The latest Esports Racing World Cup, as it was called then, took place over 30 months ago, but a new deal between organisers VCO and Sim Formula Europe has been struck to bring new life into one of simracing’s top competitions.
This format has always included various platforms, but this year’s edition will contain more than ever, with a bigger prize than ever for the final four teams as well.
The format
The competition starts today, on Saturday the 13th of September, on Assetto Corsa Competizione, using the Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R. And the choice of lesser driven cars actually remains through the other platforms, Le Mans Ultimate, Gran Turismo 7, iRacing and Rennsport, before the final four on The Last Garage.
On each night, the format is knockout-based, with a heat, a second chance, a quarter-final, a semi-final and a final. The highlight will no doubt be the final, though, as all drivers competing in those teams go head to head in a best-of-three finale.
Speaking of the drivers, their requirements vary slightly for each platform. For example, Gran Turismo 7 and Rennsport only require two drivers per team, whereas all others require three, but the format stays similar throughout.
Each team scores points based on where they finish, one for first, and 23 for 23rd, and the four teams with the lowest points will go to Maastricht.
The teams
There’s a wide range of teams in the series, from the universally well-known Coanda Esports and Williams Sim Racing, to the lesser-known one-nation outfits such as ReFerox Esports and ERE RACE eSport Team. And there were even more of the top-level Esports crowd initially, but Redline and Mouz sadly had to drop out.
Coanda Esports will surely be left, therefore, as favourites. They’ve been second-best to Redline in recent years, but will be hungry to bounce back from a disappointing Esports World Cup. Charlie Collins is the only one on the side who was in Riyadh, but was super-fast in the online qualifying stages of the World Cup, putting him in good standing here.
He won’t be without his Rennsport rivals, though – BS+ Competition have Nikodem Wisniewski, R8G Esports brings almost the same squad as Team Vitality took to Riyadh as part of their ongoing alliance, and Virtus.pro’s Daire McCormack will compete too.
In fact, McCormack will be one to watch on ACC, once his primary hunting ground, and he took to social media this week to show his pleasure at being back on the sim where he made his name.
Other teams that could surprise in round one with strong ACC drivers include Veloce Thrustmaster, surely headed today by Aidan Walsingham, and Team Nitro, which contains a number of VCO Infinity winning drivers with Unicorns of Love when it was held on ACC, will also have a great early chance.
It’s also a chance for lesser-known teams to make their mark on the big stage, with chances to come up against top Esports teams, and a few drivers and teams could thrust themselves into the limelight in just one evening.
It all gets underway on the VCO YouTube and Twitch channels from 7 pm CET.
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