The second round of the E1 Championship took place today at Hockenheim, Germany. Sadly, for the GT Radial Eurasia Motorsport team, the two rounds of the series yielded little in terms of points scoring positions, but again, the two Filipino drivers showed good pace in the eSports series with an eye to making gains next time out.
With long straights and tight corners, Hockenheim is not dissimilar in setup characteristics to the Red Bull Ring season-opening venue. Both Inigo Anton and Joaquin ‘Wakkeen’ Garrido practiced extensively ahead of the second round and were confident of a return to the Season Zero form which saw the former a regular on the podium.
With 28-entries and the competition proving even stiffer in Season One, Inigo and Wakkeen qualified fourth and 19th respectively for the Sprint round. The 15-minute race saw the former make contact with Ar Muhammad Aleef in a battle for third position and subsequent further contact at turn three, this time from behind, saw him lose further ground to run seventh.
It was a closely fought battle with just a few tenths of a second separating most of the top-ten racers, but on the final lap he was hit from behind at the last turn spinning him round. He was able to recover to finish in 14th, just ahead of teammate Wakkeen.
The main race grid reversal, on this occasion, was not beneficial, with the duo lining up in their finishing positions from the Sprint race. Firmly midfield, the opening laps of the 30-minute event was always going to be fraught with danger.
Both drivers lost out at the start with Wakkeen soon retiring with car damage. Inigo meanwhile battled hard, but he too picked up damage and had to pit for repairs. A strong recovery drive from the very back of the field followed; ultimately claiming 13th position whilst once again showing a sense of determination in adversity.
The start of Season One hasn’t been kind to GT Radial Eurasia Motorsport, but as ever, the two youngsters will e pushing hard next Wednesday when the series moved to the USA.
Mark Goddard, Team Principal: “The guys put in a lot of effort before this event and it’s very disappointing that the effort was not rewarded. However they are still learning and they will come back stronger in the next event. We are very determined that a GT Radial supported car will return to the podium.”
