Photo: Porsche
The racing calendar for the 2021 Porsche Esports Supercup season has been released, which features 10 rounds taking place at an equal amount of virtual yet historic race tracks. The championship will take place from January 9 to April 24 of next year, during which participants will compete for a $200,000 prize pool in the iRacing simulator.
The final round of the 2020 season, which took place at the start of the month, shows just how competitive virtual racing can get. The championship went down to the wire, with Red Bull Racing Esports’ Sebastian Job doing just enough to win the title at a laser-scanned version of the famous Monza circuit in Italy.
The 2021 finale will return to Italy, but not before the sim racers have raced on high-fidelity renditions of historic circuits like Interlagos in Brazil, the Nürburgring in Germany, and Circuit de la Sarthe in France, where the 24 Hours of Le Mans is held.
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Changes from 2020
The 2021 Porsche Esports Supercup will feature a few changes from the 2020 series. Instead of racing for 15 minutes in a sprint race and 30 minutes in the main event, competitors will instead battle over a distance of 40 and 80 kilometers, respectively.
Additionally, the reverse-grid rules are being reversed. Previously, the top eight qualifiers were starting the sprint race in reverse order. Now, they’ll start in their qualifying order, but the top eight finishers in that race will then start in reverse order in the main race.
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Qualifiers start October 24
There are 40 slots for sim racers wishing to compete in the Porsche Esports Supercup. The top 20 drivers from the 2020 season automatically qualify, while the remaining 20 will be selected in five qualifying races taking place from October 24 to November 21.
Over the course of five weekends, drivers can contest any number of rounds held at two-hour intervals. Those with the best points become eligible to take part in a shoot-out race. After all five qualifiers have taken place, the top 20 in the overall rankings will receive a spot in the 2021 Porsche Esports Supercup.
If you’re a sim racer and want to tap into that $200,000 prize pool, give it a shot. It costs nothing to enter.
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.
