Update (January 23rd 2022): Pac has won a new British and Irish Cup from the Trackmania Seasonal Series.
Update (January 3rd 2022): Pac has been named Trackmania Player of the Year in the community-voted Trackmania Awards 2021.
On top of that, MNM Gaming was awarded Team of the Year, and MNM shortz won Movie Maker of the Year. You can see the full list of Trackmania Award 2021 winners over at Trackmania.News.
MNM co-founder Kalvin ‘KalKal’ Chung told Esports News UK: “We have been champions and finalists throughout the year across various tournaments – and winning the TMGL Fall 2021 before Christmas was the cherry on top.
“The team have worked so hard, from Pac competing in TMGL to the academy and main team racing it out to be VTC 2021 Champions. Shortz once again winning the Video Maker of the Year award for the 10th year running was no surprise, but it shows his persistence and dedication to esports and Trackmania.
“We truly have a special group of people here at MNM and it is great to see the community recognise that. We are the oldest team in TMGL and one of the few UK teams so it feels great to represent the region.”
Original article (December 21st):
Trackmania champion Thomas ‘Pac’ Cole has re-signed with UK-based esports organisation MNM Gaming for 2022, after another successful year in the game.
The UK player won the €16,550 TMGL Fall 2021 grand final on December 19th 2021, picking up €4,550 in prize money. He beat BDS’ Affi and GameWard’s Gwen, who finished second and third in the final respectively.
Gwen finished first in the Steps stage of the tournament, with Pac seventh.
TMGL Fall had more than 20,000 viewers watching the final across multiple streams.
Pac joined MNM in October 2019, and prior to that had represented the likes of GamersOrigin, Team Expert.Black and Dignitas.
Pac has re-signed with MNM for another year and rejected the advances from other organisations.
“2021 has been my best competitive year yet and I am excited to re-sign with MNM for 2022,” Pac told Esports News UK. “I can’t wait to see what next year brings.”
MNM are the biggest and longest-standing org currently in Trackmania right now. Dignitas, Team Acer and others have left over the years, but MNM stayed. Why?
MNM co-founder Kalvin ‘KalKal’ Chung commented: “I think Trackmania is full of passionate people, it’s an incredibly fun game and also really relaxing. Honestly it’s what I do in my downtime – I just play some Trackmania! You can drive and drift along, and especially when I see the MNM car in-game, I feel really proud people are joining our club, using our car skin and supporting us.
“I feel like the Trackmania community is incredibly resilient and passionate. They’ve persevered throughout the years even in down times, when maybe the game or ecosystem wasn’t in the best state. It still lived on and it’s still living on today.
“I feel like the Trackmania community is incredibly resilient and passionate. They’ve persevered throughout the years even in the game’s down times. I think that’s truly what esports is: something that perseveres through passion and is born through the community. So that’s why we support TMGL and Trackmania.”
Kalvin Chung, MNM Gaming
“Sometimes we even have 50,000 viewers watching TMGL. I think that’s insane, it’s crazy. So I think it’s something that’s definitely born from the community – I think that truly is what esports is: something that perseveres through passion and is born through the community. So that’s why we support TMGL and Trackmania.”
This year, Pac has won TMGL Fall and Gamers Assembly, and finished runner-up in the TMGL World Cup and TMGL Winter.
The veteran UK player is well-decorated in Trackmania, as highlighted by journalist Eirik Holdal:
British LEC caster Medic – who has played some Trackmania on stream and cast a few games this year – also congratulated Pac on Twitter:
Pac also appeared on the Top Gear Gaming Show earlier this year, where he spoke about his background in Trackmania in an interview with Julia Hardy and Mike Channell.
If his past achievements are anything to go by, it looks like it could be another good year for him and MNM in Trackmania in 2022.
Related articles:
- MNM qualify for Rainbow Six Siege European League, plan to keep their spot and open a new London HQ
- KalKal speaks to Esports News UK about Asian representation in esports
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
