FIA SIMAGIC F4 eSports Regional Tour Week 8 report: Woods back on top in AP; Rubilar, Barter extend regional leads
August 7th, 2024 by Justin Melillo
This September, the FIA SIMAGIC F4 eSports Global Championship Series arrives with 30 of the top-ranked regional competitors going against one another for a four-event, eight round season with a chance at winning a share of the $25,000 prize pool.
For the eighth week of competition, the Americas region took on Road Atlanta, Asia Pacific went back to a different layout at Fuji, and Europe challenged the Nürburgring Grand-Prix-Strecke. This is the final week before drops are to be introduced, so scoring may change dramatically as racers eliminate low points and replace them with larger amounts.
AMERICAS REGION
Road Atlanta was on deck for the eighth week of competition in the Americas region. Nicolás Rubilar entered the week leading the standings, and after taking the checkers in the Strength of Field (SoF) race on the week, that lead was extended to more than 150 points with four weeks to go. Elvis Rankin, Ralph Benitez, Felipe Cabrera Loyola, and Xander Reed rounded out the top-five.
Cabrera moves up into second overall while Victor Miranda falls to third after finishing 13th best on the week. Michael Janney had an uncharacteristic week, only scoring seven points, and falls from fourth to sixth in the standings. Outside the top-10, Paulo Draeta and Felipe Juliato are within striking distance to usurp Jeffrey Decker for the final spot. 1980 iRacers took on Road Atlanta, and for the first time, had the highest SoF among all three regions, with Rubilar scoring 337 points for his win.
FIA SIMAGIC F4 eSports Regional Tour – Americas Top 10 after Week 8 at Road Atlanta:
Pos | Driver | Club | Total Pts | W8 Wins | Total Wins |
1 | Nicolás Rubilar | Hispanoamérica | 2369 | 1 | 6 |
2 | Felipe Cabrera Loyola | Hispanoamérica | 2207 | 0 | 3 |
3 | Victor Miranda | Brazil | 2203 | 0 | 2 |
4 | Ralph Benitez | Brazil | 2161 | 0 | 1 |
5 | Elvis Rankin | West | 1956 | 0 | 1 |
6 | Michael Janney | Atlantic | 1911 | 0 | 4 |
7 | Jackson Rezende | Brazil | 1895 | 0 | 2 |
8 | Felipe Pujol Dantas | Brazil | 1864 | 0 | 1 |
9 | Leo Ovtcharov | California Club | 1861 | 0 | 5 |
10 | Jeffrey Decker | California Club | 1726 | 0 | 0 |
ASIA-PACIFIC REGION
For the second time on the season in the Asia-Pacific region, Fuji was the place to be as the series took on the Grand Prix layout. Shoma Shintani was on top of the leaderboard at week’s end, scoring victory in the SoF race, collecting 307 championship points. It wasn’t enough for Shintani to break into the top-10 overall, however, only 26 points behind Shota Nakaharu for the final transfer spot. Kazuki Fujita, Damon Woods, Alejandro Sendra, and Calieb Hydes rounded out the week’s top-five.
Woods barely edges ahead of Hydes for the overall lead by 14 points leaving Fuji. Similarly to Michael Janney in the Americas, Kody Deith had an uncharacteristic week and only brought home eight points, which drops him down to ninth overall. 346 iRacers participated in the second event at Fuji on the season.
FIA SIMAGIC F4 eSports Regional Tour – Asia/Pacific Top 10 after Week 8 at Fuji International Speedway:
Pos | Driver | Club | Total Pts | W8 Wins | Total Wins |
1 | Damon Woods | Australia/NZ | 1663 | 0 | 5 |
2 | Calieb Hydes | Australia/NZ | 1649 | 0 | 0 |
3 | Marcello Rivera | Australia/NZ | 1585 | 0 | 2 |
4 | Benjamin Roberts | Australia/NZ | 1515 | 0 | 4 |
5 | Hayata Asaga | Japan | 1450 | 0 | 0 |
6 | Jaidyn J Ladic | Australia/NZ | 1434 | 0 | 2 |
7 | Kazuki Fujita | Japan | 1424 | 0 | 3 |
8 | Alejandro Sendra | Japan | 1339 | 1 | 6 |
9 | Kody Deith | Australia/NZ | 1216 | 0 | 1 |
10 | Shota Nakaharu | Japan | 1195 | 0 | 2 |
EUROPE REGION
For the second week in a row in the Europe region, Martin Kadlečík was the top scorer on the week, as the series visited the GP course at the Nürburgring for the eighth week. Kadlečík brought home 333 points towards the championship, outscoring Alex Dunne, Luke McKeown, Hugh Barter, and Aaron Vazquezz, the rest of the top-five on the week, three of those drivers scoring wins in multiple different SoF races.
For the overall points, Barter continues to lead despite not yet having a win. McKeown moves up into second, with Vazquezz following through to third. Both Gordie Mutch and Alejandro Sánchez did not race in Week 8, but they stay inside the top-10, with Mutch in eighth and Sánchez now on the bubble in 10th. Michael Romanidis is currently the first driver out, 44 points behind Sánchez. Kadlečík is 12th now, 73 points below the top-10. 1970 iRacers took part in the Nürburgring events.
FIA SIMAGIC F4 eSports Regional Tour – Europe Top 10 after Week 8 at Nürburgring Grand-Prix-Strecke:
Pos | Name | Club | Total Pts | W8 Wins | Total Wins |
1 | Hugh Barter | Australia/NZ | 2387 | 0 | 0 |
2 | Luke McKeown | UK and I | 2199 | 0 | 2 |
3 | Aaron Vazquezz | Iberia | 2182 | 1 | 5 |
4 | Alex Dunne | UK and I | 2124 | 2 | 5 |
5 | Elliott Vayron | France | 2087 | 0 | 4 |
6 | Moritz Löhner | DE-AT-CH | 2061 | 0 | 1 |
7 | Graham Carroll | UK and I | 2030 | 0 | 1 |
8 | Gordon Mutch | UK and I | 1905 | 0 | 6 |
9 | Dan Amor | UK and I | 1816 | 0 | 1 |
10 | Alejandro Sánchez | Iberia | 1768 | 0 | 6 |
Week 9 Schedule:
- Americas (Every ODD hour, :15 after): Watkins Glen International – Boot
- Asia-Pacific (Every EVEN hour, :45 after): Mobility Resort Motegi – East
- Europe (Every EVEN hour, :15 after): Knockhill Racing Circuit – International
For more information on the FIA SIMAGIC F4 eSports Global Championship, visit www.iracing.com/fia-f4-esports/. For more information about iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com. To know more about the partnership and access an iRacing license via your local ASN, visit www.FIA.com/iracing.