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Blakeley and Opmeer beat F1 drivers Valtteri Bottas and Mika Hakkinen

The magnificent Race of Champions event has been a dream for all esports fans talking about sim racing. This... Eduardo | 29. January 2023

The magnificent Race of Champions event has been a dream for all esports fans talking about sim racing. This is mainly because many drivers from different disciplines meet and compete against each other. However, this year the event generated a wonderful surprise.

Sim Racing drivers Lucas Blakeley and Jarno Opmeer beat current F1 driver Valtteri Bottas and his teammate, former F1 champion Mika Hakkinen.

Race of Champions

This new edition of the Race of Champions was held in the Swedish town of Pite Havsbad. At the event, well-known drivers such as Sebastian Vettel, Mick Schumacher, Valtteri Bottas, and Mika Hakkinen came together to delight us with their spectacular driving skills. On the other hand, this impressive group of drivers was complemented by a solid esports team, Sim Racing drivers Lucas Blakeley and Jarno Opmeer.

Recall that Blakeley and Opmeer booked their place in this event during the eROC event held last Friday.

Blakeley and Opmeer defeat F1 drivers

As mentioned, Blakeley and Opmeer beat Bottas and Hakkinen in four on-track driving tasks, advancing to the next round of the competition.

Blakeley got off to a strong start by beating Bottas just before Opmeer took on Hakkinen. The Dutchman seemed to have the series in the bag against the Formula 1 champion, but a mistake at the start gave the Finn the point to level the score 1-0.

Then, it looked like the eROC esports team was going home, as Bottas beat Opmeer in the third heat. However, the best-of-four format implemented in this event meant that if Blakeley won by a wide margin over Hakkinen, they could qualify for the next round. For the team tie-breaker, the cumulative times from the four heats are combined, going into the last heat. Again, the eROC team was ahead by just half a second.

Blakeley demonstrated astonishing driving as he swept across the finish line well ahead of Hakkinen. In doing so, he achieved an unprecedented victory for the Sim Racing drivers. This allowed them to advance to the quarterfinals, where they faced the formidable Team Germany in a rematch of the first round of 2022.

Blakeley could not beat Vettel this time

In 2022 Blakeley got off to a spectacular start, managing to unseat Sebastian Vettel in the first heat. However, Team Germany won thanks to an excellent comeback.

This year was completely different, as Vettel overtook Blakeley and Mick Schumacher and crushed Opmeer in their first meeting. This put the eROC team on the ropes, ultimately eliminating them. Losing to such quality opponents, however, is not to be underestimated.

Blakeley said:

“Gave it 110%, left nothing on the table, and ultimately it was my undoing but I think both @jarno_opmeer and I can be proud of what we managed today, we had genuine pace on all races and gave it everything 🙌

Thank you so much for the support and GG to Team Finland and Germany.”

Header: Lucas Blakeley | Twitter