The penultimate event of the 2026 Sim Racing World Championship concluded on Thursday after Round 8 and 9 around Zandvoort and Circuit of The Americas, with the best Esports drivers out there fighting it out for glory at the F1 Media and Technology Centre in Biggin Hill.
Both races were filled with late drama, bold strategy, and plenty of shocks, as Otis Lawrence took a huge step towards sim racing glory, and Alpine took control of the race for the Constructors’ Championship
Round 8 – The Netherlands
Zandvoort is another tricky track for making moves, so it was yet another crucial Qualifying session for the field to navigate. Ismael Fassi found out how tight the margins were in Q2 the hard way, missing the top-10 shootout by just six thousandths of a second, with Tom Manley and Jake Benham also suffering an early exit.
After the first runs in Q3, Frederik Rasmussen, Lawrence and Bari Broumand looked like the three to beat, separated by less than a tenth. However, a costly mistake by championship leader Lawrence left him in P5, having spun out at Turn 14. Instead, Red Bull’s Rasmussen took his third pole of the season, as Broumand, Ruben Pedreno, and Nicolas Longuet rounded out the top four.