Treber Tames Spa - Tight Battle for title heading to Brazil
Release prepared by Jamie Maudsley
Jamie Maudsley
April 14, 2021 – (Stavelot, Belgium)– Last Thursday, a field of some of the finest virtual eSports GT3 drivers headed to the virtual Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, for the second round of the 2021 LATAM GP Spring Showdown. The second of six events would wind through the hills of Belgium, and it was Texas’ Alex Treber who stole the show with an almost flawless run in his Mercedes Benz to capture the win in the 45-minute tilt.
The action started in qualifying when Treber set the fast time early, and while Jose Puig was able to show up briefly in P2 after an early quick lap, he had his time bettered late in the session by both Joshua Benjamin, and Juan Salazar, who were able to claim second and third spots on the grid, while bumping Puig back to fourth. Luis Grullon rounded up the top-five, while JP Alfonso, Anthony James, Fernando Jaquez, Jay Doerr, and Zach Sternhagen were able to complete the first five rows.
Treber set sail at the drop of the green, while a mid-pack scramble saw Jaquez run Alfonso out of room, with the latter ending up heavily damaged while trying to build on his sixth-place finish in the season opener at Daytona.
“Benjamin, the winner at the opening event, tried to stick with Treber, but lap after lap, the leader’s gap to second continued to grow, with Salazar, Puig, and eighth-place starter Jacquez rounding out the top-five.”
Jaquez would continue on his charge, and after taking third found his way to Benjamin’s bumper about the 10-minute mark. In a tremendous battle of Lamborghini’s, Benjamin was able to hold on for the next 20 minutes until most of the leaders made their way to pit road at the 30-minute mark.
Treber got out first, with Jaquez second, followed by Salazar and Benjamin, who had lost a pair of spots on the exchange. Grullon was able to lead for a lap before coming for service on his BMW, tuning the lead back over to Treber.
With Jaquez over 10 seconds back the lead would grow to almost 15 seconds before the checkered flag flew, as Treber took his first win of the season, from the pole, and leading all by one lap. On the heels of his runner up finish at Daytona, Alex took over the point lead with the victory.
For Jaquez, after finishing 22nd at Daytona, it was a very impressive run, as his second-place finish came after starting from eighth on the grid, and some passes of some of the top drivers in the series to get there.
The most crucial late race battle was between Benjamin, winter of the season opener and Daytona, and Salazar, one of the two cars that got past Benjamin on pit stops. Joshua reeled in third-place car, but a slight mistake sent his white and purple Lamborghini through the grass. Benjamin recovered, but Salazar was long gone on the way to third-place finish, while Benjamin finished fourth, and Grullon wound up fifth, his second top-five of the season.
James came home sixth, with Doerr seventh, and Sternhagen eighth. After a 14th in the season opener at Daytona, and a 22nd-place qualifying effort at Spa, Brian Long was able to wheel his ‘Fallout’ Benz to a hard charger award on the night, picking up 13 spots to finish ninth. Andrew Hewitt came home tenth, his best result of the young season.
ROUND 3
The series will resume Thursday, April 15th, for round three at Autódromo José Carlos Pace, in Sao Paulo Brazil, commonly referred to as Interlagos, and the long-time home to the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Treber will cross the Atlantic as the new point leader, with a seven-point cushion over Benjamin. Salazar will head to the Amazon third in points, with Grullon fourth in the standings.
Real life Late Model oval track racer Jay Doerr has worked his way into the top-five in points, with a pair of top-ten finishes.
Qualifying for race three of the six-race LATAM GP Spring Showdown Series will kickoff at 9:00 EST, along with the live stream at roughly the same time on the LATAM GP You Tube channel, leading up to the 45-minute feature event, where the stars and cars will take on the home of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
It’s back to Europe on April 22nd for round four at Nurburgring, before a trip to America’s mid-west on April 29th, as the series shifts to Road America, before concluding May 6th, at the Circuit of the Americas.
Release prepared by Jamie Maudsley
Follow the next race on our Youtube Channel & Social Media