WRC esports 2021 preview

The officially-sanction FIA World Rally Championship esports competition is back in 2021, utilising the acclaimed WRC 9 video game.

Won by Lebanese driver Sami-Joe05 in 2020, the 2021 season is being run in a similar format, albeit in the week leading up to each real-life WRC event and not on the same weekend as it was previously.

As the real-life WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo kicks off in the midst of pandemic pandemonium on 21st January, the first round of the esports series is naturally at the same event. Held across two stages, the 6.6km Luceram Reverse and the 21.05km La Bolléne-Vesuby, anyone can enter the event.

The participate, simply boot up the game on PS4/5, Xbox One/Series or PC and find the round option under the competition tab of the main menu between 15th and 18th January. You have five attempts to set your best time across the two stages, but be careful, damage is on and all your times will be uploaded to the servers. Once you start stage one, that counts as your first attempt.

The rest of the 13-round esports calendar is as follows:

Officially titled the ‘2021 eSports WRC season, presented by Toyota Gazoo Racing ‘, the top eight drivers across all of the rallies in 2021 will be invited to a final showdown for overall victory. This will be broadcast live from an as-yet-determined location.

WRC 9 has taken a big step forward in terms of vehicle handling compared to previous instalments, and was recently updated with new Portuguese and Finnish stages to boot. This season’s esports championship is set to be the most competitive yet and is incredibly entering its sixth season after over 10,000 people entered last year. For more news about WRC 9, stay tuned to Traxion.