GT: Barnicoat Takes E-Sport GT Series Pro Victory In Germany.

Ben Barnicoat, driver of the #99 2 Seas Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3, took victory in Round Three of the SRO E-Sport GT Series by the narrowest of margins ahead of Louis Deletraz in the #12 GPX Racing Porsche 991 GT3 R, the British driver taking the chequered flag just .07 seconds ahead of his Swiss counterpart.

Andy Soucek, piloting the #9 K-PAX Racing by SIRIO eSports Bentley Continental GT3 took the final podium position.

Jordan Pepper, driver of the #3 K-PAX Racing by SIRIO eSports Bentley Continental GT3 and winner in the opening round at Silverstone, led the field away from pole after having lapped the 5.148 km Nürburgring Grand Prix circuit in 1:53.196.

Joining Pepper on the front row was Louis Deletraz who had the better of the starts and matters quickly got worse for the South African driver after contact with Ben Barnicoat in the #99 McLaren resulted in a spin for Pepper, dropping him down to 24^th.

Barnicoat, now second, kept the #12 Porsche in his sights and, after two laps, the McLaren was less than a second behind the #12 car.

With ten minutes run, Deletraz was just under a second ahead of Barnicoat with the #911 Absolute Racing Porsche, piloted by Alessio Picariello, in third.

Ex-Bentley factory driver Andy Soucek was pushing Picariello hard for the final podium spot before contact at the final chicane gave the Spanish driver the opportunity to pass. The incident was reviewed by the race stewards but no penalty was given.

Worse was to come for Picariello, however, after contact involving Lorenzo Marcucci, winner at Spa, during the battle for fifth, resulted in the Belgian driver being served with a drive-through penalty.

As the 60-minute race passed the half-way mark, Barnicoat in the #99 McLaren had started to make progress on race leader Louis Deletraz and, with 15 laps run, the McLaren was just .215 seconds behind the #12 Porsche.

Over the closing laps, it looked as if Deletraz had enough pace to fend off Barnicoat while Soucek held on to a confident third place. However, an error by Deletraz on lap 26, not caught on camera, allowed the 23-year-old British driver through for the lead. The Porsche driver immediately fought back and there was a drag-race for the chequered flag, the #99 McLaren holding on to take the win by just .07 seconds. Andy Soucek in the Bentley took the final podium position.

In the Pro Series championship standings, Barnicoat now holds a nine-point lead over Louis Deletraz with Lorenzo Marcucci in third on 31 points.

The fourth round of the inaugural E-Sport GT Series takes place in Barcelona on May 31.