Nesov Nails It Down Under!
Phillip Island
Relatability can be a powerful force in promoting sport. In motor racing, relatability is particularly influential when a fan can witness their hero performing unfathomable feats in a car familiar to those in that week’s edition of Autocar magazine.
Unlike the humdrum commuter machines that frequent touring car grids, GT racing blends relatability of familiar shapes with the glamour of exotic automobiles. Whether it be the BMW M8 at the golf club, a Porsche 911 driven by a stockbroker keeping Brylcreem’s business booming, a cowboy’s Corvette C8.R or a Ferrari 488 acquired by this week’s lottery winner, there is a race car to emulate it!
Arguably, GTs are the most prevalent category amongst the 170,000 members racing on the iRacing service. Back by popular demand, the Apex Racing League GT championship present by Colbek (ARL GT) returned to Phillip Island for a brand-new season. Over twelve rounds and twenty-four races, a raft of drivers from around the world will attempt to channel their inner Augusto Farfus, Kevin Estre, Jordan Taylor or James Calado in pursuit of victory.
Driver’s in the series enjoy the luxury of choice between the aforementioned brands. However, early form suggests that the Porsche 911 RSR-17 is currently the chariot of choice.
Urano eSports proudly announced their arrival in ARL GT with a front row lockout for the opening sprint race of the season. Niclas Laubisch edged out Alexey Nesov to claim the honour of pole position.
A mightily impressive Jentsen Adrienssens topped the AM category in seventh overall, mixing it amongst the top of the PRO class. The Belgian star would eventually convert this class pole into an AM category win in race one.
Laubisch enjoyed the lead for just five minutes of the opening twenty-five-minute sprint. A pristine move up the inside at Honda hairpin gave Alexey Nesov a lead which the Russian would never relinquish. Laubisch looked to be safe in second position until running out of fuel on the run to the line, allowing a delighted Mattia Fuligni to sweep by and pinch the runner up spot. Porsche fans rejoiced with a lockout of the podium for the Weissach built machines.
Feature Race
With the top sixteen finishers from race one reversed, Kevin Kittelman and Tom Bingham started on the front row of the grid for the forty-minute feature. Although Laubisch and Nesov started on the seventh and eighth rows in their Porsche 911 RSR’s, the Urano eSports pair required just six laps to carve through the entire field. Such dominance is certainly ominous for the rest of the ARL GT field.
Approaching the halfway mark, Alexey Nesov deployed another classic Phillip Island overtake. Once again, the young Russian ace chose Honda hairpin to pounce on his teammate. Albeit, with a little more force on this occasion. With Nesov now in clean air, Laubisch couldn’t retaliate and settled for second place. Trailing twelve seconds behind, was Mattia Fuligni. Although the gap to the Urano eSports duo may have been disheartening for the Italian, Fuligni could be comforted with a double podium finish to kick off the season.
Kevin Kittelmann converted a front row start to fifth overall and the AM category win. With such a high placing overall, the German took home an early chunk of points towards the AM championship chase.
Porsche continued their imperious form with the 911 RSR-17 and locked out the top five in the feature race. Sven Neumann was best of the rest in his Corvette C8.R.
Post Race
Alexey Nesov: “A very good evening for us. P1/2, that’s what we wanted today. Niclas was a little better at managing the tyres, but I managed to hang on for P1, that’s how I wanted to start this championship.”
Danny Lee: “That was a really tough one. It felt like an exam! It was a great track combo and I’ll take two fourth places. That’ll do for me.”
Matty Chambers: “What an absolute disaster. I thought we had good pace. I got sixth in qualifying but messed up the first lap.”
Niclas Laubisch: “The first race was one to forget. I had about three litres fuel less than I expected, therefore I had to save fuel and couldn’t battle Alexey for the win. The second race was extremely fun going through the field. I made way too many mistakes but I think it will be a nice season with Alexey and I battling all the way through.”
Kevin Kittelmann: “It feels great to be back. I’m still happy with my finish in race one but it could have been a 1-2 finish for Jentsen and I in the amateur class. But, I finished in the right place for race two and I managed still near the front.”
Driver Of The Day
On the seventh of February, the Apex Racing League GT Championship presented by Colbeck moves to Brazil and the historic Interlagos circuit for round two of the series. Tune in to Apex Racing TV at 8pm GMT to watch all the live action.