Rapid Italian Manuel Biancolilla surprised a few, including himself, by sticking his Audi Sport ABT Schaffler right up at the sharp end for Round 1 of Formula E: Accelerate - the all-electric racing championship's new esports series.
The Sicilian secured a front-row berth, as part of a top four separated by just 0.034 seconds, setting him up for a strong opening showing in the competition that sees the most competitive line-up he's been a part of take on a six-race season for a slice of a minimum €100,000 prize pot and a real-world Gen2 test drive.
READ MORE: Jajovski: 'Winning Formula E: Accelerate opener means the world'
"Being in second spot in the standings after the opener is a great feeling because I just wasn’t expecting it," said the 20 year old. "I was kind of targeting to finish mid-table in the championship, so it’s a great start compared to where I thought I’d be.
"The level of competition in this series is the highest I’ve come across in rFactor 2. There are a lot of top drivers like Bono Huis, and F1 Esports Champion Frederik Rasmussen. The standard is top notch and right at the pinnacle of sim racing and motor racing esports. It’ll be really hard to beat all of them."
Managing deployable energy and the timing and strategy around when to activate ATTACK MODE are integral aspects of any E-Prix. Studio 397 has brought these integral aspects of Formula E into the fold for Accelerate, adding another level of depth to the challenge, and one the rapid sim racers won't be used to from racing elsewhere.
It was mixed bag in the opener as to who made the most of their usable energy. Out front, Erhan Jajvoski (ROKiT Venturi Racing) was able to draw out an early gap to the pack and cruise home lights-to-flag.
READ MORE: Head here for the full Formula E: Accelerate line-up
Managing energy in the midst of a battling pack is a different story, though, and Biancolilla - the F1 Esports star and a runner-up in the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual - was arguably most shrewd as he bided his time before unleashing everything he had over the final two laps whilst others around him had to temper their pace and racing instincts to go the distance.
Biancolilla was last of the front-runners to use the second of his additional 35kW ATTACK MODE boosts and was best placed to profit from an error by Bono Huis (Mercedes-Benz EQ) and BMW i Andretti Motorsport's Kevin Siggy's rapidly depleting battery - the Race at Home winner having been caught in a number of earlier battles.
Huis made an error on the final lap that left the door open for Siggy to briefly retake third as he duly accepted the invite into Turn 1, with Biancolilla's Audi following in close company. With that ATTACK MODE still active, the Italian then flew beyond Siggy for third half way around the final lap of the race - employing his gameplan to perfection to seal second spot in dramatic fashion.
"After the first two laps for example, me and Erhan started using ATTACK MODE right away and he used it better than I did," continued Biancolilla. "He was able to get so far away that I just couldn’t catch him anymore. After that, the guys behind started activating their ATTACK MODE and started getting past me until I slid down to fifth.
"I managed energy really well which allowed me to recover a lot to use in the last two laps. With that, I was able to catch third and make a great move on Bono (Huis) and Kevin (Siggy) on the last lap."
"ATTACK MODE and energy management are great value to add to pure racing because it increases the skill gap compared to other series, since we have to manage them both whilst performing at the very best of your capabilities."
On to Round 2 and the virtual streets of Hong Kong Harbourfront, Biancolilla feels the challenge will be much the same, and is just hoping he can keep up the pace with a grid he feels is as competitive as any he's lined up on.
"Formula E circuits share a lot of similarities with really tight streets and a lot of driving very close to the walls as well as some sharp hairpins," he said. "I feel like it’ll be similar to what we faced in New York.
"My main fear ahead of the following rounds and after the first race is that I’ll end up underperforming that Round 1 showing which would mean I’d drop down the standings. I’ll try my best and I’ll train as much as I can to keep up the pace."
Round 2 of Formula E: Accelerate will take place on Thursday at 1900 UTC, streamed live on Formula E's Twitch, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter channels, with the field taking on an inch-perfect virtual recreation of the Hong Kong E-Prix circuit.