Flash Axle Sports has scored their first podium result in this collaboration at the final of the Esport Endurance Series season, which took place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans virtual endurance race.
The virtual racing partnership was announced last week, ahead of the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans race, and is comprised of Singapore-based Team Flash E-Racing Division, fresh from their maiden E1 Championship win, and Axle Sports, Malaysian motorsport and e-sport outfit founded by Malaysian former Formula 1 driver and three-time Audi R8 LMS series champion Alex Yoong.
Fielding two cars in the top DPi (Daytona Prototype International) category and held on the rFactor 2 simulator racing platform, the #11 car of Flash Axle Sports took to the start of the 24-hour endurance race in P2, just behind the #30 car of Cetrez Nitor Velox, while the #12 Flash Axle Sports entry took P5 on the starting grid.
The #11 car piloted by Malaysian Naquib Azlan, Mikko Nassi of Finland and Mohammad Aleef of Singapore commanded the pace for almost the first half of the race, holding the lead at the 10-hour mark. The race lead was surrendered, following an incident while overtaking a back marker and a separate incident in wet weather conditions.
This eventually saw the #11 car finish the race in second place behind Italian team Wave Freem eSports, while the high-attrition nature of endurance racing saw the #12 car of Flash Axle Sports crash out at the halfway mark.
“The team did well to finish in second place with all things considered. It was a challenging race to start with, and racing in the wet only made it even tougher. I’m proud of the way we recovered after each incident in the race and managed to earn the second spot on the podium,” said Axle Sports founder Alex Yoong.
“A win was definitely on the cards but ultimately we showed that we can compete among the world’s best, and we are optimistic for future races to come. We could not have asked for a better start to our partnership with Team Flash,” Yoong added.
“We are proud of what Flash Axle Sports have achieved in their first race as partners, and it proves that we have the talent to fight for race wins on a global level. The result affirms our confidence in the partnership between Team Flash and Axle Sports, and we look forward to participating in more international e-racing events in the future,” said Team Flash CEO Mark Chew.
Next up, the Flash Axle Sports partnership will take on the GT World Challenge Esports Asia Endurance Series by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO), which takes place on July 17 on the virtual Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales in Australia. Qualifying sessions will take place from July 5-11 to determine the racers’ starting positions on the grid.
