Stanley snatches the points lead by heading a one-two for BMW M Team BS+Competition at Donington

+RESULT: Mobileye GT World Challenge Esports Asia Sprint Series, Donington Park

+STANDINGS: Mobileye GT World Challenge Esports Asia Sprint Series, After Rd3

Ferris Stanley celebrated his maiden Mobileye GT World Challenge Esports Asia Sprint Series victory by leading home BMW M Team BS+Competition team-mate Philippa Boquida at Donington Park, and in doing so both grabbed the championship lead and finally ended Dillan Tan’s winning streak.

Heading into round two, reigning champion Tan had won all but one race since the start of the 2022 championship, but when it quickly became clear that the BMW M4 GT3 was most at home around the fast sweeps of Donington, the momentum shifted away from the Mercedes-AMG runners. 

Stanley snatched pole just 0.038s ahead of Boquida as BMWs filled the front three rows of the grid. The Mercedes-AMGs struggled in comparison, with Sota Muto the best placed in 13th, with Tan’s Tarmac Works car right behind in a disappointed 14th, 0.5s off the pole pace. With his prospects of a win slim, Tan instead concentrated on picking up what places he could against the rapid BMWs.

Stanley made a great getaway when the lights wen out to swoop ahead of Boquida into Redgate, and from then the two BS+Competition M4s forged a gap over the rest of the field. By the time he pitted, Stanley held a near three-second gap over Boquida, completed a clean mandatory stop, and rejoined still comfortably ahead. Even traffic couldn’t shake the order, as Stanley picked his way through perfectly to complete a lights-to-flag performance with Boquida a clear second.

While the fight for the lead was relatively straightforward, the battle for Silver victory raged right behind as four cars fought over the honours. Daffa Boediharjo qualified on class pole in his SOLOX M4 but had a train of Russel Reyes (JMX Phantom BMW), Rialto Ristofani (MPRGP BMW) and championship leader Luke Addison (Genisus Esports BMW) crawling all over him.

Things came to a head when Boediharjo was forced to pit twice mid-race when his mandatory tyre-change wasn’t completed, leaving Reyes, Ristofani and Addison to squabble. Two five-second time penalties for aggressive driving early in the race made life tough for Reyes, but he did pull great moves on first Addison at Redgate and then on Ristofani to snatch the class lead and third overall in the closing stages. While Reyes took the Silver win on the road, he was shuffled back to third in class (sixth overall) once the extra time was added. That handed Ristofani victory ahead of Addison, who extended his class points lead with another controlled drive.

Daffa Nabiel (JMX Phantom) was fifth overall and completed the Pro class podium, with Tan taking seventh overall, which translated to fourth in the Pro order. Considering his lowly starting position, an incredible opening lap brought Tan up to ninth, before he made up some extra ground after the pit window. Tan may not have won, but the score ensures he’s still well in the title hunt.

Muto was eighth for Williams Esports, ahead of Kobe Chan (REVOLT PuiPuiRacing BMW) and Taariq Adam (Genisus Esports Porsche 992 GT3 R). Notably far down the order was Andika Rama Maulana, who once again had a tough qualifying session and started well down in 26th. While he did make up good ground in the Legion of Racers Mercedes-AMG to finish 16th, it was another disappointing outing for last year’s championship runner-up.

The next round of the Mobileye GT World Challenge Esports Asia Sprint Series takes place at Bathurst in Australia on July 12.