Christopher Högfeldt was the man of the hour at the first round of the ADAC GT Masters eSports Championship in RaceRoom: The Swede took the win at both the Sprint and Feature Race at Brands Hatch, securing maximum points. Meanwhile, reigning champion Moritz Löhner experienced a night to forget and only took two points.
Högfeldt showed that he would be a force to reckon with for the new season in every session: The Virtualdrivers by TX3 SimRacer started the 15-minute Sprint Race from pole position, scored a clear lights-to-flag victory, finishing two seconds clear of Nikodem Wisniewski (Williams Esports). Erhan Jajovski (R8G Esports) took third.
Meanwhile, the race was over for four drivers even before it had started: Max Pfeifer, Tim Jarschel (both MRS Esports), Florian Hasse (Dörr Esports) and Marko Pejic (Veloce Esports) suffered a disconnect. Löhner did not go far, either: The 2021 champion was involved in an accident at the start of the race and had to retire.
In the second qualifying session, it was Högfeldt again who went fastest. He now has a good shot at the Pirelli Pole Position Award, the winner being awarded a surprise prize at the end of the season. At the start of the Feature Race he managed to defend his position and then stayed out long, only pitting on lap 11. This paid off: The Swede stayed in front, although he had still did not have the win in the bag – Isaac Price had used his pit strategy to move up to second, put the pressure on Högfeldt. The Sprint Race winner kept a cool head however and celebrated his second victory as well as the lead in the overall standings with 80 points. Meanwhile, Price took care of his consolation prize himself: His fastest lap of the race (1:22.647 min.) netted him €250. Marc Gassner (MRS Esports) completed the podium in third while Löhner was unlucky yet again – the 2021 series champion spun at the pit entry and lost any chance of a competitive finishing position.
„An unbelievable result – I never expected anything like this”, said an excited Högfeldt after the races. “Price was incredibly quick in the second race, and I was wondering if I would manage to stay in front. But I kept my position. It is going to be tough to keep up this level for the upcoming races, but I am going to try my best”, the double winner promised.
His direct competitors in the overall standings are Bence Bánki (Dörr Esports), Jajovski and Wisniewski, who are all at 54 points in places two to four. “I had no luck at all in the qualifyings and started aggressively because of that”, Bánki summed up. “It was my only chance to gain positions since it is tough to overtake at Brands Hatch. I know that I am not the fastest driver on the grid, but I am very consistent, and this is what I want to capitalize on this season.”
Round two of the ADAC GT Masters eSports Championship is scheduled for March 1st. The field is headed to the classic Watkins Glen circuit in the United States.
