Heitkotter Takes GT Rivals Round 3 Win at Paul Ricard

Photo: JT Tami

Bryan Heitkotter continued his hot streak in SRO GT Rivals Esports Invitational competition by taking another commanding victory Sunday at virtual Circuit Paul Ricard.

The gamer to real-life racer drove his No. 05 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 to a 29.534-second win over Kevin Boehm in the 60-minute race, which ended in complete darkness.

While having started on pole, Heitkotter lost the lead to Koch in the No. 59 BSport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and initially dropped to third behind the No. 35 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Kenny Murillo.

However, Heitkotter managed to pass Murillo on the Mistral straight on the opening lap prior to taking the lead from Koch on Lap 5.

Heitkotter extended his advantage as the sun set over the French circuit.

It marked his second win in the third race of season for GT Rivals, the official esports series for SRO America competitors and selected sim racers on Assetto Corsa Competizione.

TC America regular Kevin Boehm, in the No. 90 CrowdStrike Racing Mercedes, inherited second at the checkered flag after Koch was handed a 95-second post-race penalty for a track limits violation on the final lap.

It demoted Koch to ninth.

Dakota Dickerson was was third, while Keith Briscoe ended up the highest-placed sim racer in fourth overall, in his No. 49 Champion Motorsports Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo.

Murillo finished fifth ahead of the No. 80 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 Evo of Kyle Marcelli in sixth.

A number of other drivers were caught out by track limits violations through the race, including GT World Challenge America powered by AWS points leader Shelby Blackstock, who was forced to surrender fifth for a stop-and-hold plus-30-second penalty early on.

Blackstock, in the No. 81 Racers Edge Acura, had moved up from tenth on the grid prior to the costly penalty.

The fourth round of the GT Rivals season takes place at virtual Spa-Francorchamps on May 3 at 3 p.m. ET.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John