V10 R-League Round 6 – Spa-Francorchamps Results and Standings: Porsche24 Redline get one hand on the championship trophy


The V10 R-League's first season has been an absolute thriller and we head to one of the greatest circuits of them all for its penultimate round.

The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is world-renowned for being one of the best in the world and one that consistently produces action-packed racing.

Porsche24 Redline had an opportunity to clinch the championship, but they needed to outscore Williams, BMW, and Red Bull to do so.

Some minor changes were made to the events due to the longer lap time at Spa. The head-to-head was two laps, the relay race was decreased to seven laps, with the team race also run over seven tours.

Here are all the highlights from Belgium!

Williams v Fordzilla

Williams were Porsche24 Redline's closest challengers going into the Spa contests. The British outfit needed a good weekend though, as they sat three points behind Porsche before the start of play.

If Williams could pick their opponents, it would be Fordzilla, who have been enduring a dreadful season. Fordzilla sat bottom of the standings on a single point and hadn't scored since the opening round at Monza.

Williams Fordzilla Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Beglium Round 6 V10 R-League
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TOP v BOTTOM: 6 places were between Williams and Fordzilla but who would triumph on track?

Williams: Martin Stefanko, Nikodem Wisniewski, Kuba Brzeziński

Fordzilla: Pablo Lopez, Shaun Arnold, Ruben Rodriguez

Niko Wisniewski and Pablo Lopez were up first in the head-to-head contests. Wisniewski led from pole and maintained his lead into Les Combes.

Lopez stuck close to the Williams, but couldn't challenge as Williams took a 1-0 lead. Kuba Brzezinski and Shan Arnold were next with Brzezinski leading from pole.

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Arnold got alongside into Les Combes but cracked under pressure, spinning around and out of contention. Williams took the first championship point in this contest!

The relay race was next, as Brzezinski led from the off. Lopez couldn't get close enough to challenge during his stint but the gap was never more than a second.

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Wisniewski and Arnold were rapid in the middle stint before Martin Stefanko produced some incredible laps to decide the contest in Williams' favour 2-0.

Williams needed every point they could get to challenge Porsche, could they make it a perfect score?

Williams Fordzilla Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Beglium Round 6 V10 R-League
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MACHINE ON THE LIMIT: Spa pushed the cars to their limits today

Lopez began on pole for Fordzilla and led away as Stefanko and Rodriguez chased. Ruben Rodriguez fantastically took second place but Stefanko ran it around the outside of Bruxelles to retake the place.

As it stood, Fordzilla would win the team race, but Brzezinski got into third to put the pressure on. Further back, Wisnieski got into fourth thanks to Arnold's spin.

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As it stood, this would be a tie and nobody would win a point. However, Stefanko was catching Lopez for the lead and on the penultimate lap, the Williams man took P1 and won the team race!

This was vital for Williams, they needed a clean sweep to stay in the title fight. For Fordzilla though, it was yet another pointless day.

JAESA Suzuki v Red Bull

Red Bull were charging towards the top of the championship and were buoyed by a crucial win over Williams last week. They faced JAESA Suzuki, a team that nobody had completed a clean sweep against.

Red Bull JAESA Suzuki Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Beglium Round 6 V10 R-League
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EPIC: Eau Rouge is one of many thrilling high-speed corners at Spa

Suzuki: Giorgio Simonini, Danilo Santoro, Giovanni De Salvo

Red Bull: Joni Tormala, Nils Naujoks, Graham Carroll

Giovanni De Salvo and Nils Naujoks got the head-to-head contests underway, with Naujoks leading from pole. The slipstream is very powerful at Spa though, as De Salvo took the lead into Les Combes.

De Salvo held his advantage to the line to give Suzuki the advantage 1-0. Joni Tormala and Giorgio Simonini were next up, with Tormala leading from pole.

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Simonini went for the lead into Les Combes but contact between the pair spun Tormala into the wall. Tormala was flying but couldn't catch the Italian, as Simonini made it 2-0 to Suzuki to wrap up the head-to-heads!

For the relay race, it was De Salvo and Naujoks were again pitted against each other. It was intense from the off, Naujoks leading but both drivers slowed into Eau Rogue to try and get the draft up to Les Combes.

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More drama followed, as contact between Naujoks turned into De Salvo and spun the pair round. Naujoks was ahead but earned his team a five second penalty for his poor driving.

Tormala had it all to do, but the Finn stretched Red Bull's lead to four seconds by his pit-stop, one second shy of negating the penalty. It was down to Graham Carroll and Simonini in the final stint.

Red Bull JAESA Suzuki Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Beglium Round 6 V10 R-League
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ANOTHER UPSET? Could Suzuki take more points off a leading side?

Simonini was rapid though, the Italian reduced the gap to less than four seconds, enough to win the relay race after the penalty was applied to Red Bull. Incredibly, it was 2-0 to Suzuki, what an upset!

Could Suzuki do the clean sweep over Red Bull?

Suzuki started 1-2-3 but things quickly changed. Simonini spun on the way into Les Combes after he took too much kerb before De Salvo ran too deep into the bus stop and also dropped back.

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Danilo Santoro still led but that was about to change. Carroll attempted a move on Lap 2 but spun the Suzuki driver around. It was a Red Bull 1-2-3 on-track but would the stewards have something to say?

Surprisingly, no penalty was necessary and Red Bull walked to a perfect score. Suzuki won the contest 2-1 though, a huge result for the team!

Porsche v Racing Point

Porsche were the team to catch and a strong result against Racing Point would be a huge step towards the title. Racing Point were no pushovers though and had been steadily improving this season.

porsche24 redline laguna seca v10r league
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LEADERS: Porsche were the stand-outs of the season so far!

Porsche: Ben Cornett, Michal Smidl, Atze Kerkhof

Racing Point: Rafael Lobato, Shanaka Clay, Michael Epps

Michael Epps and Ben Cornett got us underway in the head-to-head round. Cornett held his lead into Les Combes. Epps put Cornett under serious pressure, even making contact into the bus stop chicane.

Cornett didn't crack though, as he put Porsche into a 1-0 lead. Michal Smidl started second in his head-to-head, but powered around the outside for Shanaka Clay to give Redline a 1-0 championship point lead.

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In the relay race, it was Atze Kerkhof against Epps. Epps started second and almost took the lead into Les Combes, but Kerkhof held the inside line and P1.

Epps made an error later in the lap though, spinning at the Fanha chicane and ruining Racing Points' chances of gaining a point back. Smidl and Cornet were solid in their remaining laps to give Porsche a 2-0 lead.

racing point v10 r league vallelunga 1
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ON FIRE: Racing Point were fast, but could they snatch a point or two from Redline?

Finally, we had the team race, could Racing Point prevent being whitewashed?

It was a Racing Point 1-2-3 after Les Combes, with Epps excellently defending from Smidl. Lobato led but Smidl was now through into P3, the pressure was beginning to mount.

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Racing Point had the points advantage, but Smidl made an incredible move on Epps to take P2. Lobato was now feeling the pressure, as Smidl powered into P1 with two laps remaining, incredible performance!

Kerkhof got into P4, which was enough for Porsche to take the points lead and make it a 3-0 clean sweep yet again!

BMW v Yas Heat

Yas Heat had been looking to join the midfield battle but two clean sweep losses against Porsche and Red Bull in the previous two rounds have put pay to that.

Things weren't going to get any easier for Heat though, as their opponents today are title-chasing BMW.

BMW Yas Heat Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Beglium Round 6 V10 R-League
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SIDE-BY-SIDE ACTION: Heat and BMW weren't leaving anything on the table!

BMW: Coque Lopez Kevin Siggy, Laurin Heinrich

Heat: Jaroslav Honzik, Isaac Gillessen, Simone Fedele

Isaac Gillessen was making his series debut and had the unenviable task of facing Kevin Siggy. Siggy began on pole for their head-to-head before Gillessen took the lead around the outside.

Siggy powered past on the run to Les Combes and soon started to stretch out a lead. Siggy took first blood to BMW to lead 1-0.

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Next up it was Jaroslav Honzik and Laurin Heinrich. Heinrich pulled away on the first lap thanks to his lower wing angles and Honzik had no answer to the German. It was 2-0 to BMW as they sealed the head-to-head contests.

The relay race was next up, and Fedele of Heat began from pole. Siggy excellently cut back to take the lead into Eau Rogue and fly up the Kemmel Straight. The lower downforce was working a treat for BMW!

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Both drivers use their joker laps to run longer and in the driver change, Heat gained back time. However, BMW and Heinrich were flying, leading by almost three seconds going into the final change.

It was down to Gillessen for Heat, but the debutant didn't have beginner's luck, as Coque Lopez did enough to give BMW a 2-0 lead and take the series victory.

Yas Heat BMW Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Beglium Round 6 V10 R-League
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FLYING: Heat were putting in the hot laps but how many points could they manage?

The team race was next up and BMW were the in-form outfit and looking for a clean sweep over Heat.

Lopez started on pole, but as we've seen, if anything, that's a disadvantage. Heinrich would usurp Lopez before the Spaniard spun around and fell to last place at Les Combes.

Siggy and Fedele would have more contact, as Honzik and Gillessen began to put pressure on Heinrich. However, Heinrich doesn't make mistakes, and ran away with the race to complete the clean sweep in BMW's favour.

Final results

Here are the updated standings after the Spa ties:

Pos.
Team
Points
1
Porsche24 Redline
16
2
Williams Esports
13
3
BMW Motorsport Sim Racing Team
12
4
Red Bull Racing Esports
10
5
BWT Racing Point Esports Team
7
6
JAESA Team Suzuki
6
7
Yas Heat
4
8
Team Fordzilla
1

Porsche's perfect score meant that only Williams could challenge them for the title.

The Next Round

The V10 R-League travels to the Middle East for the final round of the series' inaugural season! Round 7 will be held on the UAE's Yas Marina Circuit on 19th October at 7 pm BST.

The entire Season 1 of V10 R-League will be shown on BT Sport in the UK.

Those in the US can watch on ESPN3, while in the Middle East it will be available on STARZPLAY Arabia.

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