This Friday (February 2nd 2024), the third round of the 2024 NGK & NTK Esports Cup season will take drivers to virtual Italy.
This week, dozens of racers will be taking part in the two-race round as it heads to iRacing’s virtual Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, also known as the Imola Circuit.
This is the series’ second ever visit to the 4.9-kilometre facility. Back in 2022, Alex Mosin and Peter Daniel won a race each at the Italian circuit.
“Imola is a great historic track,” said 2024 series points leader Vince Peeters. “It has some interesting corners that are unique to the track. It flows nicely.”
As drivers get ready for the third round of the season, here is what competitors to expect this week:
Points Standings Entering Round 3
POSITION
FULL NAME
TEAM
R1
R2
TOTAL
GAP
1
Vince Peeters
Visceral Esports
132
69
201
0
2
Alexander Thiebe
URANO eSports
100
46
146
-55
3
Gaël Valero
Apex Racing Team
96
49
145
-56
4
John Ehlen
Dörr eSports
92
28
120
-81
5
Darwin Romero
AstroRacing
68
46
114
-87
6
Sergi Maturana
Astro Racing
80
30
110
-91
7
Adam Lock
FFG Motorsport
85
14
99
-102
8
Norbert Leitner
Impulse Racing
80
18
98
-103
9
Daniel Muth
Nürburgring eSports
50
42
92
-109
10
Michael Haflidason
AM RACING TEAM
60
30
90
-111
Last round at MotorLand Aragon, Peeters won his first race of the season in thrilling fashion. The Visceral Esports driver scored the Race 1 win with a three-wide pass for the lead with under two minutes to go.
That, along with a top five run in Race 2, has Peeters leading the series standings by 55 points.
Alexander Thiebe, who won the invert race, holds onto second spot by just one point ahead of Gaël Valero. John Ehlen (-81) and Darwin Romero (-87) round out the top five.
More About The Imola Circuit
Location
Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Track Length
4.909 km (3.050 miles)
Turns
19
While the series is making just its second appearance at Imola, many of iRacing’s top drivers have experience at the facility, including Ehlen of Dörr Esports.
Ehlen, who is teammates with fellow series competitor Alessio Bender, said the key to winning a race this week would be lots and lots of practice. Ehlen has raced at the facility in the past in series like IVRA. He had also had very limited time to prepare for the last round – up to two hours – due to the iRacing 24 Hours of Daytona.
“Because the Track is very popular, the times will be really quick, which needs a lot of practice to be competitive.”
JOHN EHLEN
Peeters, who ran official races at Imola all last week to learn the circuit’s track limits, thought people would need less practice instead of more. In turn, he expects Round 3 to have a less chaotic inverted race.
“A lot of people are familiar with Imola. They won’t need as much practice to get on pace. Perhaps the field will be closer in both the race and qualifying. The track also has fewer slow corners, this will make the reverse grid race less chaotic hopefully.”
VINCE PEETERS
Imola itself is known more as a technical circuit compared to other iRacing Italian staples like Monza. As mentioned during the Race Calendar/Car Review, the circuit features multiple hard-braking sections such as Tosa and Acque Minerali. In turn, attrition and drama are common in those sections of the circuit. Most drivers in turn usually attempt to make passes in Rivazza or down the main straight heading up to Tamburello.
Ehlen, who considers Imola as one of his favourite tracks, expects there to be a lot of overtaking opportunities overall.
Peeters in turn plans to focus once again on one strategy: drive away from the field.
“If I can drive away from the pack with whomever cooperates, I will take that opportunity any day. However, the race has to go a certain way for this to happen and draft will be huge on this track.”
VINCE PEETERS
Esports Brand Ambassador Patricija Stalidzane breaks down the circuit in her track guide here:
Timeline For Round 3
Time (CET)
Event
Duration
18:00 CET-19:15 CET
Free Practice
75 Mins
19:15 CET-19:25 CET
Qualifying
10 Mins
19:27 CET-19:52 CET
Race 1
25 Mins
19:54 CET-20:19 CET
Race 2
25 Mins – Reverse Grid
The Points Structure
Drivers will receive points based on their finishing position in their server and the Top 5in qualifying will also receive additional points as detailed below. This is designed to stop driver sandbagging for the reverse grid race.
A multiplier will be applied as a bonus based on how many splits were available for the race. After stewarding has taken place, the results will be processed and announced on the RaceSpot TV Website athttp://racespot.tv/ngk-atk.
Qualifying Points
Position
Points
1
5
2
4
3
3
4
2
5
1
Race Points
Position
Points
Position
Points
1
40
11
12
2
34
12
10
3
30
13
9
4
27
14
8
5
24
15
7
6
22
16
6
7
20
17
5
8
18
18
4
9
16
19
3
10
14
20
2
21
1
The Prizes On Offer
For the first six rounds, drivers have the chance to win the following:
First Place – 100 € Second Place – 50 € Third Place – 25 €
The winner of the overall NGK & NTK ESPORTS CUP 2024 will receive aOneBavarian Simtech Wheel + 500 €. The second place driver will receive aOne Tailoredrig (NGK Branded) + 250 €, and third place driver will receive anAlphatec Racing LED Screen + 150 €.
Positions 4-5 will receive 50 € , and Positions 4-10 will receive a NGK & NTK Goodie Bag. nThe driver with the fastest lap in the finals will receive aVRS Subscription.
How To Watch
You can catch the race on RaceSpot TV’s YouTube page on Friday afternoon, with live reporting of events here on RaceSpot News. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for more upcoming events, and make sure to come back to RaceSpot News to view the race recap after the event.
