Fraser MasefieldAs the world completed yet another week in lockdown in the continuing fight against the coronavirus pandemic, stars of the motorsports world continued to entertain fans from the comfort of their own homes.
Following on from the success of last weekend’s ABB Formula E Race at Home challenge test round, Formula E drivers came together for the first points scoring round around the streets of Hong Kong.
And, as was the case in last weekend’s race, it appeared it would be a straight fight for victory between Esports regulars Stoffel Vandoorne and Maximilian Guenther, the Belgian qualifying on pole and establishing an early lead before spinning and dropping back into the pack.
It allowed Guenther, who won the practice round in Monaco, to inherit the race lead and hold on to take the victory from Envision Virgin Racing’s Nick Cassidy, Pascal Wehrlein and Robin Frijns as Vandoorne recovered well to finish fifth ahead of the two Olivers, Rowland and Turvey. Felipe Massa, celebrating his birthday, was eighth, with Jerome d’Ambrosio and Alexander Sims rounding out the points scoring finishers.
Very happy about P1 in the pro class of the @wearetherace All-Star Series and P3 in the overall standings with top sim racers 🏆
I will donate the prize money of 30,000 Dollar to the charity foundation of Verena Heinrich. (1/2)#StayHome #MAXG #RacingBeyond #ABBFormulaE pic.twitter.com/Wyqsu91mSr
— Maximilian Günther (@maxg_official) April 26, 2020
“We fully understand and support the initiative and the will of Formula E at this difficult time,” said Vincent Wang, NIO 333 FE Team CEO. “We started our preparation of the Race at Home challenge just like how we would normally approach a championship race, with hard work and dedication. Today’s result shows our hard work in the last few weeks, even though scoring points in the virtual championship cannot transfer to real life. We are pleased about this result, and I hope we can continue this momentum in the coming rounds.”
Formula E was not the only action to keep fans entertained over the weekend, with the ever popular Lando Norris again proving an extremely handy gamer whatever the format, winning the IndyCar Challenge at the Circuit of the Americas, even recovering from a mid-race spin to win the race from Arrow McLaren SP teammate Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist.
LANDOOOO! 🏆🍾
He wins the #INDYCARChallenge at COTA! Nice one, @LandoNorris. 🇺🇸
An awesome drive by @PatricioOWard makes it an @ArrowMcLarenSP 1-2. 🤜🤛 pic.twitter.com/30s9hWIEw8
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) April 25, 2020
Motorsport Technology
