RENNSPORT ESL R1 virtual racing circuit
If you have been following the social media on the subject of simracing in recent weeks, you will have come across more and more announcements by top drivers. They each cancelled their existing contracts or announced that they would not be renewing them. A big factor in this is likely to be the new ESL R1 series, which was launched jointly by the soon-to-be-released simulation RENNSPORT and the ESL (Electronic Sports League) and will officially start in February 2023.
First season with 12 teams and 48 drivers
In the first season, a total of 48 drivers distributed among 12 different teams will compete. These are divided into 8 partner teams and 4 wild card teams. The following organisations are participating in the premiere season:
- 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
Familiar names in the simracing scene such as BS+COMPETITION, Team Williams, Coanda Esports and Team Redline, for which Max Verstappen, among others, has already competed in various events, immediately catch the eye. At the same time, large organisations such as FaZe, Heroic and MOUZ are also competing, which have so far rather fought for titles in other games. So we can look forward with anticipation to the driver market, which will certainly be shaken up a bit before the start of the first season.
Season with 8 events and Live Final event with total prize money of 500,000€
The opening of the first season, in which a total of €500,000 in prize money is at stake, will take place this year during the Intel® Extreme Masters (IEM) in Katowice (11/12 February 2023). The following events will then be held online and will take place on Fridays and Mondays respectively.
Each of the events consists of a total of 8 races:
- Quarter-final (4x)
- Semi final (2x)
- Final
End-of-season highlight in Munich
drivers can take part in the season finale. This will take place on 27 and 28 May 2023 in Munich as part of the RENNSPORT Summit. Here it will also be decided who will emerge as the overall winner.
A second season has already been announced by RENNSPORT. It will start in August this year and end with a finale at DreamHack Winter in November 2023.
