The BenQ MOBIUZ Cup of Nations, presented by VCO is set to be broadcast live on Traxion.gg on the 4th and 5th of December, and we can now reveal the driver and nation lineups include some of sim racing’s leading lights, and they’ll be hoping to emulate last year’s winners, Germany, who took the title thanks to the efforts of drivers Maximilian Benecke, Alexander Thiebe, Jonas Wallmeier and Patrik Holzmann.
Of this year’s challengers, the team from Germany are looking decidedly strong again, with Benecke showing some excellent recent form after winning the VCO ProSIM SERIES and the Digital Motorsports World Cup just last week, both on iRacing. Portugal also boasts the driving talents of Diogo C. Pinto, runner-up in the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup Qualifier, with another strong-looking team – Czech Republic – able to field the talents of the likes of Martin Štefanko, RCCO World eX World Champion. Another favourite for the overall nations title is France, and with 2020 iRacing Rallycross World Champion Yohann Harth in their ranks are sure to be contenders.
The football World Cup-style tournament sees the 16 qualified teams split into four groups of four, with three races deciding who gets into the semi-finals based on a points system. The teams that finish in the top two positions in the group progress, with the remaining eight teams entering a playoff to decide who will be the final two to enter the ten-nation semi-finals.
Vehicles that will be used include the extensive list of GT cars, LMP2 prototypes, NASCAR stock cars, Rallycross cars, and the Williams-Toyota FW31 F1 car. Tracks that will be raced on include Monza, Montreal, Sebring, Indianapolis, Homestead-Miami and Hell Lankebanen.
The semi-finals take place on 5th December, with five head-to-head match-ups deciding who progresses immediately, with a play-off among the losers to determine the two nations getting a spot in the seven-team final. The final itself is four races among the seven remaining nations, with the team with the most points claiming the 2021 Cup of Nations.
The VCO and Williams Esports-organised event has proven to be a great success, which is made abundantly clear by the calibre of drivers lined up to take to the grid. There are prizes to match this quality too – with a $25,000 prize pool on offer. The top seven nations win prizes, with the winning nation receiving $10,000.
Entrants
| Group A | ||||
| Germany | Maximilian Benecke | Patrik Holzmann | Christopher Dambietz | Alexander Thiebe |
| Portugal | Diogo Pinto | Dylan B Scrivens | Nuno Henriques | Andre Martins |
| Hungary | David Toth | Norbert Leitner | László Szabó | Kristof Kerkes |
| Czech Republic | Martin Sirotek | Martin Štefanko | Lukas Podstata | Philip Schiff |
| Group B | ||||
| United Kingdom | Jamie Fluke | Charlie Summers | Peter Berryman | James J Pinkser |
| Japan | Sota Muto | Shunsuke Kuno | Masafumi Aburame | Hayata Asaga |
| Netherlands | Sam Kuitert | Ryan Barneveld | Maarten van Loozenoord | Ruben Bonga |
| Norway | Sindre Setsaas | Kenneth Gulbrandsen | Oskar Biksrud | Jarl Teien |
| Group C | ||||
| France | Maxime Brient | Yohann Harth | Valentin Mandernach | Quentin Vialatte |
| USA | Dallas Pataska | Elvis Rankin | Philippe Denes | Ross Banfield |
| Poland | Dominik Blajer | Wiktor Smolarczyk | Przemyslaw Lemanek | Mateusz Luczak |
| Australia | Griffin Gardiner | Jaidyn J Ladic | Beau Albert | Dylan Birse |
| Group D | ||||
| Italy | Alessandro Bico | Dino Lombardi | Moreno Sirica | Simone M. Marceno |
| Spain | Carlos Fenollosa | Pedro Sanchez | Victor Prieto | Jose Ignacio Soria |
| Russia | Alexej Nesov | Dimitry Kofanov | Denis Gabovsky | Kirill Kolobuxov |
| Belgium | Jonathan Poulet | Ludwig Ghidi | Kenny Roosens | Sacha Gorlé |
Event format
Saturday (Group Stage)
Race 1: 2 cars per team, 2 drivers per car (the only driver swap race in the tournament)
Race 2 (Oval): 3 cars per team
Race 3 (RX): 1 car per team
After this stage, the top two teams in each group automatically advance to Finals Day.
Playoff Race: for only the bottom two teams in each group (8 teams total) – 4 cars per team; the top 2 teams from the Playoff advance to Finals Day.
Sunday (Finals Day)
Semi-Final: 4 cars per team; teams will be drawn into five separate head-to-head matches for the semi-final. The 5 winners advance to the Final. The 5 losing teams go to the Last Chance race.
Last Chance (RX): 2 cars per team; the top 2 teams advance to the Final
Final Race 1: 4 cars per team
Final Race 2: 4 cars per team
Final Race 3 (RX): 2 cars per team
Final Race 4: 4 cars per team
Who do you think will take the Cup of Nations title? Let us know in the comments below.
The finale will be broadcast LIVE online across Traxion’s social channels on Saturday 4th December from 5 pm GMT, (1800 CET, 1200 ET, 0900 PT) and on Sunday 5th from 3 pm GMT (1600 CET, 1000 ET, 0700 PT).
