ESL R1 FINALLY VENTURED ONTO THE ON-LINE STAGES OF THE SPRING SEASON, WHICH HEADED TO THE NEWEST TRACK ON RENNSPORT, THE NÜRBURGRING, WHICH PROVIDED GREAT RACING AND PLENTY OF DRAMAS OVER TWO EVENINGS OF COMPETITION.
But at the end of seven close-quarter races, Team Redline‘s Luke Bennett would become not only the third different winner of the Spring Season, but also the youngest in the process.
Along with that, he also dominated all three of his races, with BMW M Team BS+ Competition‘s Nijs Naujoks having a major resurgance after the opening two rounds to take the runner-up, after great success in both the Quarter-Final and Semi-Final stages.
Despite the BMWs being the tour de force at the 5.137-km circuit, Williams Esports finally secured their first overall podium of the season so far in third, thanks to the efforts of Nikodem Wisniewski behind the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Teams including FURIA, Apex Racing Team and G2 Esports would make sure they were also front and centre in the thick of the action, with Felipe Baptista, Kevin Eliis Jr, Eamonn Murphy and Joni Törmälä progressing through to the Final, with Ellis Jr placing highest of the quartet in fourth.
R8G Esports would again showcase their consistency over the course of the round, which saw both Erhan Jajovski and Jiri Toman round out the top six in the Final. This in turn now sees them have an 82-point lead in the Team Standings ahead of MOUZ, who in turn are just five points ahead of Redline.
Porsche Coanda‘s Josh Rogers made it through to the Final, but would finish last, after being one of several drivers including Murphy and Williams’ Dáire McCormack that would be hit by penalties.
Maximillian Benecke, Moritz Löhner and Yuri Kasdorp would not progress further than the Semi-Final stages, as the racing was fierce and highly competitive.
With the sharp end of the grid covered by only 22 points after the three opening rounds so far, things are really heating up in the Driver Standings.
Rogers has a slender one-point lead ahead of Toman, with the Australian on 127 point, whilst Ellis Jr is in third on 123. Marcel Csincsik is fourth, with the MOUZ pairing of Benecke and Löhner complete the top six.
Round 4 gets underway with the Quarter-Final stages on Friday March 24th, so who will be the best of the best next time out?
Want to watch some of the highlights from Round 3 – You can have a look at the highlights below!
Image Credit: ESL FACEIT Group & Team Redline