- Pro, Silver and Am Series drivers to battle for glory at iconic Japanese circuit
- Two-hour contest scheduled for 21:00 CET start on Sunday 2 August
The stars of the 2020 SRO E-Sport GT Series will go wheel-to-wheel this weekend (2 August) in a winner-takes-all Assetto Corsa Competizione contest at Suzuka.
The race will crown the virtual competition’s overall champion, with a 33-car entry list featuring top-performers from the Pro, Silver and Am Series bidding for glory. It follows a five-round series, organised in collaboration between the SRO E-Sport GT Series, Kunos Simulazioni and Ak Informatica, that ran with great success between April and June.
Getting underway at 21:00 CET on Sunday 2 August, the deciding battle will take place at Suzuka, a 5.8km figure-eight circuit that is widely considered to be among the most challenging in global motorsport. While the races at Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps, Nurburgring, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and Kyalami each lasted for one hour, the finale will undergo a format change, with a two-hour duration and mandatory pit stop adding further excitement to proceedings.
The hot favourites can be found among the Silver Series entrants, all of whom are expert Assetto Corsa Competizione racers. Much will be expected of Jesús Sicilia, who was crowned champion after steering his Aston Martin to Silver Series wins at the Nurburgring and Kyalami. McLaren drivers Patrick Selva and Arthur Kammerer are both proven front-runners, while Andrea Capoccia (Audi), David Tonizza (Ferrari) and Kamil Franczak (Lamborghini) must also be considered strong contenders to secure the overall title.
Among the Pro drivers hoping to beat them on Sunday, Kyalami winner Luigi di Lorenzo should be one to watch in his Aston Martin. The Italian closed the Pro Series in fine style by winning at Kyalami and was a podium contender throughout the season. David Perel will also look to uphold the honour of real-world competitors, with the devoted sim racer once again competing at the wheel of a Ferrari 488 GT3.
Andy Soucek had relatively little experience of gaming before contesting the championship, but quickly adapted to the challenge and scored a number of strong results. He will tackle the event at the wheel of a Bentley, as will 2018 Total 24 Hours of Spa Silver Cup winner Romain Monti. The striking livery of Madpanda Motorsport will also be on the grid, with driver and team principal Ezequiel Perez Companc campaigning his Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Having qualified for the championship via a public hot lap competition, the top Am Series drivers will now have the chance to make a bid for overall glory. Samir Ibraimi clinched the title despite not taking a race win, with consistent podium finishes giving the Porsche driver top spot. The likes of Florian Hasse (Audi), Paolo Muia (McLaren) and Mikhail Statsenko (Audi) will also hope to master Suzuka and triumph in Sunday's race.
Following a pair of free practice sessions and qualifying, the deciding race is set to go green at 21.00 CET. It will air across a variety of online platforms, including the GT World Challenge Powered by AWS website, the GT World YouTube account, and the SRO Motorsports Twitch and Facebook pages.
By tackling five rounds and now a deciding finale, each driver has invested considerable time and effort in the virtual contest. Indeed, the top-three finishers in Sunday’s race will receive a trophy to recognise their achievement. It promises to be the most competitive SRO E-Sport GT Series event yet as 33 contenders battle to be crowned overall champion for 2020.
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