FIA SIMAGIC F4 eSports Regional Tour Week 12 report: 30 drivers across three regions qualified for global showdown in September
September 4th, 2024 by Justin Melillo
This month, 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 race season with a chance at winning a share of a $25,000 prize pool. For the last 12 weeks, three regions have gone to battle to determine their 10-best that will compete against one another in the Global eSport later in September.
The final week of the season, Week 12, saw the Americas region take on Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, the Asia-Pacific region tackle Suzuka International Racing Course, and the Europe region compete at Circuito de Navarra.
AMERICAS REGION
The Americas region closed with a whisper last week, as the main players in the fight for the top-10 either opted out of participating or did not run a high enough Strength of Field (SoF) split to earn any further points at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Week 12. With that said, the Top 10 remained exactly the same, and Elvis Rankin scored the title by 86 points over Nicolás Rubilar and 105 over Michael Janney in third.
There were 717 iRacers that did participate, and the top-ranked driver was Canada’s Ayden Luis Ingratta, who won the SoF race, a 2561 average iRating, on Monday, the last day of competition. Leo Ovtcharov won two lower SoF splits during the week, and while he doesn’t earn any more points with the drop weeks factored, he does take the 10th and final spot in the final standings for the region.
FIA SIMAGIC F4 eSports Regional Tour – Americas Top 10 after Week 12 at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park:
Pos | Driver | Club | Total Pts | W12 Wins | Total Wins |
1 | Elvis Rankin | West | 2455 | 0 | 2 |
2 | Nicolás Rubilar | Hispanoamérica | 2369 | 0 | 6 |
3 | Michael Janney | Atlantic | 2350 | 0 | 5 |
4 | Victor Miranda | Brazil | 2234 | 0 | 2 |
5 | Felipe Cabrera Loyola | Hispanoamérica | 2207 | 0 | 4 |
6 | Ralph Benitez | Brazil | 2161 | 0 | 3 |
7 | Felipe Pujol Dantas | Brazil | 2108 | 0 | 1 |
8 | Jackson Rezende | Brazil | 2006 | 0 | 2 |
9 | Jeff Giassi | Brazil | 1905 | 0 | 1 |
10 | Leo Ovtcharov | California Club | 1900 | 2 | 10 |
ASIA-PACIFIC REGION
Unlike the other two regions, the top-10 drivers did have a bit of movement in the final week of competition, over at Suzuka in Week 12. In one final chance, Japan’s Alejandro Sendra took the top split victory, a 4362 SoF field, scoring 257 championship points. Damon Woods did not participate and sat with a total of 1892 points entering the finale, but it wasn’t enough, as Sendra leapfrogged ahead to take the title by 39 points.
There was a little more participation this week in A-P than in the Americas, with 813 iRacers taking part in the races in the former. The A-P region also posted the highest SoF of the week among the other two regions. Hayata Asaga and Kazuki Fujita scored wins in lower SoF splits through the week. Shoma Shintani maintained the final spot in the top-10 by over 100 points.
FIA SIMAGIC F4 eSports Regional Tour – Asia/Pacific Top 10 after Week 12 at Suzuka International Racing Course – Grand Prix:
Pos | Driver | Club | Total Pts | W12 Wins | Total Wins |
1 | Alejandro Sendra | Japan | 1931 | 1 | 8 |
2 | Damon Woods | Australia/NZ | 1892 | 0 | 5 |
3 | Hayata Asaga | Japan | 1830 | 1 | 1 |
4 | Jaidyn J Ladic | Australia/NZ | 1811 | 0 | 3 |
5 | Marcello Rivera | Australia/NZ | 1757 | 0 | 3 |
6 | Kazuki Fujita | Japan | 1750 | 1 | 4 |
7 | Calieb Hydes | Australia/NZ | 1734 | 0 | 1 |
8 | Kody Deith | Australia/NZ | 1698 | 0 | 2 |
9 | Benjamin Roberts | Australia/NZ | 1584 | 0 | 5 |
10 | Shoma Shintani | Japan | 1469 | 0 | 10 |
EUROPE REGION
Just like the Americas region, the top-10 in the Europe region remained exactly the same as it entered the final week, handing the overall victory to Alejandro Sánchez. The closest battle of all three regions, Sánchez held off Gordon Mutch by only 14 points by season’s end. 2098 iRacers took part in the Navarra festivities, which meant that the Europe region had the highest participation, but not the highest SoF race of the week.
For good measure, Sánchez also took the final week victory, winning the SoF race on Tuesday and collecting 208 championship points. Those points would not be necessary, as he had eight better points-earning results in the previous 11 weeks of the competition. Mutch did get two wins on the week, despite not moving the needle on getting more points. Graham Carroll ends up the 10th and final driver eligible to qualify for the Global Championship later this month.
FIA SIMAGIC F4 eSports Regional Tour – Europe Top 10 after Week 12 at Circuito de Navarra – Speed Circuit:
Pos | Name | Club | Total Pts | W12 Wins | Total Wins |
1 | Alejandro Sánchez | Iberia | 2581 | 1 | 12 |
2 | Gordon Mutch | UK and I | 2567 | 2 | 10 |
3 | Aaron Vazquezz | Iberia | 2501 | 0 | 5 |
4 | Hugh Barter | Australia/NZ | 2435 | 0 | 0 |
5 | Alex Dunne | UK and I | 2434 | 0 | 5 |
6 | Martin Kadlečík | Central-Eastern Europe | 2429 | 0 | 4 |
7 | Luke McKeown | UK and I | 2429 | 0 | 3 |
8 | Elliott Vayron | France | 2364 | 0 | 4 |
9 | Moritz Löhner | DE-AT-CH | 2331 | 0 | 1 |
10 | Graham Carroll | UK and I | 2247 | 0 | 1 |
With the 30 drivers all but confirmed for the Global Championship, focus now shifts towards the four-event, eight race eSports series.
Doubleheader events have been scheduled for September 14, September 28, October 12, and November 2, with the first race session opening at 18:30 GMT. Track selections for each event will be announced 24 hours prior to the race, forcing drivers to adapt quickly to each course. Drivers will also compete with fixed setups, ensuring an equal playing field for all.
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.