The first round of season one of the E1 championship proved to be a glitchy affair, mostly down the series organiser’s new servers making life tough for both competitors and fans alike. Through it all however, came Filipino racer Inigo Anton to record a best finish of sixth position for the GT Radial Eurasia Motorsport in their second season of the competition.
The new season followed the same format as before, with a five-minute qualifying session, a 15-minute Sprint Race, followed by the reversed grid main race lasting 30-minutes. The GT Radial Eurasia Motorsport duo of Inigo Anton and ‘Wakkeen’ Joaquin Garrido prepared in the week ahead of the first round and duly went on to qualify sixth and 16th respectively.
The 15-minute Sprint event was difficult for both drivers and the team alike due to server lags, but ultimately it was the same for the 28-car field and the pairing made best of the situation to finish a little disappointed with ninth and 15th respectively.
The main race saw Wakkeen take the reversed grid pole position, his first in the eSports series, and lead away from the front of the field. Behind, Anton made steady progress to run behind his teammate. The positions revered on lap six, with Wakkeen losing ground after being pushed wide by a rival at turn two.
The racing continued, with the GT Radial Eurasia Motorsport duo opting for the one-stop strategy, ultimately rewarding Anton, recovering from a puncture, and Wakkeen with sixth and 17th at the chequered flag.
The season resumes next Wednesday at Hockenheim, where the team will be aiming to make up for a tough season-opener and to maximise its experience in this new eSports challenge.
Mark Goddard, Team Principal
“It was a difficult race, but we showed a lot of promise. Anton suffered a puncture in race two early on so had to pit early and change to hard tyres again. Without the puncture, we would have finished on softs with a good chance of a podium. Joaquin did well to lead for a couple of laps, but a server glitch disqualified him halfway through the race. The next race is at Hockenheim and we will definitely be aiming for a podium!”
