Formula One champion Jenson Button and 24 Hours of Le Mans winner David Brabham won Saturday at virtual Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the middle leg of the “Triple Crown” in the Legends Trophy sim racing series.
It was the first Legends Trophy victory for Brabham, who took the lead in the opening race after a multicar crash knocked Juan Pablo Montoya from first. Brabham led the final 14 laps and won by 2.059 seconds over Montoya and Andy Priaulx. Michael Jourdain Jr and Darren Turner rounded out the top five.
“Finally, I got to win one of these Legends races and on the oval at Indianapolis; I’m thrilled with that,” Brabham said. “It was fantastic racing on the oval. It’s amazing, everyone is enjoying it. It’s pretty intense in the race, just in trying to keep the car on the track.
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“It’s so close racing with the tactics. It’s just little things here and there and you can lose a few hundredths and then you’re way back on the grid. It’s very competitive. There are great drivers in there, and I’m just pleased to finally get a decent result.”
Button won the second race, fending off a strong challenge by Fernando Alonso (who had swept the Legends Trophy’s last doubleheader at the Brickyard) and beating Petter Solberg by 3.633 seconds.
Max Papis finished third, ahead of Alonso and Emanuele Pirro.
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) June 20, 2020
“It was awesome to get a win, really cool,” Button said. “It’s always so much fun driving with these guys.”
Coming off June 6 victories at Monaco, Alonso and Priaulx were unable to complete the ROKiT Triple Crown. But Alonso still remains in the hunt for the third-round championship.
Heading into the Le Mans finale next week, he has a three-point lead (156-153) on Montoya. Brabham is third at 142 points.
Another race at the #legendsTrophy and mega fun! Few things in our way this weekend…😂but that’s normal in Indy 🍻👍! Bravo @wearetherace @Allinsports_srl @JensonButton @brabsracer pic.twitter.com/2xurkIQ2AL
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) June 20, 2020
In his Legends Trophy debut, action sports start Travis Pastrana finished 13th and 16th, respectively, in his first time on an Allinsports sim rig.
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“For eSports, I’ve done a little bit of rallycross but this is a first for me,” said Pastrana, who was invited to the competition by Montoya. “Today was the first time I’ve driven an Indy car in sim or real life.
“I was just like a kid in a candy shop looking at the entry list. When Juan said, ‘Hey, do you want to get in the race?’ I was like, ‘you don’t have to ask me twice!’”
