Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup Race Preview: Spa
April 21st, 2023 by Chris Leone
The Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup is back on European soil for the remainder of 2023, starting the final four-race stretch of the season with a visit to Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Live streaming of the iRacing series for top esports pros will kick off on Saturday at 19:00 GMT (3PM ET) via Porsche’s channels on YouTube and Twitch, while the All-Star series will directly precede it at 18:00 GMT (2PM ET).
Last Race: The second leg of back-to-back race weeks in the middle of the season saw the series run its final American round of the year at Watkins Glen International, and fittingly, two of the three drivers on the podium of the feature race were Americans. Winner Zac Campbell and third place finisher Bobby Zalenski flew the stars and stripes as part of a Coanda Esports sweep of the podium, with teammate Bryn Collins between them. Red Bull Racing Esports driver and former series champion Sebastian Job took the TAG Heuer Pole Award, while Tony Kanaan protégé Gustavo Ariel came out on top of the sprint race to earn two wins in as many weeks.
Altus Esports driver Jordan Caruso maintains the point thanks to a consistent weekend, extending his advantage to 58 points after finishing third in the sprint and eighth in the feature. Both defending series champion Diogo Pinto and Charlie Collins, his closest challengers, finished outside of the top 10 in both Watkins Glen races, allowing both Alejandro Sanchez and Job to claw within striking distance of them heading into this weekend.
Last Season: Last season’s visit to Spa saw six podium finishers across the two races, with Job, Charlie Collins, and Sanchez on the podium in the sprint race and Campbell, Cooper Webster, and Kevin Ellis Jr. on the box in the feature. Job’s sprint win last year marked his fifth consecutive victory at Spa in the series after he swept both legs of the 2020 and 2021 events.
Track Facts: Home to one of the most legendary corners in motorsports, the famed Eau Rouge, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps has played host to both the Belgian Grand Prix and Spa 24 Hours for the better part of the last century. The original track configurations were each more than eight miles long, while the current 4.3-mile, 20-turn layout began to take shape in 1979 and has only seen relatively slight alterations since.
Next Up: Following Spa, the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup takes on one of its most challenging venues of the season with the combined layout of the Nurburgring. Coverage will kick off on Saturday, May 6 at 18:00 GMT (2PM ET) with the All-Star action, before the pros do battle at 19:00 GMT (3PM ET).
For more information on the 2023 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup season, visit www.iracing.com/pesc. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.