Porsche Esports Supercup 2026: Charlie Collins makes last lap pass to win
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← Esports • News21 September 2026 — 3 minute read
By Ewan O'Leary
It’s been 17 months since the conclusion of the 2025 Porsche Esports Supercup on iRacing, and the series has been ringing the changes ever since. A new global qualifying format, allocating different regions of the world more spaces on the expanded 32 driver grid, put 19 rookies onto the field for this year’s competition.
But despite the changes, it was a classic Verstappen Simracing vs Porsche Coanda battle at the front, with Florian Lebigre taking the first pole of the year. He’d hold the lead off the start with teammate Sebastian Job’s assistance, and it was a clean start across the board, with only Hugo Allan in strife on lap one.
Mitchell DeJong’s slide up Eau Rouge with seven minutes to go allowed two of his teammates through, but other than that, the top five remained very stable throughout the race. Lebigre the winner, ahead of teammate Job at the line.
Race two would almost certainly be more unpredictable though, partly because the top eight from race one would be reversed. This put Gustavo Ariel on pole, and he too held the lead on lap one, though this time without teammate assistance.
Charlie Collins made the first move up front to gain third off Cooper Webster after just three laps, and when Mitchell DeJong attempted to pass Ariel for the win with three laps to go, Collins was there to sweep up second place too.
The scene was set for a last-lap battle between Ariel and Collins, and the Brazilian was clearly feeling the pressure.
He made a mistake at Eau Rouge, sliding out wide into Radillion and showing Collins the inside into Les Combes. There was contact between the two, forcing Ariel to go across the chicane, but he lost time serving the slowdown and dropped to third behind DeJong too.
So Collins would cross the line first, and with it take a tied championship lead after the first two races. Lebigre was only seventh in race two, as he failed to make any progress apart from passing Dayne Warren, who also went wide at Eau Rouge, although unlike the others, Warren very nearly hit the wall.
With the top four separated by three points, it’s set to be a very close championship, as in 2026 PESC is just five rounds long. Next week, the series returns, visiting Silverstone for round two.
Suzuka and Interlagos are also on the calendar, before the only week off in the series ahead of the traditional Monza finale. And with only five rounds and 10 races, drivers who dropped points at Spa could already be outside of championship contention.
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