UK esports organisation Guild Esports have entered the sim racing ESL R1 2024 tournament in time for the Spring Season.
The ESL R1 racing circuit was first announced last year. ESL says it features a distinctive format, including one-shot qualifying and short-format races, requiring sim racing drivers to adapt quickly to non-traditional racing formats.
In both the driver’s championship and team’s championship, drivers accumulate points in each race using a points system, leading to ‘finalist mode’, where drivers who have reached a certain points threshold must win the next race to win the overall event.
ESL R1 2024 has a $100,000 prize pool for drivers and $400,000 for teams. The tournament was created through a partnership between esports organiser and production company ESL and Rennsport, an upcoming sim racing game.
It is confirmed to feature in the Esports World Cup (EWC) in August 2024 in Saudi Arabia.
Jasmine Skee, CEO of Guild Esports, commented: “We are thrilled to announce Guild Esports’ entry into the ESL R1, a pioneering sim racing championship. This will provide a new level of entertainment to Guild’s sim racing fans.
“We look forward to signing a talented roster soon and are excited about the prospects this new championship offers, both in terms of competition and potential for growth.”
ESL R1 2024 Spring Season teams and other info
ESL Faceit Group (EFG) and Rennsport, games publisher Competition Company’s virtual racing platform, has revealed that the ESL R1 2024 Spring Season will commence online on May 17th.
The upcoming season of the sim racing league will see 48 drivers battle it out for a spot at Esports World Cup (EWC) later this year, as mentioned. This is set to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from July 3rd to August 25th 2024
“Our partnership with Rennsport has made ultra-realistic racing competition an accessible, sustainable extension of both motor sports and esports, and we’re excited to continue to expand pipelines for a new generation of esports athletes with ESL R1,” said Frederik Munk, VP Sports Games at ESL Faceit Group.
“By joining EWC, ESL R1 will elevate the pinnacle of the season with a bigger prize pool than ever before. It’s full speed ahead as we make the 2024 Spring Season our most ambitious yet.”
The online season will count a total of six rounds, with three rounds being part of the Team Championship in which drivers score points for their team. The other three rounds are part of the Driver Championship in which drivers score points in an individual contest.
Each round will start with a qualifying race to determine seeding and grid position. This is followed by four Knockouts featuring 12 drivers each. The top six drivers from each Knockout advance to one of two Semi-Finals. The six best virtual racing athletes of each Semi-Final will proceed to the Final.
The nine athletes who accumulated the most points during the Driver Championship will qualify directly for the corresponding tournament at EWC. During the first day of the ESL R1 tournament at EWC, the 10th to 21st placed drivers of the Spring Season will race for the final three available spots. Furthermore, all teams will be represented in the Team Championship at EWC.
The ESL R1 2024 Spring Season features 12 esports and car manufacturer teams, which each consist of four drivers. They are:
- BS+Competition
- Faze Clan
- G2 Esports
- Guild Racing
- Mercedes-AMG E-Sports Team ART
- Mercedes-AMG Williams Esports Team
- Mouz
- Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team
- Team Vitality
- Team Falcons
- Team Redline
- Virtus.pro
The 48 drivers representing these teams as well as the tracks they will be racing on will be announced at a later date.
Each round of the ESL R1 2024 Spring Season will be broadcast live on ESL R1’s Twitch and YouTube channels.
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.
