Same procedure as last time around: The AbA Masters powered by Actoracer continues to be firmly in the grasp of Leon Harhoff – the Racing Car Benz driver scored his fifth victory in round 5 of the innovative Esports championship at Laguna Seca, once again beating his teammate Maximilian Rörig and Sebastian Deck of Simracing Fuchs to the top step of the podium.
Just like in the previous round at the Nürburgring, qualifying was a close battle, but this time it was Rörig who bested his teammate for pole position, with Deck slotting in right behind the RCB duo once more – but only after both Racing Car Benz drivers waited until their last qualifying laps to set their personal best times.
When the lights turned green, Harhoff did not waste much time to restore the order that the competition had become used to by now: Going into turn 5 of the iconic Californian circuit, he pushed past Rörig on the second of 64 laps already – and immediately started pulling out a gap. Meanwhile, Rörig had to keep an eye on his rear-view mirror for Deck who stayed right with him at first.
While Harhoff continued to lap the circuit like clockwork, Deck started falling back after ten laps. The Fuchs driver would eventually lead the race for a few laps when the leaders pitted, but fell back to third after his stop, looking at a 24-second gap to Rörig.
Up front, things stayed that way until the end, but an exciting battle between Luc Neuleuf (Race2Fit) and Andreas Jansen (Team Actoracer) for eighth made for a hair-raising finish: The duo banged doors twice in the final sector and had a drag race to the line – Jansen only just stayed in front while Harhoff crossed the line for another dominant victory in front of them.
With three races remaining, Harhoff now has a lead of 53 points over Rörig – should they finish in the same order in round 6 at Spa-Francorchamps on March 5th, Harhoff would take the title in the virtual Ardennes already.
Want to re-watch the full race at Laguna Seca? We have embedded the video for you below!