ESL announces launch of virtual racing league ESL R1

Games publisher Competition Company and ESL have announced a new partnership, which will see the launch of the new virtual racing platform. The partnership will see the launch of the ESL R1 virtual racing circuit. 

The ESL R1 will be a new virtual racing league that will aim to establish a dedicated intersection for car manufacturers and players. The ESL R1 2023 Spring Season will kick-off at the IEM Expo, which is a part of the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Katowice, on February 10 and conclude on February 12, 2023. The virtual racing league will be dubbed as RENNSPORT. The first season of ESL R1 will have a total of 12 teams: eight partner teams and four wild card teams.

The teams that will be participating are:

• 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

Each team will have a total of four drivers, and all 48 drivers will face each other in eight rounds, with each round having seven races: four quarter-finals, two semi-finals, and the final. All rounds will be held on Fridays and Mondays. The top 24 drivers will move into the ESL R1 Major, and the two seasons of the ESL R1 calendar will have a total prize pool of €500,000.

The dates for the ESL R1 2023 Spring Season are:

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

The dates for the ESL R1 2023 Fall Season are:

• ESL R1 2023 Fall Season launch: August 2023 / online
• ESL R1 2023 Fall Major at DreamHack Winter: November 23-25, 2023 / Jönköping, Sweden

Morris Hebecker, CEO, Competition Company, said:

“Esports is the world’s fastest growing media and entertainment segment with a young and digital oriented fan base. 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.“

Roger Lodewick, President Sports Games at EFG, commented:

“The simracing 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 an unique opportunity. We’re thrilled to serve the simracing community in our usual bold and spectacular way.“