Opmeer realistic of championship hopes after Suzuka crash
15th December 2022Mercedes’ Jarno Opmeer is realistic about his title chances ahead of the final two races as the Dutchman remains in contention for the title, despite crashing out in Suzuka.
In the dying laps of the 10th round of the F1 Esports Pro Championship series, Opmeer spun out of the race – before being quickly DSQ by the games mechanics – after the Dutchman made contact with Ferrari’s Fabrizio Donoso.
Going into the finale event of the season, Opmeer needed to secure wins in the final three races to optimize his chances of securing his third championship title. However, this came down to Mclaren Shadow’s Lucas Blakeley not finishing second – or higher – in any of the races.
On Twitter, the two-time esports champion stated:
“3rd no score this season… Mathematically still in the championship fight.
“I know realistically we are out of it now but we have gained 34 points before in 2 races so all we have to do is keep pushing”
On a ultra-aggressive strategy, Opmeer pitted from the race on lap 18 to swap his 18-lap old hard tyres for a fresh set of the yellow-ringed medium compounds. The Mercedes driver – who led the race momentarily – returned to the circuit out of the points.
Aided by his teammate, Jake Benham, ‘parking the bus’ in the middle of the track to hold up the field, Opmeer was able to find himself in a point-scoring position. However, Benham’s work was for nothing after Opmeer and Donoso made contact on lap 25 which sent the Mercedes champion off into a spin.
As a result, the Dutchman remains in fifth place – in the drivers standings – on 110 points, 34 points adrift of championship leader Blakeley.
The F1 Esports championship continues on Thursday, December 15, 2022, afternoon with qualifying and the race streams getting underway at 3:30pm and 7:30pm respectively.
That’s it for the article; Opmeer realistic of championship hopes after Suzuka crash!
What do you think, will Jarno Opmeer make an unthinkable comeback or is his championship done? Let us know in the comments!
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