After a two-year absence, the FIA World Touring Car Cup will once again run an officially sanctioned esports championship.
The Esports WTCR will be held using the PC-only RaceRoom Racing Experience platform, which has a longstanding cooperation with the tin top competition. The current season’s cars and liveries became available for the title in September.
Three shout-out races will take place in November to determine the top 20 entrants to make it through to the main series early next year. Qualifying for the shoot-outs opens tomorrow, 14th October, where the quickest lap times around the Nürburgring Grand Prix circuit, Hungaroring and MotorLand Aragón set the grids.
Only the Audi, CUPRA, Honda and Hyundai TCR cars are allowed to be used. The Lynk & Co 03 TCR, while available for RaceRoom, is omitted from the entry list. Cyan Racing withdrew from the real-world WTCR earlier this year over tyre safety fears.
“As we wait with great anticipation for the season-deciding WTCR races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in November, the new-look Esports WTCR will create plenty of excitement and interest within the online racing community − which continues to expand around the globe − and among WTCR fans and motorsport fans as a whole,” said Jean-Baptiste Ley, WTCR Director at Discovery Sports Events.
“Together we have chosen a great selection of tracks and participants can look forward to a sporting format that will be new to the Esports WTCR,” said Holger Stangl, Head of RaceRoom Events and Esports.
“We hope to bring more continuity for drivers and spectators through a partially fixed starting grid, giving the top esports teams great team exposure and still giving everyone the chance to join in and reshuffle the championship at any stage.”
The 2020 Esports WTCR was won by Gergo Baldi for Norbert Michelisz and Dávid Bári’s M1RA squad, ahead of Bence Bánki and David Nagy.
A €10,000 prize pool is up for grabs when the five main races kick off in January, ending 22nd March with a community-voted track selection. Each of the shoot-outs and main races will be live-streamed online.
2022 Esports WTCR shout-outs calendar
Round 1 – Nürburgring Grand Prix
Leaderboard opens: 14th October
Leaderboard closes: 13th November
Live stream race day: 16th November
Round 2 – Hungaroring
Leaderboard opens: 14th October
Leaderboard closes: 20th November
Live stream race day: 23rd November
Round 3 – MotorLand Aragón
Leaderboard opens: 14th October
Leaderboard closes: 27th November
Live stream race day: 30th November
2022 Esports WTCR main races calendar
Round 1 – Nürburgring Nordschleife
Leaderboard opens: 9th January
Leaderboard closes: 22nd January
Live stream race day: 25th January
Round 2 – Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Leaderboard opens: 22nd January
Leaderboard closes: 5th February
Live stream race day: 8th February
Round 3 – Circuito da Guia, Macau
Leaderboard opens: 5th February
Leaderboard closes: 19th February
Live stream race day: 22nd February
Round 4 – Suzuka Circuit
Leaderboard opens: 19th February
Leaderboard closes: 5th March
Live stream race day: 8th March
Round 5 – Track voted for by Esports WTCR competitors
Leaderboard opens: 5th March
Leaderboard closes: 19th March
Live stream race day: 22nd March
