F1 Esports Pro Championship: Boroumand defends maiden win against Rasmussen

McLaren Shadow’s Bardia Boroumand secured his maiden Formula 1 Esports win, for the Belgium Grand Prix, as he maintained his composure against Red Bull Esport’s Frederik Rasmussen’s late charge.

How the race unfolded…

It was a great start from Rasmussen who managed to curl around Belgium’s iconic first corner, La Source, unchallenged while Boroumand had to contend with the following pack – in second-place, into Eau Rogue/Radillion.

However, the championship leader, Blakeley found himself in an intense wheel-to-wheel battle with the Esports Austrian GP winner, Haas’ Thomas Ronhaar into Les Combes (turn five and six) and into Malmedy (turn seven) to steal fifth place away from the Dutchman.

By the end of the first lap, Rasmussen remained out in front ahead of Boroumand and Alpha Tauri’s Josh Idowu, in second and third place respectively.

Following his charge up towards the front, Blakeley put in an impressive first stint to find himself up into P2 in the early stages. By lap six, the lead exchanged hands as Blakeley slipped past the race leader – Rasmussen – down the Kemmel Straight, with assistance from the Drag Reduction System.

But, two laps later, the championship leader peeled into the pit lane to exchange his worn, yellow-ringed, medium tyres for a fresh set of the white-walled hard compound tyres. This action was soon repeated by the likes of Marcel Kiefer (Red Bull), Shanaka Clay (Williams) and Patrik Sipos (Alpine), but these drivers swapped their used hards for the medium compounds.

On lap 12, with just over 10 laps left to go, Rasmussen, Ronhaar and Fabrizio Donoso (Ferrari) finally peeled into the pit lane to complete their mandatory stops.

After the field completed their stops, Boroumand led the race ahead of Blakeley, in second, and Rasmussen who found himself stuck behind the two McLaren drivers. Alpha Tauri’s Sebastian Job and Idowu rounded out the top five, in fourth and fifth respectively.

As the pack arrived at Les Combes, on lap 16, the championship contenders – Blakeley and Rasmussen – found themselves in a wheel-to-wheel battle. However, the McLaren driver managed to put up a stern defence to maintain his track position – for, at least, the remainder of the lap.

But, on the second time of asking with help from DRS, Rasmussen managed to slipped around the outside of Blakeley down the Kemmel Straight to move up into second place. Blakeley did attempt a fight back but the Scotsman thought better of it.

Idowu pulled off a similar move to Rasmussen’s before him – down the Kemmel Straight – to move back up into the final podium position, this demoted the McLaren driver down to P4, on lap 19.

In a similar fashion to the Austrian GP, yesterday, Rasmussen closed down on the race leader but opted to wait until the final lap to make a move down into Les Combes.

As Boroumand crossed the start/finish line, to start the final lap, the Iranian forced Rasmussen around the outside and kept his car within track limits to maintain his lead. The Dane was forced to remain patient until the bus stop chicane (turns 18 and 19) to make a last-ditch attempt.

However, Rasmussen couldn’t find a way past Boroumand before they crossed the chequered flag and had to settle for second place while the leading McLaren took his maiden win.

That’s it for the article: F1 Esports Pro Championship: Boroumand defends maiden win against Rasmussen? As Event Two nears its conclusion, with one race remaining in the event, who is your contender for the championship? Let us know in the comments!

Read more Esports here!

• F1 Esports Pro Championship: Ronhaar secures Haas’ first ever win
• F1 Pro Esports Event Two Preview: Can Blakeley maintain his good start?
• Imola F1 Pro Esports: Blakeley makes it two-for-two
• Esports Pro Championship: Blakeley fights for opening win
• 2022 F1 Esports Pro Championship Gets Underway

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.