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Motorsport

Sport

James Kirk

Högfeldt in front after penultimate ADAC GT Masters Esports round

ADAC Kevin Siggy Erhan Jajovski

It was all looking so good for Christopher Högfeldt after the second round of the ADAC GT Masters Esports Championship in 2022. Yet, heading into the fifth, the Swede had lost the lead in the points standings.

In his place, in spite of no race victories to his name, stood Bence Bánki. The Hungaro-Slovakian pilot seemed to be emulating the 2020 title run of three-times champion Mortiz Löhner; yet four more races remained and his advantage was a slender two points.

Sprint Race qualifying

After dominating last year’s GT4 support category, it was a joy to see Emre Cihan steal the limelight in qualifying for the Sprint Race to take pole position. The situation behind was finely poised; Högfeldt lined up alongside the Fordzilla driver whilst Bánki, Löhner, Jack Keithley and Erhan Jajovski would all start next to each other.

The only outlier in and amongst the title contenders was DTM Esports frontrunner Kevin Siggy who snuck into a third-place starting slot.

Sprint Race

Despite not having much say as a protagonist in ADAC GT Masters Esports this time around, Siggy was hell-bent on maintaining or bettering his third place at the start. Both Högfeldt and Bánki found the going tough trying to tame the red and black Audi.

Jajovski didn’t fare well losing places to both Gianmarco Fiduci and Florian Hasse, all the while Cihan looked comfortable leading the opening lap.

The biggest news prior to proceedings was the introduction of a new Balance of Performance update and it was doing its job very nicely. Five different manufacturers sat inside the top five positions. Sadly for the viewers, none of them could get the upper hand. It remained static for the remainder of the race.

Jajovski struggled to hold onto ninth, Högfeldt was shackled by pressure from Siggy. All of this contributed to a relative stroll in the park for Cihan who had little competition for victory. From his first pole position in the big leagues, Emre would take his first win.

Feature Race qualifying

Although the Sprint Race wouldn’t be remembered as a classic, it would be remembered as an important step in Högfeldt’s title charge.

In keeping Siggy at bay, Högfeldt had re-taken the lead of the championship from Bánki at the first time of asking. Further good tidings arrived within the half-hour as the Swede picked up another pole position to add to his tally.

Bánki put in a very timely lap to meet Högfeldt on the front row. Hasse grabbed third, and his mission was surely to act as rear gunner against the likes of Keithley and Siggy who lay in fourth and fifth respectively.

Unfortunately for Löhner and Jajovski, ninth and tenth on the grid wasn’t good enough lest fortune intervened in their favour. Sprint winner Cihan had to settle for eighth this time around.

Feature Race

No sooner had the lights gone green had Keithley begun his assault on Hasse’s third place. It was all looking so good up until The Loop when the Brit clunked the sausage kerb and span in front of the onrushing pack.

Both Team Fordzilla cars were helpless to avoid and in the aftermath, Jajovski was caught up in trouble too. Just five corners in and championship contenders they were no more.

The carnage had inadvertently aided Löhner who now ran sixth. It was no surprise to see the reigning champion pit first out of the leading pack to try and secure an undercut. Especially with overtaking seemingly so difficult on the day, it was a smart call to make.

Then, the extraordinary happened.

Bánki's response was immediate, diving into the pitlane entrance just one lap on. Hasse behind had the same idea but completely misread his stablemate’s entry speed, crashing into the back of the Slovakian and spinning him.

The unintentional sabotage continued with Leonard Krippner being forced to check up on his own entry speed thanks to Bánki spinning to face the right way again. Truly a horror show for Florian.

Surprising no one, Högfeldt was into pitroad next time around, a good second clear of Hasse with fresher rubber to boot on exit. Löhner and Brzezinski had ultimately benefited as well, jumping Bence’s stricken Bentley.

Recomposing himself, Hasse did well to hold Siggy back for the second half of the race. His defence was broken with just over three minutes to go at Stowe, allowing Löhner through just down the road at the Vale chicane.

This only exaggerated Högfeldt’s dominance of the Feature Race with his lead gap extending to over four seconds by the chequered flag. Despite a podium, the Swede’s win would confirm Löhner as an outgoing champion. Only Bánki remained in the fight, limiting the damage to a sixth-place finish.