In a nail-biting 42-lap final at the Deep Forest Raceway, Kylian Drumont of France emerged as the triumphant inaugural winner of the Gran Turismo 7 event in the Olympic Esports Series 2023. Despite experiencing a technical glitch during his qualifying run, Drumont managed to seize the second position. He strategically maneuvered his way from behind pole-sitter Angel Inostroza of Chile to claim victory in the race’s final stages.
Inostroza had chosen to begin the race with soft tyres, the fastest but least durable of the trio of tyre options offered to the competitors. Conversely, Drumont and Britain’s Will Murdoch, who secured the third spot, both opted for medium tyres.
Inostroza quickly established a significant lead, switching to medium tyres after 11 laps with a four-second advantage over Drumont. However, Drumont displayed extraordinary patience and skill. Despite falling behind Inostroza by more than five seconds after his own pit stop three laps later, he kept his cool.
Meanwhile, Murdoch was running a steady race in the third position, skillfully avoiding the chaos unfolding behind him.
The tension escalated after the second pit stops. Inostroza opted for another set of medium tyres on lap 27, rejoining the race amidst dense traffic. An attempt to overtake Kaj de Bruin resulted in him clipping the barriers and losing crucial seconds. Drumont, on the other hand, swapped for soft tyres on lap 30, planning to capitalize on their speed in the last 12 laps.
A dramatic moment came on lap 35, when Drumont, Inostroza, and José Serrano found themselves going three-wide into the first turn. Drumont nudged past Inostroza, dropping the Chilean behind Serrano. The stewards ruled this a racing incident.
Following the encounter, Drumont raced unhindered to his victory. Meanwhile, Inostroza, still feeling the heat from the earlier scuffle, was overtaken by Murdoch for the second spot on the penultimate lap.
Drumont triumphed with a winning time of 54 minutes 4.181 seconds, clocking a lead of 5.624 seconds over Murdoch. Inostroza finished third, trailing nearly eight seconds behind Drumont.
Reflecting on his win, Drumont credited his strategy for the victory. “In practice, I noticed that using soft tyres in the first stint was not beneficial due to high tyre wear,” he explained. “When I saw Angel begin with softs, I knew my decision to start with medium tyres for two stints, followed by soft tyres for the final one, was a solid strategy for the race.”
