Manufacturer’s Cup Round Four Report
OptionZ McLaren wins at the Red Bull Ring!
… and we got so excited, we forgot to save the replay! (Source: OptionZ)
OptionZ McLaren has won its first race as a team, taking pole and the top step at round four of the Manufacturer’s Cup race at the Red Bull Ring. Needless to say, we’re absolutely delighted!
Round four of the Manufacturer’s Cup was held at the Red Bull Ring with 28 laps the total race distance. Practice showed the race itself would be very wet, with full wet tires likely required for the entire race distance. Qualifying, however, was sunny and warm.
We often land somewhere mid-to-rear on the grid in qualifying, but on the racing soft tires we managed to secure our first ever pole position with a time of 1.31:496, something that could end up being crucial when the race itself began. To head the field in a wet race is a key advantage, saving you the hassle of spray and the lottery of cornering in a pack all desperately trying to hold onto the circuit as they make progress.
Practice was crucial, as it helped us figure out how much we could push in the wet (Source: OptionZ)
As the race got going, it became immediately clear what an advantage we had heading the field. With clear vision and an open track, we developed a healthy 3 second lead over the rest of the field very quickly. Coming through from 8th on the grid was a very fast German driver in a Ferrari 458 though, who caught and passed us just a few laps into the race.
For much of the race, we chased the fast Ferrari, but its German pilot was too quick for us, opening up a lead of almost 4 seconds at one point. We struggled to keep the pace, so decided to gamble on taking intermediate tires before anyone else. We immediately grabbed the fastest lap of the race on the greens, and when the leading Ferrari pitted two laps later, we’d jumped to just a couple of tenths behind. A battle for the win was now on.
On Lap 27, we took the lead and managed to hold out another lap and a half to take the flag (Source: OptionZ)
As we mentioned in our round three report, it’s often our opponents that make a race special or memorable, and it was the case here. The Ferrari and ourselves and managed to break out a 20 second gap on the rest of the field over the course of the race, and had remained close to each other throughout. Fair and respectful racing between us took the battle down to the last couple of laps.
With the circuit drying up fast, we had to drive off-line as often as possible to keep the tires from degrading due to overheating. In the end, our McLaren seemed to be slightly kinder on the rubber than the Ferrari, and after overtaking and braking away with a half second gap on the 27th of 28 laps, we eventually crossed the line to win our first race as a team.
In the excitement, we forgot to save our replay so we could get some high quality images for you, but we do have an on-board recording of the race as it happened directly from the PS5 Pro. It’s around 30 minutes long, but if you’re interested, you can find it here.
Thank you so much for all your support for OptionZ so far - especially on our Instagram (links at the top and bottom of every page). We haven’t even fully launched yet, but we have something to celebrate already!
