ESL R1, Round 5, Road Atlanta (USA): Porsche works driver Joshua Rogers moves to the top of the table.
01-07-2024 19:37 - MOTORSPORT
With his second final victory in a row, defending champion Joshua Rogers has taken the lead in the ESL R1 drivers' standings. The sim racer from the Porsche Coanda Esports Racing factory team also prevailed against his opponents on the virtual Road Atlanta. His teammates Charlie Collins and Dayne Warren also made it into the round of the best twelve. With one race before the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Rogers is ahead of his competitors Kevin Ellis Jr. (UK, 116) and the Slovenian Kevin Siggy (107) with 117 points.
The road to the final was straightforward for three of the four Porsche factory drivers: Collins finished second in the quarter-finals, Rogers drove from pole position to third place, Warren won his heat. Mitchell deJong missed out on a chance to advance due to a collision. In the semi-finals, Rogers won qualifying again. However, he fell back to fifth place after a scuffle, while Collins finished third. Both of them advanced, as did Warren, who managed to finish sixth in his semi-final.
Rogers started the final from fourth place. He moved up to second place in the first corner. On lap three he took the lead and extended it. In the end, the Australian crossed the finish line with a lead of 1.5 seconds over Czech Jiří Toman. This meant he celebrated his 33rd victory in an ESL R1 race. Collins started the race in seventh place. Contact with fellow brand driver Enzo Bonito dropped him to second to last place. Warren benefited from this. He had started last after a problem in qualifying, but moved up to seventh position.
Rogers started the final from fourth place. He moved up to second place in the first corner. On lap three he took the lead and extended it. In the end, the Australian crossed the finish line with a lead of 1.5 seconds over Czech Jiří Toman. This meant he celebrated his 33rd victory in an ESL R1 race. Collins started the race in seventh place. Contact with fellow brand driver Enzo Bonito dropped him to second to last place. Warren benefited from this. He had started last after a problem in qualifying, but moved up to seventh position.