Jarno Opmeer has won a Premier Sim Gaming League (PSGL) F1 race in controversial circumstances.
The reigning F1 Sim Racing World Champion entered the pit lane on the final lap to take victory.
Before the final two corners on the Silverstone circuit, Opmeer headed into the pit lane to avoid them, resulting in a more direct route to the finish line.
As a result, he moved from third place to the top step of the podium, beating Alpine Sim Racing driver Otis Lawrence by eight milliseconds.
It’s unclear if Opmeer’s victory will stand. PSGL has since stated that the race stewards “may penalise drivers for incidents not reported to the stewards or covered by this ruleset, nor by the racing code.”
A decision surrounding the tactic has yet to be revealed.
Opmeer is widely regarded as the greatest F1 Sim Racing driver in history. The Dutch driver has won three driver’s championships in the last five years. He has also played integral roles in securing Constructor’s Championship wins for Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports and Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing.
Using the pit lane to gain the upper hand in sim racing may be a new sim-racing tactic, but it’s not the first time it has happened in an F1 race. In 1998, Michael Schumacher drove into the pits on the final lap to serve a penalty. Thanks to the position of the Ferrari driver’s pit box, he crossed the finish line in the pits, keeping the victory.
What Next For F1 Esports?
With the official F1 Sim Racing circuit in its off-season, attention turns to the remaining rounds of PSGL’s PC F1 Season 40 championship, where several top drivers are competing.
The fourth round of the championship heads to the virtual Zandvoort circuit on August 13th, where Red Bull will be looking to continue its strong start to the season.
