Verstappen teammate Michal Smidl wins the Racer League round of the Racing Unleashed Championship “Beyond the Pinnacle” in Mugello. The Czech, who otherwise drives like the Dutch Formula 1 world champion for the well-known sim team Redline, wins ahead of the former Williams eSports driver Coque Lopez and the German Angelo Michel.
“It was a good race today, I got through well in knock-out qualifying and in the race I was able to grab Lopez right away,” says Mugello winner Smidl, classifying his success.
Michal Smidl and Angelo Michel
Second-placed Lopez couldn’t stop the onrushing Smidl, who is on the move from the Munich location, for long. “Michal was extremely fast and close to me. I wasn’t able to defend myself very much and wanted to secure second place anyway,” says the Spaniard, who was still under some pressure from the lightning starter Angelo Michel.
From ninth place, the German fought his way up to the leading group in just a few laps. “The first lap was great, I was able to overtake a few and then had a good lead backwards,” explains the Bavarian. “So I could concentrate on my attacks forward. In the end I still wanted second place from Lopez. When I was catching up, I almost lost the car and preferred to secure third place.”
Nico Fahland makes the double victory for the Munich lounge perfect. The German celebrates the triumph in the Challenger League just ahead of Lorenzo Heyder.
Nico Fahland
“That was a pretty tough race. Lorenzo was super fast, but made two mistakes,” explains race winner Fahland, who contests the Challenger League races in Munich with his father. “In addition, I always hit the corner exit before the start and finish quite well, so that I could hardly be attacked on the straight.”
One person’s joy is another’s sorrow. “My goal was first place. I could have won with my pace. That’s why I’m a bit disappointed and sad,” Heyder said angrily after the race. Meanwhile, Janik Pletscher caused a bang. The Swiss celebrated a podium place on his debut with third place. Two months ago he sat in one of the high-tech simulators for the first time. “I don’t know how I did it. I was just focused on the track and had no expectations. It was a lot of fun fighting against these strong drivers.”
In the championship, the Spanish duo David Cid (70 points) continues to lead ahead of Marcos Valverde (48 points). The next challenge will take place on June 11th and 12th. Then the sim racers of the Racing Unleashed Championship drive “Beyond the Pinnacle” on the virtual circuit of Brands Hatch.
