The V10 R League returned for Week Two of racing with some appetising ties across both groups.
Mercedes AMG Petronas Esports faced off against their F1 rivals Oracle Red Bull Racing while champions BMW Sim Motorsport made their debut in season three with what looked like an easier opener against Jean Alesi Team Suzuki.
Early favourite flex their muscle
Mercedes, led by Jarno Opmeer, had another excellent day at the office, coming away with a 3-1 win over their rivals. The match will be remembered though for the 'only in esports' crash for Liam Parnell as Opmeer tagged his rear wheel when coming up the hill at Raidillon in Spa.
The accident, at an estimated speed of 320kph, saw Parnell go aerial and flip the car a total of 8 times before being thrown back to the pits. The Red Bull driver took to Twitter after the event to reassure his fans, and Opmeer, that it was not an attempted break check but a technical issue on his setup that caused the coming together.
The accident could not hide another disappointing day for Red Bull who have struggled so far in season three and with just two points from two group matches they have it all to do if they want to earn a play-off spot.
Fortunately for Red Bull, in the group's other tie, Team Redline pulled off another dominant performance against Aston Martin. The match, marred by technical game issues, ended 3-1 to Redline who go second in Group B with six points behind Mercedes at the top with seven.
Champions falter
In Group A the reigning champions BMW Sim Motorsport were looking to kick their season off with a win despite losing their talisman Kevin Siggy to Team Redline in the off-season.
A relatively unknown lineup faced off against Jean Alesi Team Suzuki who despite having been involved in the V10 R League since season one had thus far struggled to make an impact.
However, the underdogs flipped the script in week two as Team Suzuki dominated the German outfit showing some impressive speed in their equally impressive new livery. BMW managed just one point on the track as their season started on the wrong end of a 3-1 defeat against the JAESA Team Suzuki team.
Turning the Heat up
in the other game in Group A, Yas Heat continued their excellent start to the season and headed to top spot after a dominant performance against Williams Esports.
Williams, with some familiar faces in the ranks, struggled to get going after missing week one of the competition. Yas Heat took advantage, racing off to a dominant victory, 3-1 to the Abu Dhabi-based outfit.
Week Three
As we head into Week Three of the competition the big match in Group B is Aston Martin vs Red Bull as the teams seek their first win and push for third spot and a playoff position.
In Group A Williams Esports take on BMW Sim Motorsport with both teams needing to find some points or run the risk of an early bath in the group stages.
You can catch all the action from week three on Friday 17 June on the V10 R-League YouTube channel!