Reigning Autosport Esports Driver of the Year James Baldwin has announced that he’s both leaving Veloce Esports and staying with the Brackley-based AMG Petronas Esports team for 2023.
Baldwin won the 2022 Mobileye Intercontinental GT Challenge and GT World Challenge Europe Esports as part of the Veloce squad on Assetto Corsa Competizione alongside the Alpine Esports title on the same platform.
He then took part in the real-world 24 Hours of Spa for Garage 59 in a McLaren 720S GT3, which allowed him to enter, and dominate, a round of the Fanatec Esports GT Pro Series using ACC.
In Assetto Corsa, he drove for the Veloce-partnered YAS HEAT outfit in V10 R-League, where the squad finished third. As it happens, AMG Petronas won overall thanks to the efforts of Jarno Opmeer, Bono Huis and Cedric Thomé. He also took Gold for Team United Kingdom in the FIA Motorsport Games.
In September 2022, Baldwin was announced alongside Graham Carroll at AMG Petronas Esports to compete in the Le Mans Virtual Series alongside Huis. They won the round at Spa-Francorchamps and finished sixth in the overall standings.
This will now continue into 2023, although the organisation’s programme is yet to be announced.
AMG supported five different teams across the various SRO-run ACC sim racing championships last season, but crucially AMG Petronas did not enter any. Signing Baldwin full-time raises questions about an expanded campaign for the team in 2023.
Featured image: James Baldwin
