ESL FACEIT Group announces €500,000 sim racing series

ESL FACEIT Group, the German esports organization in charge of ESL Gaming esports events, is teaming up with the new virtual racing platform, RENNSPORT. This partnership is to introduce a new virtual sim racing tournament called ESL R1.

ESL R1 is an esports league that will set a new standard for virtual racing, merging car manufacturers and players. It offers an immersive spectacle that will be shared with everyone.

Event details

ESL R1 will feature 12 teams, from esports organizers to car manufacturers. All will compete for a share of the juicy prize pool that reaches €500k.

The inaugural tournament will kick off the spring season of ESL R1 2023. This event will be held in person and played from February 10-12, 2023, at the IEM Expo, which is part of IEM Katowice.

This marks the first time in the history of sim racing that the world’s most recognized esports organizations will compete against the teams of licensed car manufacturers in RENNSPORT. In addition, we will also have the participation of 4 Wild Card teams, which the organizers will invite.

The 12 teams participating in the inaugural ESL R1 2023 tournament are as follows:

• G2 Esports
• Heroic
• Fury
• FaZe Clan
• MOUZ
• Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team
• R8G eSports
• Apex Racing Team
• BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION
• Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Esports Team
• Mercedes-AMG Team Williams Esports
• Team Redline

Format of the ESL R1 2023

There will be 48 drivers participating, i.e., four drivers per team, who will compete against each other each season for eight rounds. Each round consists of seven races:

• Four quarter-finals
• Two semi-finals
• Grand Final

The races are held after a qualifying session. After the launch of the IEM Expo, the rounds will be online on Fridays and Mondays.

ESL R1 will have a spring and fall season. In addition, the top 24 drivers qualify for the ESL R1 Major, which is responsible for determining the final champion.

This is ESL FACEIT Group’s first foray into sim racing esports alongside RENNSPORT. The racing platform intends to launch a closed beta at the end of January before a full launch in December.

Dates and locations

The dates for the spring 2023 competition are as follows:

• ESL R1 2023 Spring Season Launch: February 11-12 | IEM Expo, Katowice, Poland.
• ESL R1 2023 Spring Major at RENNSPORT Summit: May 27-28 | Munich, Germany.

In autumn 2023, the dates are as follows:

• ESL R1 2023 Fall Season Launch: August | Online.
• ESL R1 2023 Fall Major at Winter DreamHack: November 23-25 | Jönköping, Sweden

Roger Lodewick, President of ESL FACEIT Group Sports Games, said:

“The sim racing space is one of the key esports verticals in the sports gaming field.”

“With ESL R1, we’re taking our first major steps into this exhilarating world. Doing this together with our ambitious partner RENNSPORT as well as with renowned esports and traditional racing brands is a unique opportunity. We’re thrilled to serve the sim racing community in our usual bold and spectacular way.”

There is no doubt that sim racing continues to expand at a breathtaking pace after a huge boom during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, let’s remember that real motorsport used these platforms to stay in touch with its fans.

Since then, F1 Esports and Le Mans Virtual Series have organized annual seasons and attract renowned professional drivers such as Romain Grosjean and two-time world champion Max Verstappen.

Header: ESL FACEIT Group