SRO (Stephane Ratel Organisation), the organiser and governing body of worldwide GT3 racing, has today (1st March 2023) announced that registration for its global esports competitions is now open.
The four online championships, distinct from the on-site SRO Esports Sim Pro Series, will once again represent Europe, America and Asia regions*, with the fourth, the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) Esports series, allowing teams of at least three drivers to take part in endurance events.
As opposed to 2022, the regional GT World Challenge Esports (GTWC) sprint championships are open only to drivers and teams haling from that location; a rule designed to prevent the European dominance seen in the GTWC American Esports series last year (drivers were only subject to a ping test prior to 2023).
However, the IGTC remains a multinational series, where the focus is on races of eight hours and up, including the blue riband 24 Hours of Spa. As in 2022, all SRO Esports series will be sponsored by autonomous driving tech company Mobileye.
Details on how to qualify have yet to be revealed, but as per previous seasons drivers will likely be subject to hot lap qualifying in Kunos Simulazioni’s Assetto Corsa Competizione – the official game of the Fanatec GT World Challenge series – with limited driving vacancies available for each manufacturer.
Players will also once again be split into Pro and Silver categories, with a total of 48 cars set to feature on the grid for every race. Prize pools of €58,000 and €18,500 are on the line in the IGTC and GTWC Europe series respectively, with the America and Asia championships boasting €6,000 apiece.
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