National Esports Cups continue from June

Several Motorsport Australia Esports National Cups have continued their seasons in June, including the opening of the Motorsport Australia Simagic GT3 Esports Cup and a nail-biting fifth round of the Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Series.

Hosted by Octane Online Racing, the GT3 series kicked off its qualifying round on 26 June, with competitors taking to Misano to earn a coveted spot in the top 100 before qualifying ends on 7 July.

The opening week will decide which drivers are to compete in this year’s series, with the top 80-100 competitors in qualifying able advance to the Knockout phase, which will happen over four rounds and begins with the first round at Silverstone on 21 July.

Also commencing its 2023 season this month was the Motorsport Australia Formula 4 Esports Cup, hosted by the Formula Racing Group. The inaugural round midway through June saw an incredible 36 competitors tackle the track at Laguna Seca, with winner Damon Woods achieving a clean sweep across qualifying, heat one and the feature race.

While Woods maintained top spot across the board, others weren’t so lucky, with Benjamin Roberts finishing a close fourth after qualifying in second, and Tom Katsidonis dropping to sixth after rounding out the top three in qualifying.

But where others fell in rankings, Ewan Baker rose from fourth in both the qualifying and heat one to take home second ahead of Calieb Hydes, who jumped from seventh in qualifying to third at the end of the round.

Still, all eyes were on Wood after an impressive set of wins ahead of round two at Red Bull Ring on 18 July after taking home the top prize in not only Formula 4, but both in rounds so far in this year’s Formula Ford eSeries.

Also fast approaching their next round at Red Bull Ring is the Motorsport Australia Racekraft S5000 Esport Cup, hosted by Formula Racing Group, with round four taking place on 4 July.

The fourth round comes after the third round at Hockenheim last month, which saw Wayne Bourke swoop in ahead of the other 34 competitors to take the feature win after climbing the rankings from eleventh in qualifying and ninth in heat one.

While Tim Delisle lost the top spot after heat one, he was able to finish a close second in the feature, ahead of Damon Woods who fell only one place from second to third, with just over half a second separating the top three at the end of the race.

Finishing in a similarly surprising fashion was round five of the Motorsport Australia Logitech G Pro Invitational Series at Watkins Glen on 28 June, hosted by Australian Sim Racing Group.

The strong competition from the round’s 48 entrants saw the top three in qualifying all fall off the podium by the end of the race. Jarrad Filsell, James Scott and Dylan Rudd lost their top spots to Jake Burton, Madison Down and Ethan Grigg-Gault who impressively achieved podium finishes after climbing from seventh, fourth and sixth place starts respectively.

Most surprising was Filsell’s fall from first to 30th, making for an interesting turn of events ahead of the next round at Red Bull Ring on 29 July.