Following the detailed reveal of the upcoming ESL R1 competition yesterday, more driver line-ups have been revealed. Now it’s the turn of a team new to sim racing, MOUZ.
Founded way back in 2002, the German squad has a storied history with teams competing in first-person shooters Counter-Strike and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, but also has teams competing in Valorant, League of Legends and Warcraft III plus solo players in StarCraft II and Street Fighter.
For its first foray into racing esports, it has signed a who’s who of virtual motorsport talent, to compete in not just ESL R1, but other competitions such as those created by VCO too.
Moritz Löhner is a three-time ADAC GT Masters Esports champion and 2020 DTM Esports victor too. Known for winning titles on RaceRoom, over the past 18 months, Löhner has continued to branch out into other platforms with Dörr Esports, finishing fourth at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual.
Speaking of Le Mans Virtual, Yuri Kasdorp won the 8 Hours of Bahrain in GTE recently and moves across from Red Bull Racing.
Two former Team Redline drivers make up the four-strong line-up for MOUZ. Former iRacing Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup race winner Patrik Holzmann and the 2022 BMW Sim GT Cup champion, Maximilian Benecke, are also involved.
“With new, exciting projects like ESL R1, VCO, LMVS and others we believe this to be the perfect opportunity to enter sim racing and help to steadily grow and support talents in the community, from drivers to engineers and specialists,” said René Lannte, COO of MOUZ.
“Since I’m emotionally connected to sim racing, I’m thrilled to see how we can further develop the genre with the help of top teams, organizers and publishers.
“With Rennsport and ESL R1, we’re part of a very ambitious project, with everyone giving their very best to put sim racing onto another, even more professional level and bring it to a broader audience.”
The team will also be adding sim racing cockpits to its base in Hamburg alongside the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben racing circuit.
ESL R1 kicks off in February with two in-person LAN rounds at the IEM Expo Katowice, Poland. MOUZ’s four drivers will be behind the wheel of the Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II.
MOUZ ESL R1 driver line-up
- Moritz Löhner
- Yuri Kasdorp
- Patrik Holzmann
- Maximilian Benecke
Source: MOUZ
