ESL R1’s inaugural Spring Season showcased competitive sim racing on a grand scale; with six online Rounds bookended by glamourous on-site LAN events at Katowice and Munich, where Marcell Csincsik emerged as the victor, pocketing €45,000.
Indeed, not only was the racing action intense, with the quickest sim racers racing for the biggest esports teams on the planet, but the prize pool was also the largest ever seen in sim racing, as drivers battled it out for a share of €500,000 (across Spring and Fall seasons).
What is the tournament format of ESL R1’s 2023 Fall Season?
Just like ESL R1’s Spring Season there will be four drivers per team, with seven races per round. Each round features a knock-out system where the top six in each race progress to the next stage.
There are four quarter-finals, two semi-finals and a final, with each consisting of 20-minute races. Tyre wear and fuel consumption multipliers are active but there are no pitstops, so the races are full-on sprint events.
The first eight rounds contribute to the ‘regular season’ standings, with the top 24 drivers qualifying for the on-site LAN ‘Major’ event to decide the overall winner of the Fall Season.
What is the prize pool for ESL R1’s 2023 Fall Season?
The drivers in ESL R1’s 2023 Fall Season will be battling it out for a share of a €225,000 prize pot, which will be divided among the top six teams in the Team Championship and the top 12 drivers in the Drivers’ Championship.
There will also be a ‘Content Reward’ prize for the three teams deemed to have come up with the best social media content in throughout the season.
ESL R1 Fall Season prizes breakdown
Team Championship
- 1st €40,000
- 2nd €20,000
- 3rd €15,000
- 4th €12,500 –
- 5th €7,500 –
- 6th €5,000 –
- 7th – 12th – –
- Total €100,000
Driver Championship
- 1st €40,000 €1,000 (7x; €1,100 for Round 8)
- 2nd €15,000 €400 (8x)
- 3rd €10,000 €150 (8x)
- 4th €8,000
- 5th €6,000
- 6th €5,000
- 7th €3,500
- 8th €3,000
- 9th €2,750
- 10th €2,500
- 11th €2,250
- 12th €2,000
- 13th – 24th –
- Total €100,000
Who is ESL?
Formerly known as Electronic Sports League, the ESL is a German esports organisation body and production company known for the ESL Pro League, utilising several gaming titles such as tactical first-person shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, plus real-time strategy titles StarCraft II and WarCraft III.
Which platform will ESL R1’s Fall Season use?
Just like ESL R1’s Spring Season, the Fall Season will use Competition Company’s Rennsport platform. Although still in beta, Rennsport has shown encouraging signs of being a competitor to sims like rFactor 2, Assetto Corsa Competizione and iRacing, thanks to several licencing deals with manufacturers like Praga, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche.
With modding and multiplayer recently added to its Open Beta, and more features, cars and tracks set to be added in future, Rennsport is worth keeping an eye on over the coming months.
Who won ESL R1’s Spring Season?
Marcell Csincsik of R8G Esports won ESL R1’s Spring Season Major in Munich, but it was Luke Bennett who claimed the regular season crown driving for Team Redline, which also finished top of the regular season teams’ standings.
The recent Gamers8 series in Saudi Arabia – which is also run by ESL and uses Rennsport as a basis – was won by Porsche Coanda Esports (Team champions) and Maximilian Benecke (Driver champion), each receiving $250,000 and $100,000 respectively, making them early favourites for ESL Fall Season glory.
Where and when will the ESL R1 Fall Major take place?
ESL R1’s Fall Major will take place across the 24th-26th of November 2023 at the DreamHack Winter gaming event in Jönköping, Sweden.
Which cars will be used in ESL R1’s Fall Season?
Again, as in ESL R1’s Spring Season, the Fall Season will use Rennsport’s lineup of GT3 machinery; including:
- BMW M4 GT3
- AMG-GT3 Evo
- Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
- Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II
Which teams and drivers are competing in ESL R1’s Fall Season?
The same teams that appeared in ESL R1’s Spring Season are back for the Fall Season, with the full lineup listed below.
Although MOUZ, FURIA, Heroic and FaZe Clan are new to sim racing they arrived with an impressive array of virtual racing talent in ESL R1’s Spring Season, with FaZe’s Ian ‘Crimsix’ Porter continuing his transition from professional Call of Duty player to sim racer.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Team
Car type: Mercedes
- 1. James Baldwin
- 2. Bono Huis
- 3. Marko Pejić
- 4. Graham Carroll
Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team
Car type: Porsche
- 5. Joshua Rogers
- 6. Mitchell DeJong
- 7. Dayne Warren
- 8. Mack Bakkum
BMW M Team BS+Competition
Car type: BMW
- 9. Ryan Barneveld
- 10. Ferris Stanley
- 11. Ibraheem Khan
- 12. Pedro Sanchez
FaZe Clan
Car type: Porsche
- 13. Ian “Crimsix” Porter
- 14. Matti Sipilä
- 15. Gianmarco Fiduci
- 16. Cem Bolukbasi
FURIA
Car type: BMW
- 17. Caique Oliveira
- 18. Gustavo Ariel
- 19. Lasse Sørensen
- 20. Lasse Bak
G2 Esports
Car type: BMW
- 21. Robbie Stapleford
- 22. Eamonn Murphy
- 23. Sebastian Job
- 24. Isaac Price
HEROIC
Car type: Porsche
- 25. Tommy Østgaard
- 26. Mikkel Gade
- 27. Tuomas Tähtelä
- 28. Oskar Biksrud
MOUZ
Car type: Audi
- 29. Maximilian Benecke
- 30. Moritz Löhner
- 31. Patrik Holzmann
- 32. Yuri Kasdorp
Team Redline
Car type: BMW
- 33. Luke Bennett
- 34. Kevin Siggy
- 35. Jeffrey Rietveld
- 36. Enzo Bonito
R8G eSports
Car type: Audi
- 37. Marcell Csincsik
- 38. Erhan Jajovski
- 39. Jiri Toman
- 40. Thibault Cazaubon
Mercedes-AMG Williams Esports Team
Car type: Mercedes
- 41. Dáire McCormack
- 42. Jack Keithley
- 43. Nikodem Wisniewski
- 44. Jacub Brzeziński
Mercedes-AMG E-Sports Team ART
Car type: Mercedes
- 45. Niklas Houben
- 46. Kevin Ellis, Jr.
- 47. Jamie Fluke
- 48. Yohann Harth
Where can fans watch the ESL R1 Fall Season broadcasts?
To watch ESL R1 Fall Season race broadcasts, viewers can tune into ESL R1’s YouTube and Twitch channels, with Thursday Knockout races available to watch via trusted streamers PabloGz205, Valhovamp, GutoColvera, and GeorgeMorgan.
ESL R1 Fall Season 2023 calendar:
- Round 1: 31st August – 1st September, Monza
- Round 2: 7th-8th September, Spa-Francorchamps
- Round 3: 21st-22nd September, Hockenheimring
- Round 4: 28th-29th September, Nürburgring
- Round 5: 5th-6th October, Monza
- Round 6: 26th-27th October, TBA
- Round 7: 2nd-3rd November, TBA
- Round 8: 9th-10th November, TBA
- ESL R1 2023 Fall Major: 24th-26th November, TBA
