ESL R1 Championship Format
The Championship will adopt a similar structure similar to traditional esports, with two seasonal splits consisting of eight events each. There will be a total of twelve teams with four drivers each, so 48 drivers in total.
Every round will be made of seven races: four quarterfinals, two semifinals, and a final. Each race is also preceded by a qualifying session to determine the starting order of each driver.
The first event of ESL R1 will be held at the Intel Extreme Masters Expo in Katowice, Poland, and will host the first two rounds on Feb. 11-12, with the remaining events all online. After the final online round, the top 24 drivers will qualify for the ESL R1 Spring Major which will take place in Munich, Germany on 27-28 May.
The second season, on the other hand, will be held remotely in August with the Season Launch event, with the Major of the Fall season in presence at the DreamHack Winter from 23-25 November.
With a total prize pool of €500,000 and 12 participating teams, this makes the new sim racing championship desirable to all esports teams. Even if the drivers haven’t been confirmed so far, below is the full list of the 12 teams that will participate in the first-ever ESL R1:
- Faze Clan
- FURIA
- G2 Esports
- Heroic
- R8G eSports
- MOUZ
- Team Redline
- Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team
- BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION
- Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Esports Team
- Apex Racing Team
- Mercedes-AMG Team Williams Esports
For those wanting to follow this championship, you can check out their Twitch and YouTube channels when the Spring Season Launch from will take place on Feb. 11-12.
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