David Hoch and Michael Coyne shared an overall victory apiece in the opening round of this season’s TORA British GT eSports Championship held at Virginia International Raceway yesterday evening, while Eric Grove claimed both GT4 wins in his Nissan 370Z.
The much anticipated first full season staged on Forza Motorsport 6 opened with well over 100 entries taking to the Virginia International Raceway, which had been chosen for its similar characteristics to UK circuits not currently included on XBox’s respected racing platform.
Supported with a live streaming package for the first time, the championship read like a who’s who of top level racing on Forza, yet it was a familiar name taking first blood in qualifying.
Ross May in his Japspeed Merc Bandits SLS secured pole position by just 0.015s over the eSports+CARS Porsche of Hoch, who was stepping up from a season aboard a GT4 McLaren. Impressively, the top 15 GT3 cars were covered by less than a second, a testament to the competitiveness of the highly talented field.
However, May’s advantage lasted less than a lap before being shuffled down to third by Hoch and Henry-Noah Schmitz’s Wippermann Porsche. Worse was to come for the Mercedes when, on lap six, it sustained major damage before dropping way down the order.
Instead it was left to Hoch and Schmitz - fresh from his strong ASCC result at COTA just a week before - to battle for victory. Try as he might the German was unable to pass the Porsche, which ultimately claimed the first ever TORA British GT eSports Championship race victory on Forza Motorsport.
Coyne’s AMS-entered McLaren completed the podium ahead of the Praga Karting by F4H Lamborghini of Dan Nyman, while Jay Sherlock and Matt Kennedy’s TF Sport Aston Martins rounded out the top-six.
It was also a promising race for AmDTuning.com duo Tyler Jones and Davin Guidry, with both Mercedes finishing inside the top-10.
Race two saw Coyne claim a sensational win aboard his 12C GT3 ahead of Schmitz’s Wippermann Porsche, which finished as runner-up for a second time in the same evening. The German kept the McLaren driver honest right to the flag, and even closed to within inches of taking the lead, but Coyne soaked up the pressure and held out just long enough.
Sherlock led the early stages of the race, making a break while the pack of Hoch, Schmitz and Nyman’s Huracan fought over the remaining podium places. Despite his early advantage, however, the esports+CARS driver would ultimately bring his Aston Martin home third.
Meanwhile, May recovered from a dramatic first race to grab fourth with a mighty fight through the field, which even saw him briefly take the lead before his mandatory pitstop.
The two GT4 races were both won by Eric Grove’s Nissan 370Z, which twice finished ahead of Nick Sneijder and Cal Hawkins’ Happy Cat Racing Maserati MC GTs.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a suitable substitute for Rockingham, hosts round two of this season’s TORA British GT eSports Championship on May 7.
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