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Rubilar wins Paris Gran Turismo Nations Cup Esport round

Nicolas Rubilar sealed victory in the FIA Gran Turismo Championships Nations Cup during the first event of the 2019 World Tour in Paris, qualifying for the World Final

The Chilean driver clinched pole position for the first semi final group during the top six qualifying shootout at the Autopolis circuit.

Rubilar wasn't able to take victory in his semi-final heat, which was won by German driver Mikhail Hizal, but second place was enough for him to move straight into the final, a race where all drivers would use the Red Bull X2014 prototype.

Starting from third behind Kai Hin Jonathan Wong, Rubilar and the top four ran the soft compound tyre as they battled in the early laps.

On lap three of the 16 lap race, Rubilar was able to capitalise on a mistake by Wong to take over second place.

The top three of Hizal, Rubilar and Wong stayed in position through the first pitstop.

However, Rubilar was able to take over the race lead from Hizal after pitting with four laps to go for hard tyres, with Hizal changing to the same compound a lap earlier.

Hungarian Patrik Blazsan was the highest placed driver in the field in fifth that was on the soft compound for the final stint, a strategy that helped Igor Fraga win the 2018 GT Championship Nations Cup in Monaco.

However he was only able to move up one position to fourth, passing Giorgio Mangano on lap 14.

Rubilar was part of the BMW team in the GT Championships Manufacturer Series yesterday alongside Mike Zocher and Yuta Tsunashima.

After good result left him and the BMW team joint in the overall standings with Nissan after two races, they then finished 12th in race three and eighth in the final race, which worth double points.

Rubilar's brother, Diego Rubilar, also competed in the Manufacturer Series this weekend in Paris for the Honda team.

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