasia Motorsport secured solid results in both the Sprint and Reverse Grid races. The team ultimately ended the day of action a little frustrated in not having achieved the front-running pace they have enjoyed and demonstrated already in Season Zero.
Inigo Anton and Joaquin ‘Wakkeen’ Garrido again represented the Filipino-entered squad for the event, confident of a strong showing after some impressive recent events, such as at Spa-Francorchamps where the former claimed the pole position and secured a podium. Silverstone however wasn’t so kind, with both drivers unable to find the sweet spot in terms of handling and pace. Despite this, the pairing ended the race day with solid top-ten positions.
The high-pressure five-minute qualifying session saw Inigo and Wakkeen line up for the Sprint race in ninth and 12th positions respectively. Almost immediately, Wakkeen found himself hit by another car, half spinning and ultimately retiring with damage to the car. Inigo meanwhile fell back in the early stages of the race before settling into a strong race run that saw him finish in eighth place.
That position became fifth on the grid for the reverse grid race and with his rivals running into trouble into the very first corner, he vaulted into second place. The race soon settled, and unusually for Inigo, he was unable to keep pace with the race leaders, despite running a similar strategy.
Inigo found himself in 11th position at the mid-race point, just ahead of Wakkeen who had been busy carving his way through the field from the back of the grid. A late-race push, however, saw Inigo make gains, taking the chequered flag in seventh position, with teammate Wakkeen doing a stellar job to recover and finish in ninth.
The GT Radial Eurasia Motorsport now look to bounce back with a stronger performance next week as the E1 Championship races on the classic Road America circuit in the USA.
