#RacingForTheClimate was the tag and motto used in the fourth round of the RCCO World eX Championship in Maastricht, the Netherlands. The innovative competition ended with the victory of Romain Grosjean’s team, R8G Esports.
The team’s eX ZERO prototypes, led by Risto Kappet (first place) and Gordon Mutch (second), overcame tremendous accidents during the event to secure the first two places in the so-called Super Final.
In the middle of the battle, 10 exciting duels between two cars were ignited at level 1, where one of the stars of the series, Robin Frinjs, who leads the Formula E classification, slipped into the joust by reaching the wild card position at level 2. However, a drop in level 3 cut off the Dutchman’s aspirations after an incident with Dries Vanthoor.
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Mid-race accidents played a key role as Risto Kappet and Lasse Sørensen won the qualifying rounds at Level 3, the quarterfinals, by taking advantage of their opponents’ losses.
Sørensen, who won the first two rounds of the RCCO, had to deal with several pitfalls and overcame an accident to finish third, behind Bruno Senna. R8G Esports also topped this Tier 4 with Kappet in the drivers’ race.
Battle until decisive
The final in Maastricht featured professional racers Mutch, Senna and Sørensen, facing off against esports drivers Liam de Waal, Kappet and Luca Kita. A front row of R8G Esports dominated on the first lap, but with de Waal and Kita on their heels.
Sørensen and Senna fought a war. A touch from Sørensen sent the Brazilian against the wall causing him to pull his car to the side. Both returned to the track, however, it was already late and they were out of the race to reach the Super Final.
Among the leaders, de Waal gave local fans a hint of excitement by breaking the blue bastion of R8G Esports, as he took the lead in the second round. The high-speed train of the four leading cars was almost inseparable on the penultimate lap when Kappet touched Mutch and de Waal, resulting in a critical moment for all four drivers.
With varying amounts of damage after the incident, they all managed to continue. Mutch passed de Waal for the lead shortly before he and Kita got together and crashed. In the end, de Waal finished third and secured a podium at home, while Mutch won the final ahead of Kappet. This allowed Romain Grosjean’s R8G Esports team pair to secure a team’s first one-two in the Super Final.
The Maastricht virtual circuit, designed for the drivers to unleash full speed, allowed the prototypes to show their attributes, while the timing and strategy of the slip transmission was a deciding factor on the day.
Written by I Jhonattan González
