Esports World Cup Rennsport: Team Redline retains title, claims $200k prize

Team Redline has retained its Esports World Cup crown with a race to spare in the Final on Rennsport, kicking off seven weeks of Esports competition in Riyadh. Luke Bennett was named as their MVP, as the team took an unusually small number of two wins in the eight races. 

They would be up against Virtus.pro, who progressed with Redline through the Upper Bracket the day before, and Team Vitality, who knocked Porsche Coanda out in the Lower Bracket hours later.

Finalist Mode would make a return, where teams need to gain more than 250 points and then win a race to take the title, and if not, the team with the most points wins. 

The day started brilliantly for Daire McCormack and Virtus.pro, as he took pole and the first victory from Hockenheim. It was a lively race, but one where little points difference was made, aside from penalty points dragging Team Vitality slightly behind. 

McCormack’s exceptional record at Jeddah would continue in the second race, as he fought off Luke Bennett in the first chicane of the first lap. He went on to win, but his teammates weren’t up the front with him, unable to drive home the advantage. 

Team Redline would stay in the mix, again challenging McCormack in race three, but again the Irishman held on, this time with some help from teammate Kevin Ellis Jr. The two teams were neck and neck, but both scoring a lower average points per race than the day previous, causing the prospect of Finalist Mode at 250 points to seem a long way away. 

McCormack just couldn’t keep this up to stay in touch with a more well-rounded Redline side, and McCormack’s incredible run would finally come to an end at Daytona. In a side-by-side battle for the top positions, Jeffrey Rietveld made contact with McCormack into the bus stop, putting him into the wall, and the back of the field. 

With the stewards judging that Rietveld was pushed in turn by Mikhail Statsenko, Redline would take a decisive lead that the other teams wouldn’t recover from. This was underlined in the next race, when McCormack came under pressure from Luke Bennett all race, before finally being passed into Ascari on the last lap, in the best exchange all week between two such quality drivers. 

A one-two finish at Fuji in race six would gain them Finalist Mode, with Virtus.pro requiring over 50 points to get Finalist Mode before the final race, its only realistic shot at victory. As race seven was Jeddah, Redline was facing an uphill task winning with a race to spare. 

However, it could prevent Virtus.pro from reaching 250 points, which would eventually happen after a big crash at the final corner. Vojtech Fiala had been defending his top-half position, which could have helped them reach the number, but an incident that also delayed Statsenko would effectively seal their fate. 

A fourth win of the day for McCormack meant the competition had to go on for its final race, yet Redline couldn’t be caught for first, and Virtus.pro couldn’t be caught by Vitality, who hadn’t quite got it together properly in any race. And so the final race was taken on for fun after hands had been shaken all round, and included Kevin Siggy and Kevin Ellis Jr exploding into the air in a comical crash at Malmedy. 

“It’s all about teamwork, and we had it all the time, every single race we did the best that we could, especially in the races we came back from poor qualifying,” said Redline driver Kevin Siggy after the win.

“I’m very happy we achieved it, it’s a back to back. I said two days ago that we are going to do it, and we did. We are simply the best.”

Despite the anticlimax at the finish, it was a fantastic tournament all week, deservedly won by Team Redline who took home $200,000. Its relentless consistency, rather than all-out race wins, truly made the difference this year, as it swept up the Esports World Cup for a second year with robotic efficiency.