Six Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland contenders will take up the virtual race against six Esports racers at the finals held at the ADAC SimRacing Expo at the Nürburgring. A 30-minute simulator sprint race will decide who wraps up the championship.
“In recent years, Esports has developed strongly, especially in motorsport. Therefore, we’re delighted to have now entered this exciting realm. The real Carrera Cup is represented at the finals by a driver generation for which simulator sessions are a normal part of their training regime. I’m keen to see how these guys perform against experienced online gamers,” says Hurui Issak, Project Manager Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland. The worldwide qualifying for the SimRacers was held online. Germany’s Nils Naujoks, Florian Hasse, Marc Gassner, Jan-Marcel Dietrich and Richard Schäfer as well as Nikodem Wisniewski from Poland reached the finals over two rounds. After two pre-heats, these six emerged as the leaders from the semi-finals, which saw 30 Esports drivers go head to head. The one-hour virtual race was run on Belgium’s Circuit Spa-Francorchamps. Nils Naujoks finished on first place.
At the race weekends in Zandvoort/Netherlands and the Nürburgring, the pilots from the real Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland secured their tickets to the finals. Their task was to turn fast laps on a simulator in the Porsche Hospitality. Louis Henkefend (D/Team Allied-Racing), Reece Barr (IRL/Förch Racing), Gustav Malja (S/Förch Racing), Leon Köhler (D/MSG/HRT Motorsport), Nicolas Schöll (A/Team Allied-Racing) and Alex Arkin Aka (D/MSG/HRT Motorsport) came out on top as the best SimRacers from the national one-make cup. At Zandvoort and the Nürburgring, Louis Henkefend turned the fastest lap in a virtual Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
The final at the ADAC SimRacing Expo is held over three sessions. After a practice session and a ten-minute qualifying, a 30-minute race will decide who emerges as the first champion of the Porsche Esports Carrera Cup Deutschland. The winner will participate in the full programme of the Talent Pool during a race weekend of the Carrera Cup Deutschland. This young driver scheme of the national one-make cup comprises comprehensive coaching by the former Porsche factory driver Wolf Henzler including track walks, data analysis as well as mental and media training.
For the championship debut, the national one-make cup chose the well-established racing simulator Assetto Corsa as a platform. Fans can watch the finals of the Porsche Esports Carrera Cup Deutschland in a live stream on www.racecam.de. The social media channels of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland also offer information on the Esports competition.
Impressions of the Porsche SimRacing Summit end of 2018 in Leipzig
