The R1 sim racing championship held on Rennsport since 2023 is set to no longer be run under the ESL esports organiser banner. It is now referred to as Rennsport R1.
For a title that only just recently entered early access, Rennsport has been featured very prominently in competition for the past two years. The title is developed by Competition Company and has been the platform of choice for the ESL R1 series since it began in February 2023.
In that time, there have been three regular seasons and four live events to decide the champions. Last August, Team Redline driver Kevin Siggy won the driver's title despite incurring quite the odd injury during the event, and then he and his fellow Redline drivers would back that up with the team's championship.
The series is set to return for a fourth season, but interestingly, all of the teams competing have been announcing their line-ups and referring to it not as ESL R1 but rather Rennsport R1. That seems to point to ESL leaving the series.
When asked about the matter, Rennsport/Competition Company did neither confirm nor deny the split.
In its first year, the series had a prize pool of around $500,000 across two seasons, which saw that figure doubled for a one-off event in-between. Then for 2024 across the solitary season, it also saw a prize pool of $500,000. No prize pool announcement was made ahead of this season.
The announcement from the Rennsport Discord server.
Signs would seem to point towards it being from a similar place, ESL are owned by the Savvy Games Group who in turn seem to have connections to the Esports World Cup event where R1 held its final last year. That currently remains intact as R1 will also have its final there this year at any date within July and August, even without ESL being involved.
Currently, that is what is known in terms of details. There is little info about the format of the series this season, although we do know many of the teams taking part. Known quantities in sim racing like Redline, Coanda and Williams remain in the series.
There are also prominent gaming organisations such as Vitality remain in collaboration with Romain Grosjean's R8G Esports, and MSI Gaming which have partnered up with Apex Racing Team. Finally, a brand new team TC Esports will be entering, founded by Real Madrid FC goalkeeper and prominent virtual racer Thibaut Courtois.
Plenty more will be announced in the coming days ahead of the first round, which will be broadcast on Rennsport's own Twitch channel rather than on the ESL R1 channel.
Will you be following the Rennsport R1 series? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our Rennsport forum!
For a title that only just recently entered early access, Rennsport has been featured very prominently in competition for the past two years. The title is developed by Competition Company and has been the platform of choice for the ESL R1 series since it began in February 2023.
In that time, there have been three regular seasons and four live events to decide the champions. Last August, Team Redline driver Kevin Siggy won the driver's title despite incurring quite the odd injury during the event, and then he and his fellow Redline drivers would back that up with the team's championship.
The series is set to return for a fourth season, but interestingly, all of the teams competing have been announcing their line-ups and referring to it not as ESL R1 but rather Rennsport R1. That seems to point to ESL leaving the series.
When asked about the matter, Rennsport/Competition Company did neither confirm nor deny the split.
ESL R1 Turns Into Rennsport R1
However, in a post to the Rennsport Discord server, community manager Lucas Bender announced that R1 would return on Friday 28th, along with links to new dedicated channels for Rennsport-based esports competitions. No mention of ESL, though, which does raise some questions about how the series will retain its financial leverage.In its first year, the series had a prize pool of around $500,000 across two seasons, which saw that figure doubled for a one-off event in-between. Then for 2024 across the solitary season, it also saw a prize pool of $500,000. No prize pool announcement was made ahead of this season.
The announcement from the Rennsport Discord server.
Signs would seem to point towards it being from a similar place, ESL are owned by the Savvy Games Group who in turn seem to have connections to the Esports World Cup event where R1 held its final last year. That currently remains intact as R1 will also have its final there this year at any date within July and August, even without ESL being involved.
Currently, that is what is known in terms of details. There is little info about the format of the series this season, although we do know many of the teams taking part. Known quantities in sim racing like Redline, Coanda and Williams remain in the series.
There are also prominent gaming organisations such as Vitality remain in collaboration with Romain Grosjean's R8G Esports, and MSI Gaming which have partnered up with Apex Racing Team. Finally, a brand new team TC Esports will be entering, founded by Real Madrid FC goalkeeper and prominent virtual racer Thibaut Courtois.
Plenty more will be announced in the coming days ahead of the first round, which will be broadcast on Rennsport's own Twitch channel rather than on the ESL R1 channel.
Will you be following the Rennsport R1 series? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our Rennsport forum!
