Deletraz “Super Happy” with SRO E-Sport Championship Success

Louis Deletraz is “super happy” with his SRO E-Sport GT Series championship success after overcoming multiple hurdles at the final round in Kyalami.

The Swiss driver headed into the season-ending round at the virtual South African circuit as the best-placed contender in the pro series standings and was able to secure the crown with a third-place finish.

It was not without adversity, however, with the Porsche driver competing with a success handicap off the back of his Barcelona victory and being caught up in an early race incident.

“I’m super happy,” exclaimed Deletraz, who also won the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans the weekend prior.

“It was a long championship and today was definitely difficult because I knew our qualifying pace was up there but the race pace with 25 kg of BoP was really difficult.

“I had to stay up there and very happy we made it.”

Contact was made in the opening sequence of corners between the Porsche driver and McLaren’s Angus Fender, with the latter losing out and facing the wrong direction.

Throughout the one-hour race, Deletraz says he was worried about being handed a penalty for the clash which would dash his chances of winning the championship, however that did not end up being the case.

“I definitely was a bit worried because there was some sort of contact but I think the main problem there because from my screen I didn’t really touch him I was super safe,” he explained.

“I didn’t mind losing the lead and suddenly it spun around so there must have been contact in the game, but he had trouble with connection all the week so maybe there was something that happened.

“I really didn’t want to get a drive-through, but I’m happy race direction that there was nothing above us.

“Obviously I feel sorry for him because there’s never intention so spin someone around.”

Deletraz says he took minimal risks during the race after securing pole position, a strategy that ultimately paid off with his podium enough to seal the main prize.

“When we had quali I said I’d just do it as a normal race and push as much as I can. I was really happy with my lap for pole but as I said race pace was difficult,” he added.

“I think as you saw on the broadcast I didn’t take any risk in the opening laps if someone dived-bombed I let the space in because I really didn’t want to be in trouble.

“After that, I just did my pace and see where I ended up and I’m really happy with that even though I had pressure from Ben in the end.”

Details on the SRO E-Sport GT Series grand finale, which will feature the top 20 Pro and Silver Series competitors and the 10 best Am racers, will be announced in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, real-world GT World Challenge competition is scheduled to take place at Imola from July 25-26.