Franchitti and Karam prevail as Saturday's Esports winners

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Dario Franchitti and Sage Karam took top spoils in Saturday's online race battles, the former winning the Legends Trophy while the latter triumphed in IndyCar's inaugural iRacing Challenge.

Three-time Indy 500 winner Franchitti emerged victorious after an 11-lap mad dash around Silverstone's National circuit, beating a distinguished field of motorsport legends all competing at the wheel of identical 1975 Brabham BT44 machines.

The Scot inherited the lead at the start, when poleman Emanuele Pirro was knocked out by an over-enthusiastic Juan Pablo Montoya.

Franchitti never looked back thereafter, crossing the checkered flag with a one second lead over Darren Turner, Adrian Fernandez and David Brabham.

“It was a lot of fun and all the guys are already on the chat group making arrangements for next week," said the Scot.

A few hours later, a impressively populated field of current IndyCar stars lined up on the grid of the American Red Cross Grand Prix at Watkins Glen.

But the day belonged to Dreyer & Reinbold Racing's Sage Karam and Chip Ganassi's Felix Rosenqvist who ran nose to tail for 45 laps to dominate the first of six events that will comprise IndyCar's iRacing Challenge.

Karam - who narrowly avoided a spinning Indy Pro 2000 champion Kyle Kirkwood at Turn 10 in the closing stages of the race - led all but 2 laps of the inaugural event to beat his Swedish rival by 3.6 seconds, with Team Penske's Will Power finishing a distant third.

"It was nerve-wracking there at the end, for sure," admitted Karam, referencing his near miss with Kirkwood.

"That was a little too close for comfort, a (scary) moment. I didn’t know which way he was going to go when he started to spin, so I had to quick rely on some instincts and picked ‘left’ and thankfully it was the right choice.

"It was a lot of fun, and it was great that we could give the fans something to watch," he added.

"It’s the only sport that (the world) can really do right now. I’m happy that I got the win for Wix Filters and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

"The car looked pretty good out front so hopefully when we get to real racing, we can replicate that."

Next week's event will take place on Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park's permanent course.

But there will be more action later today in the virtual motorsport world. Check out Sunday's schedule here.

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.