$500,000 on the line in sim racing’s Esports World Cup debut

ESL R1 is back on the 22^nd of August in Saudi Arabia, where a Drivers’ and Teams’ title will be won, with half a million dollars on the line.

There’s a different format to last year, but much of the event will have similar excitement to previous LAN ESL R1 events of the past, as its iconic Finalist Mode makes two appearances in four days. 

The format

The biggest difference is that the Drivers’ Championship is now contested over just one day, with participants decided from the recent Regular Season. The top nine from those three rounds are all locked in, with the final three spots decided by a Last-Chance race, which proceeds Day 1’s main action.

Each driver starts on a number of points that reflect their Regular Season performance, with Finalist mode achieved at 170 points, at which point another race win gives them the title. 

The Teams’ Championship takes place over the final three days. Friday sees all 12 teams competing in all eight races, where the top four in the points guarantee themselves a place in Sunday’s final, while the bottom two teams are eliminated.

Saturday sees the remaining six teams broken up into two groups of three, with the teams that top those groups moving forward to the final. Those six teams will be racing to 230 points for Finalist Mode, at which point a win is enough for the title.  

Where to watch ESL R1

The action can be watched on ESL R1’s Twitch or YouTube channels, with action starting from 1 pm UTC every day but Sunday, which starts at 9 am UTC. 

Rennsport

One of gaming’s newest simulations, Rennsport, which launched its Open Beta stage in July, will be used in the ESL R1 Finals. As with all sims, those who have learnt its characteristics by racing in ESL R1 since February 2023 should hold an advantage, although Team Redline’s Sebastian Job proves it’s not impossible to get up to speed later on. 

Cars and tracks

The traditional GT3 cars will be used in ESL R1 again, with manufacturers including Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche all represented. 

Two of Rennsport’s newest tracks will make up the six-track calendar for racing in this event, including the fast and sweeping turns of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. The 6km around Fuji Speedway will also have been a big focus for drivers preparing for this event, which contains the most new tracks of any ESL R1 round since IEM Katowice 18 months ago. 

The other, more familiar, tracks used will be:  

• Monza
• Daytona
• Spa
• Hockenheim

Each race will be a pre-determined amount of laps, taking roughly 15 minutes, giving racers and viewers the best bang-for-buck in terms of action.

Drivers’ Championship

Josh Rogers

Rogers will be the favourite for the Drivers’ Championship in Riyadh, having come excruciatingly close there last year. Rogers bounced back to win the Fall Major in Sweden a few months later, so will start with a points advantage. He has 18 points over Kevin Siggy, who starts on 82, and he’ll have roughly double of the three drivers that make it through the Last-Chance race on Thursday. 

Kevin Siggy

Siggy hasn’t quite had his big moment in ESL R1 yet, but he has played an important part in Team Redline’s successes over the past two years. He is in good form this year, having taken four race wins so far. 

Max Benecke and Jiri Toman

Both Benecke and Toman will start Day 1 tied on points, but very much apart in terms of previous performance. Benecke won Gamers8 in 2023 after Rogers and Jeffrey Rietveld made contact at the Nurburgring, while all three were fighting for the title in Race 6, so is no stranger to success.

Toman has shown himself to be one of the most consistent ESL R1 participants, which benefits him in the regular season where a top-six finish sees you through to the next round, but not necessarily in a format that requires a race win to seize the championship. 

The other drivers in the final, who start 39 points or more behind Rogers, are: 

• Luke Bennett (Team Redline)
• Kevin Ellis Jr (Apex Racing Team)
• Sebastian Job (Team Redline)
• Marcell Csincsik (Team Vitality)
• Daire McCormack (Williams Esports)
• Plus the top three from the Last Chance race. 

Teams’ Championship

Team Redline will be the hot favourite to win the Teams’ title in 2024, although it isn’t the defending champion. Redline was in Finalist mode in 2023 when Porsche Coanda Esports won the title at Spa but just fell short. With three of its four drivers in the top nine throughout the regular season, Redline will be hard to beat. 

On the other hand, Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team is defending its title without the services of one of its main drivers, Mack Bakkum, who retired from full-time sim racing at the end of 2023, moving into a Sporting Coordinator role. However, his replacement, Charlie Collins, outperformed both Dayne Warren and Mitchell DeJong in the Regular Season, so one could argue the defending champions are even stronger this time around. 

Team Vitality has a new name, but the same quartet of drivers for the Esports World Cup 2024. As R8G Esports, it finished 5th in last year’s event but has shown better signs at times through 2024, with all its drivers making the Final in the last Regular Season round. It remains to be seen if Vitality can be consistent enough to win, though. 

ESL R1 Finals team entry list

• Team Falcons (debut)
• Guild Esports (debut)
• MOUZ (4^th, 2023)
• Virtus.pro (debut)
• BS+ Competition (11^th, 2023)
• Apex Racing Team (9^th, 2023)
• Williams Esports (7^th, 2023)
• G2 Esports (3^rd, 2023)
• Faze Clan (12^th, 2023)
• Team Redline
• Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team
• Team Vitality

Images courtesy of Ewan O’Leary