ESL has announced that it has partnered with RENNSPORT, a new virtual racing platform, for a tournament circuit with over half a million dollars on the line in 2023.
The ESL R1 virtual racing circuit promises to “set a whole new standard for virtual racing” by bringing together car manufacturers and players.
RENNSPORT is an upcoming ultra-realistic sim-racing game that is being developed by Munich-based publisher Competition Company. The team behind the game includes “professional drivers, racing strategists, programmers and esports experts,” according to the German company.
The Future of Virtual Racing is here and it is called ESL R1 🏁🔴🔴🔴🔴⚫️Lights off at IEM Expo Katowice. See you very soon pic.twitter.com/RkuqxOoUoV
— ESL R1 (@esl_r1) January 23, 2023
The ESL R1 circuit will feature four esports teams from ESL’s other esports competitions – MOUZ, FURIA, Heroic and FaZe – and eight manufacturer partners, with each team being represented by four drivers.
Below you can find the 12 teams that will compete in the 2023 R1 sim-racing circuit:
- Apex Racing Team
- BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION
- FaZe Clan
- FURIA
- G2 Esports
- Heroic
- Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Esports Team
- Mercedes-AMG Team Williams Esports
- MOUZ
- Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team
- R8G eSports
- Team Redline
R1 Esports Series set to start
ESL’s upcoming IEM Katowice event in February will mark the launch of the ESL R1 Spring Season with the first two rounds of play. The season will then transition to online with six more rounds between March 13 and May 8, on Fridays and Mondays.
The top 24 players of the Spring Season will then race at the ESL R1 Spring Major at the RENNSPORT Summit. The event will take place on May 27-28 in Munich.
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The second season, ESL R1 Fall Season, will kick off in August online and will culminate in the Fall Major at DreamHack Winter, in Jönköping, Sweden, from November 23-25.
“Esports is the world’s fastest-growing media and entertainment segment with a young and digital oriented fan base,” says Competition Company CEO Morris Hebecker.
“That’s why EFG is an important partner for us, in order to jointly anchor the fascination of racing in the virtual world as well as to position ourselves in the existing world of esports in the long run.”
The R1 Esport Series circuit will have €500,000 ($520,000) on the line in 2023, though it’s unclear how much the winner of each season will earn. Sim-racing fans will be able to watch the competition on ESL R1’s Twitch and YouTube channels.
RENNSPORT is not yet available to the public, with the game expected to enter a closed beta phase in the coming weeks. Only four cars (Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo, Porsche Mission R, Porsche 911 GT3R, and BMW M4 GT3) and two tracks (Goodwood Hill Climb and Hockenheimring) have been confirmed so far.
