Tom Blomqvist takes shock win in World RX Esports Hell round
GT ace Tom Blomqvist upstaged Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen to win the second round of the World RX Esports Invitational Series at a virtual Hell circuit
The five-driver final was originally set to be a showdown between the semi-final winners, reigning World RX champion Timmy Hansen and van Gisbergen, who had dominated the opening round of the season - which is run in partnership with Motorsport Games.
Supercars ESeries champion Van Gisbergen took his joker lap at the start of the race, while Hansen assumed the race lead out front ahead of ex-Formula E driver Blomqvist.
Hansen went for the joker lap on the second lap to cover off van Gisbergen and emerged ahead of the New Zealander, before he ran wide and gifted the lead back to van Gisbergen.
Blomqvist fired in a series of flying laps while leading before taking his mandatory joker lap on the final lap of the race. Despite running wide on his joker lap, Blomqvist - who split F1 stars Esteban Ocon and Max Verstappen in the 2014 European Formula 3 season - re-joined in the race lead.
He held on for his first win in the series ahead of van Gisbergen, who maintains his comfortable championship lead.
Hansen topped the four-race qualification section and won the first of two semi-finals, but was forced to settle for third place, giving him back-to-back podium finishes.
Norwegian drivers Henrik Krogstad and Marius Bermingrud completed the top five places.
Timmy's younger brother, Kevin Hansen, was knocked out of a dramatic opening semi-final, in which three drivers were penalised for collisions.
Hansen picked up a penalty along with another Norwegian driver, Sivert Svardal, and Sweden's Martin Enlund.
These penalties allowed Blomqvist, who initially finished fifth and last after multiple incidents, to progress to the final in second place.
Among those eliminated prior to the semi-finals was former Hyundai World Rally Championship driver Hayden Paddon, as well as Audi factory GT driver Kelvin van der Linde.
DiRT Rally 2.0 World Series champion Killian Dall'olmo was victorious in the sim racing category, with his brother Quentin Dall'olmo and British racer John Harris completing the top three.
The penultimate round of the World RX Esports Invitational series will take place next Sunday at a virtual Holjes circuit.
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
St Petersburg IndyCar: Newgarden wins as Dixon claims sixth title
St Petersburg Indycar: Power takes pole as title chasers struggle
Analysis: How an unlikely tie-up won sim racing's biggest race
How a Shanghai to Sheffield journey paved the way for China’s F1 hero
Hamilton expects to lose positions if F1 China sprint is dry
Verstappen 'deserves' fourth in China F1 sprint qualifying with wet struggles
Why Norris' China F1 sprint pole lap was deleted and reinstated
Analysis: How an unlikely tie-up won sim racing's biggest race
How poor driving standards ruined IndyCar's golden opportunity
Why Leclerc's Virtual GP annihilation deserves great credit
How the hidden side of being fast has been exposed
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments