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The SRO Motorsports Group, Kunos Simulazioni, and Ak Informatica have announced that the World’s best virtual racers will be able to compete on-site at the 2023 Fanatec GT World Challenge Powered by AWS events.
The five-round invitational championship joins a packed global SRO Esports calendar, which once again includes four Mobileye-supported online competitions, three sprint formats, and one endurance, as well as the ground-breaking Fanatec Esports GT Pro Series where virtual results count towards the real-life Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS teams’ title.
The Fanatec Arena that travels to each Endurance Cup event will now stage two 60-minute Assetto Corsa Competizione races per weekend: one, as usual, for GT stars, and another for their professional sim racing counterparts who will battle for points and prize money at Monza, Circuit Paul Ricard, Spa-Francorchamps, the Nurburgring, and Barcelona.
The new series stems from the success of 2022’s Spa Racing Night in which manufacturer-supported teams and drivers contested a one-off sprint race in the Fanatec Arena just as dusk descended over the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
23 of the 24 professional team entries will be confirmed in advance, while the final slot per event is determined by a last-chance qualifier hosted on-site. And just like the Fanatec Esports GT Pro Series, teams are permitted to use different drivers at each of the season’s five rounds.
Each event is provisionally scheduled to last one day, with rig setup and practice in the morning and early afternoon before warm-up, qualifying and the race all take place immediately after that same evening’s Fanatec Esports GT Pro Series round.
Prize money totaling €75,000 will be won throughout the campaign.
The other €88,500 is split between SRO Esports’ four online championships, which remain largely unchanged this year. Mobileye GT World Challenge Esports America, Asia, and Europe each comprise five hour-long sprint races, while the endurance element is covered by Intercontinental GT Challenge Esports Powered by Mobileye’s five iconic events on as many continents. 24 Pro and 24 Silver entries are permitted per championship.
To promote regional participation, each Mobileye GT World Challenge Esports series is reserved for drivers living in that specific area. All 30 of this year’s SRO Esports races will be staged in partnership with AK Esports and streamed live on SRO’s Twitch and YouTube channels.
Registration Open
Only those teams and drivers located in Asia, America, and Europe are eligible to enter their regional Mobileye GT World Challenge Esports sprint series, while anyone from around the world can compete in the Intercontinental GT Challenge Esports Powered by Mobileye endurance championship.
Asia includes the Middle East and UAE, while South America is considered part of America. Gamers in Africa are permitted to register for the European championship.
Each of the four calendars comprises five races hosted on Assetto Corsa Competizione – the official game of Fanatec GT World Challenge.
The maximum 48 entries per event will be split equally across two classes: Pro and Silver. Full-season entries are awarded to the fastest drivers from each series’ separate hot lap qualifying competitions.
Asia and Europe’s races will take place on Wednesdays, America’s on Saturdays, and Intercontinental’s on weekends. A minimum of three drivers per team are required to compete in IGTC.
The PC version of the Assetto Corsa Competizione racing simulator is available via Steam for €39,99.
Calendar:
2023 INTERCONTINENTAL GT CHALLENGE ESPORTS POWERED BY MOBILEYE
- May 20 – Bathurst 12 Hour
- June 17 – Kyalami 9 Hour
- July 15 – 24 Hours of Spa
- August 19 – Suzuka 10 Hours
- September 16 – Indianapolis 8 Hour
Prize money pool: €58,000
2023 MOBILEYE GT WORLD CHALLENGE ESPORTS EUROPE
- May 3 – Monza
- May 24 – Circuit Paul Ricard
- June 21 – Spa-Francorchamps
- July 19 – Nurburgring
- August 23 – Barcelona
Prize money pool: €18,500
2023 MOBILEYE GT WORLD CHALLENGE ESPORTS AMERICA
- May 6 – Laguna Seca
- June 10 – Circuit of the Americas
- July 22 – Silverstone
- August 5 – Watkins Glen
- September 2 – Indianapolis
Prize money pool: €6,000
2023 MOBILEYE GT WORLD CHALLENGE ESPORTS ASIA
- May 31 – Imola
- June 28 – Donington Park
- July 12 – Bathurst
- August 9 – Kyalami
- September 6 – Suzuka
Prize money pool: €6,000
Official Webpages – sro-esports.com – www.assettocorsa.net/competizione
