The name "Supercup" refers to the highest category of the one-make cup family and underscores the internationality and relevance of the online race series, the sports car manufacturer is organizing with iRacing. The corresponding race series has provided the battleground for the best drivers of the 911 GT3 Cup for the past 25 years.
Forty “sim racers”, who have successfully made their way through the global qualifying process, will compete in series of ten online races - the first gets underway on April 13 on the virtual version of the Barber Motorsport Park in Alabama, USA. The final race will take place on September 28 at the Circuit Monza, Italy. The championship offers a $100,000 prize pool.
„By adding an Esports racing competition to our established series of one-make cups, we are extending our footprint in the world of motorsport and allowing sim racers to join the global Porsche Motorsport family,” says Fritz Enzinger, Head of Porsche Motorsport.
„With the Porsche Esports Supercup, we are launching a global championship that every serious sim racer will strive to win in his career. Only sim racers with a very high skill level have made it through the qualifying process. We are going to witness some very tight races,” adds Marco Ujhasi, Manager Esports at Porsche Motorsport.
Shared honors of athletes
Porsche will also recognise the champion of the Porsche Esports Supercup at this year’s “Night of Champions” gala, which honours the successes of the teams and driers in motorsport. This makes Porsche the first major car manufacturer to recognise the achievements of virtual racers at the same event as their real-world racing peers.
„Porsche's heart beats for motorsport. We can share this passion with a much broader audience through Esports and create a unique community of Esport fans and motorsport fans,” says Kjell Gruner, Vice President Marketing at Porsche.
Partnership with iRacing
For running the championship, Porsche has entered into a partnership with iRacing, a leading provider of realistic online racing simulations, which has been operating as an online subscription service since 2004. The race format is designed to force close competition at every stage of the season. All ten online events have a qualifying session, a sprint race and the main race.
Impressions of the Porsche SimRacing Summit 2018 in Leipzig
Info
Keen spectators can follow all ten rounds of the Porsche Esports Supercup live on YouTube, on Facebook and Twitch.
Further information can be found on the Porsche Motorsports Hub.
