The start of the second #RaceForGood charity event offered about two and a half hours of the finest sim racing action for participants and spectators in the live stream. At the end of the three exciting races, the Spaniard Daniel Juncadella secured victory ahead of Eduardo Barrichello and Kelvin van der Linde.
"You have to consider Juncadella", was our prognosis in the presentation of the professional racers who will compete in the second edition of the Sim racing charity event #RaceForGood of the German GT racing team Rutronik Racing. How right we should be.
That was the second #RaceForGood
In the tradition of the successful kick-off about a month ago, the second #RaceForGood also brought us exciting motorsport action in the racing simulation iRacing. 15 professional racers and 10 Sim-Racers started yesterday evening at 08:00 PM for the good cause to collect donations for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation.Organizer Rutronik Racing, reigning driver and constructors' champion of the ADAC GT Masters, had set up an exciting live stream for the second task, motorsport legends such as David Coulthard, Timo Scheider, and Manuel Reuter were also present. Commentator Eddie Mielke led through the event.Well-known names such as Rubens Barrichello, Bruno Spengler, and Kelvin van der Linde had followed the call of Rutronik Racing to get the asphalt glowing together. Fabian Plentz, team boss of Rutronik Racing, before the race
"It's good to see that so many top-class drivers are taking part. Also in the Sim Racing community. That was our goal: we want to achieve something with it. We want to do something good at the end of the day."
- READ MORE: What is sim-racing?
#RaceForGood: Hot races at Watkins Glen
At the beginning of the second #RaceForGood, the 25 participants got behind the wheel of the Skip Barber F2000 to accelerate on the legendary course of Watkins Glen. The Portuguese Filipe Albuquerque secured pole position ahead of Dani Juncadella. Eduardo Barrichello left his legendary father and double Formula 1 vice world champion, Rubens, behind and started the race from third place.
So things really got hot. At the start of the final lap, the first nine drivers were separated by just a few seconds. In the end, former DTM professional Antonio Felix Da Costa secured victory, closely followed by Juncadella and Jordan Pepper.
On the Battle of the Bulge, there was a big fire
We continued on to one of the most beautiful race tracks in the world: the "Ardennes rollercoaster" in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. This time, the 380-hp Formula 3 racer F3 Dallara was driven, in which the Spaniard Dani Juncadella felt perfectly comfortable and secured first place on the grid. Eduardo Barrichello started the race from position 3.
Almost the whole race Barrichello fought a duel with the South African Kelvin van der Linde, who had dominated the first #RaceForGood. In the final lap, van der Linde pushed past the Brazilian in the legendary Eau Rogue, while Juncadella did his laps in front alone and won the race.
Juncadella underpins his performance on the Circuit of the Americas
So the third and final race was to decide the winner. This time, the race went to the USA on the approximately 5.5 km long Circuit of the Americas in Texas, which has also hosted Formula 1 since 2012. This time the racers were using LeMans prototype racing car HDP Acura ARX 01c.
Bentley works driver Jordan Pepper secured pole position ahead of Kelvin van der Linde and ADAC GT Masters youngster Dennis Marschall. Jürgen Frank once again underlined his performance as best Sim racer and started the race from 5th place.
Pepper led the field through the formation lap to the flying start and kept a cool head in the first corner. In the middle of the race, the positions shifted again and so it was Eduardo Barrichello, who was leading the race before Kelvin van der Linde after the son of Rubens Barrichello shot down Jordan Pepper who was leading the race and thus destroyed his chances for victory. A 5-second penalty was the result.
Under the eyes of DTM legend Manuel Reuter - who is now Sports Director at Rutronik Racing - the two drivers fought a thrilling duel on the final lap. Due to Barrichello's time penalty, the third race in the #RaceForGood went to Kelvin van der Linde ahead of Daniel Juncadella. Barrichello finished 3rd ahead of youngster Marius Zug.
Juncadella secures overall victory at the start of the second #RaceForGood
With two second places and one victory in three races, Daniel Juncadella secured the overall victory of the first #RaceForGood race evening, followed by Eduardo Barrichello and Kelvin van der Linde. Rutronik Racing have already announced another charity tournament, and information about it will follow soon.
There's more than enough time to support the children's aid projects of Laureus Sport for Good. The fundraising campaign via VIPrize.org/simracing will continue for around 55 days and offers the chance to win unique prizes in addition to the main prize in the form of a VIP race weekend including a taxi ride in the Audi R8 LMS from Rutronik Racing.
These include racing shoes signed by Rubens Barrichello or a Mick Schuhmacher cap including the autograph of the German Formula 1 driver. As soon as there is something new about the next issue of #RaceForGood, you will find more about it on EarlyGame and on the social media channels of Rutronik Racing.
