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iRacing BMW SIM GT @Suzuka: Bonito & Benecke do the business

Maximilian Benecke clawed through the field from the eighth starting spot, and Enzo Bonito took the lead for good with 29 laps to go.

That’s how it panned out in the top split of Sunday’s iRacing BMW SIM GT Cup event at virtual Suzuka International Racing Circuit.

The duo joined Team Redline teammates Gianni Vecchio and Jonas Wallmeier in punching their tickets to this year’s BMW SIM Live event with the victory, taking the lead after pit stops and holding off MSI eSports’ Salva Talens in the final stages of the race.

Joshua Rogers qualified first for VRS Coanda Simsport and led the first seven laps of the race, but contact with Max Verstappen in the early stages dropped both cars out of winning contention. Rogers and teammate Mitchell deJong would recover to finish third, although Verstappen and Vecchio would retire 17 laps short of the finish and be scored 38th.

Talens’ teammate Alejandro Sanchez would take over the top spot after the contact and lead until pit cycles, where R8G Esports’ Vlad Khimichev and Sportteam Competicion’s Raian Norbert would each spend fleeting moments at the front.

But on Lap 34, Bonito would cycle into the top spot and never look back. Despite a spirited drive from Talens, Bonito’s lead would be a comfortable 3.918 seconds at the checkered flag, with deJong just over 10 seconds adrift of the winning car. Of the 44 starters in the top split, 21 would finish on the lead lap, with another 11 cars coming home just one lap down.

Top split results from Sunday’s BMW SIM GT Cup round at Suzuka were as follows:

Fin.

St.

No.

Team

Laps

Interval

Led

Best

1871BMW Team Redline62291:55.177
24474MSi eSports 12062-3.918231:55.271
3181VRS Coanda Simsport $8162-10.09371:55.211
461R8G Esports #1062-19.56321:55.197
512108VRS Coanda Simsport $8 D24 Backup62-23.78201:55.396
613777KOVA #262-24.05301:55.334
75707KOVA #162-25.71101:55.390
8154Team Redline Ice Blue62-26.33201:55.512
9789BS COMPETITION62-34.27601:55.385
10112Williams Esports62-37.73401:55.412
11181R8G Junior62-43.01301:55.400
122224Vendaval Simracing Blue62-48.41101:55.682
1310118VRS Coanda Simsport $18 D24 Backup62-48.84601:55.432
14288VRS Coanda Simsport $8862-58.10301:55.119
1520260Zennith Esports62-58.34401:55.832
1619219Triple A Esports $21962-1:25.20101:56.532
1744218Triple A Esports $21862-1:28.08401:56.244
182123Team Anatolia GTE62-1:33.29201:55.951
1923228Sportteam Competicion #20862-1:37.56711:56.273
20435Triple A Esports $22062-1:37.90201:55.804
213014Artifact Racing62-1:45.71501:56.375
223266SIMMSA Esports61-1 L01:56.485
233777Volante Racing61-1 L01:56.673
243939Vulcan Sim Racing61-1 L01:56.883
2528207Carbon Simsport61-1 L01:56.597
263410Zecarul eSports #1061-1 L01:56.687
2731255RSR by G-Performance #25561-1 L01:56.393
28279AXA SimSport $13861-1 L01:56.704
29357Sampsoid Kanaan Esports61-1 L01:56.856
3040135Star Motorsport Black61-1 L01:57.160
314255Team Down Under Wombat61-1 L01:56.324
322611H4SR X RaceKraft61-1 L01:56.343
334112Last Minute Motorsport60-2 L01:57.487
3424227Lotema Racing Team Carbon60-2 L01:56.255
35918VRS Coanda Simsport $1853-9 L01:55.480
361743RaceKraft Esports Gold49-13 L01:55.449
373815TLDR Simsport White46-16 L01:57.170
38372Team Redline Orange45-17 L01:55.061
39163R8G Esports #841-21 L01:55.521
401478Ronin SimSport41-21 L01:55.864
41338GermanSimRacing #Friends 141-21 L01:56.762
42366AXA SimSport $1280-62 L0
432527Lotema Racing Team0-62 L0
442997Monaco Esports0-62 L0

The BMW Sim GT Cup will feature 10 races over the course of 2021, split into two seasons. The first five-race season will feature the BMW M8 GTE, while the second will shift to the new BMW M4 GT3 that made its iRacing debut in December.

ach race features a mandatory driver changeover and a $4,200 prize pool split among the top three finishers in the top split, with the winning duo taking home $2,400. The remaining three rounds of 2021 Season 1 are as follows:

  • March 21: Silverstone Circuit
  • May 2: Road Atlanta
  • May 16: Nurburgring GP-Strecke

For more information on BMW Motorsport, including BMW Motorsport Sim Racing, visit www.bmw-motorsport.com. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.

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