Formula E has announced the return of its international sim racing esports competition, the Formula E Accelerate Championship, plus a new ‘Accelerate Amped’ influencer-led series.
The first round of the usual Championship takes place place ahead of the 2023 SABIC Berlin E-Prix races in Germany this Saturday and Sunday (April 22nd and 23rd 2023).
Now in its third season, Formula E Accelerate Championship brings together the world’s best sim racing talent with a €40,000 prize pool on offer. Competitors will race in all-new Formula E GEN3 race car simulators on Formula E race tracks while representing teams in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
The first online qualifying series took place last weekend (April 15th and 16th 2023) with 88 contenders.
22 racers are going forwards to the first Berlin event which will be live streamed at the Gaming Arena in the Allianz Fan Village from 12pm CET on Saturday 22nd April in the Allianz Fan Village at the Berlin race, and online on Formula E’s official YouTube and Twitch channels.
Two rounds will take place in Berlin and at the 2023 Hankook Rome E-Prix race weekend on Saturday July 15th and Sunday July 16th.
The top 11 competitors from across the Berlin and Rome events will win a place in the Formula E Accelerate Championship live final to be staged at ExCeL London as part of the huge season finale weekend of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship on Saturday July 29th and Sunday July 30th 2023.
Oracle Red Bull Racing Esports driver, Frede Rasmussen, won the Accelerate Championships in 2022 – and 2021. He’s pictured (top left) alongside Formula E gaming director and Excel Esports co-founder Kieran Holmes-Darby (top right).
New Accelerate Amped competition will see influencers representing Formula E teams
Building on the appeal of the Formula E Accelerate Championship to the global gaming community, Formula E is launching an all-new influencer-led esports series.
Accelerate Amped will bring together 11 influencers each representing Formula E teams and generating entertainment-led competitive content.
The influencer racers will aim to score points to help their teams take home the Accelerate Teams Championship.
Accelerate Amped heats will take place alongside the Formula E Accelerate Championship in Berlin and Rome giving fans the chance to watch the action live on stage on the Gaming Arena. The Accelerate Amped final will also take place live at the 2023 Hankook London E-Prix race weekend.
“We are merging the worlds of competitive gaming and influencers to introduce a new wave of competitors and give fans an exciting new way to engage with Formula E.”
Kieran Holmes-Darby, Formula E
Kieran Holmes-Darby, Gaming Director at Formula E, said: “Formula E is delivering highly-competitive, world-class racing both on the track and in the sim racing world with the Accelerate Championship. This year’s competition is set to take it up another level with the inaugural Accelerate Amped series.
“We are merging the worlds of competitive gaming and influencers to introduce a new wave of competitors and give fans an exciting new way to engage with Formula E.
“Our GEN3 car is also featuring in a video game for the first time, having launched in rFactor2 ahead of the Berlin qualifiers and will also be launching in Real Racing 3 before our Rome Accelerate Amped event!”
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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.
