This year’s Mobileye GT World Challenge America Esports Championship is set to be the most competitive yet, with a number of the top European series’ drivers and teams set to join the grid full-time in order to challenge 2021 champion Michael Kundakcioglu.
The FFS Racing driver faces stiff competition from the likes of GTWR R8G Academy pairing Chris Harteveld and Luke Whitehead, as well as Mercedes-AMG E-sports Team representatives Leon Otocki and Tobias Pfeffer.
Other notable drivers to watch out for include BMW Team BS+TURNER’s Gregor Schill, YAS HEAT’s George Boothby and Kundakcioglu’s FFS Racing teammate, Killian Ryan-Meenan.
Like the GT World Challenge Asia and Europe Esports Championships, the GT World Challenge America (GTWC America) field has been split into Pro and Silver classes. Drivers such as Harteveld, Williams Esports’ Jack Noller, Félix Ruppert and Gabriel Felipe have all been rated as Silver drivers, but are still very much capable of running at the front of the overall field.
The influx of European competitors is somewhat surprising, but if drivers can meet the strict internet connection ping limits, then they are free to race. Because of the longer distances involved, we’ve yet to see the same influx of European competitors into the GTWC Asia Esports Championship.
As well as the prestige of winning an SRO-approved Esports series, drivers will be competing for a share of products worth up to €12,500 for the Pro class and €5,000 for the Silver class.
The live race stream begins this evening (23rd April 2022) at 07:50 BST/11:50 PDT/18:50 UTC/20:50 CEST, and can be watched on SRO Motorsports’ GT World YouTube channel.
The action kicks off around Belgium’s tight and twisty Zolder circuit, which should suit front-engined cars such as the Bentley Continental. With a bespoke Balance of Performance for the series, however, the racing is almost guaranteed to be close.
Who do you think will have the best chance of winning the 2022 Mobileye GT World Challenge America Esports Championship? Let us know in the comments below.
ROUND 1 – ZOLDER – ENTRY LIST – PRO CLASS
- Chris Severt AMR V8 Vantage Team Severt Racing
- Cody Blanton Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo Race Anywhere Simsport
- Florian Dührkop Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo Unicorns of Love Sexy Edition
- Luke Whitehead Porsche 911 GT3 R (2019) GTWR R8G Academy
- Josh Staffin Honda NSX Evo HPD JAS Pro America
- Daniel de Oliveira Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo Williams Esports
- Cameron Martineau BMW M4 GT3 ST Racing eSports
- Fidel Moreira Bentley Continental GT3 2018 Williams Esports
- Philippe Simard BMW M4 GT3 Mobileye x FFS Racing
- Phelipe Roberto BMW M4 GT3 Williams Esports
- Leon Otocki Mercedes-AMG Evo Mercedes-AMG E-Sports Team HRT
- Michael Kundakcioglu Porsche 911 GT3 R (2019) FFS Racing
- Vinny Oliveira Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo BagBlu Snow Schatten
- George Boothby Porsche 911 GT3 R (2019) YAS HEAT
- Gregor Schill BMW M4 GT3 BMW Team BS+TURNER
- Zach Patterson Honda NSX Evo HPD JAS Pro America
- Karl Wittmer Honda NSX Evo HPD JAS Pro America
- Cardin Lu Honda NSX Evo HPD JAS Pro America
- Killian Ryan-Meenan AMR V8 Vantage FFS Racing
- Igor Rodrigues Bentley Continental GT3 2018 Williams Esports
- Harry Spiers Bentley Continental GT3 2018 Race Anywhere Simsport
- Tobias Pfeffer Mercedes-AMG Evo Mercedes-AMG E-Sports Team Unicorns of Love
- Nicolas Alvarado Honda NSX Evo RacingSimTools eSports
- Sam Michaels McLaren 720S GT3 Privateer
- Taha Malih Audi R8 LMS Evo II Race Anywhere Simsport
- William Hendrickson AMR V8 Vantage Jean Alesi Esports Academy
ROUND 1 – ZOLDER – ENTRY LIST – SILVER CLASS
- Nicolas Gonzalez Bentley Continental GT3 2018 Protocharge Simsport
- Renan Negrini BMW M4 GT3 BagBlu Snow Schatten
- Ryan Yee Porsche 911 GT3 R (2019) Madhaus Racing
- René Sievert Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mercedes-AMG E-Sports Team Unicorns of Love
- Timothy Flammger Audi R8 LMS Evo II MAN!AC eSports
- Mike Fritz Honda NSX Evo Pass on da Grass
- Caique Oliveira BMW M4 GT3 OAK Racing Team | Dynasty
- Jack Noller McLaren 720S GT3 Williams Esports Academy
- Aloo Gobi McLaren 720S GT3 Griphax Engineering
- Chris Harteveld Porsche 911 GT3 R (2019) GTWR R8G Academy
- Renato Dornelles AMR V8 Vantage Race Anywhere Simsport
- Félix Ruppert BMW M4 GT3 RennWelten eSports
- Josh McKean AMR V8 Vantage DeltaSport
- Alessandro Silva BMW M4 GT3 bagblu Snow Schaten
- Gabriel Felipe Bentley Continental GT3 2018 Oak Racing Team Dynasty
- Angel Inostroza Porsche 911 GT3 R (2019) YAS HEAT
- Jonathan Seville McLaren 720S GT3 Pulse SimSport
- Luke Southall Bentley Continental GT3 2018 DeltaSport
- Sean Piner Porsche 911 GT3 R (2019) Tritium Racing
- Felix Tazvinzwa-Hacker Porsche 911 GT3 R (2019) Madhaus Racing
- Jonathan Clifford Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo Clifford Racing
GT WORLD CHALLENGE ESPORTS SPRINT SERIES – AMERICA 2022 CALENDAR
- Round 1 – Zolder – 23rd April
- Round 2 – Silverstone – 28th May
- Round 3 – Kyalami – 25th June
- Round 4 – Donington Park – 9th July
- Round 5 – Laguna Seca – 13th August
