The SRO Motorsports Group has announced that its flagship range of esports events will return this year, again using Kunos Simulazioni’s superlative GT3 simulator Assetto Corsa Competizione.
This time, however, the regional Endurance categories have been consolidated into a single, larger series named the Intercontinental GT Challenge Esports (IGTC Esports).
Series organisers have adopted the real-life championship’s rule in that two separate classes will compete against each other in the same race – Pro and Silver.
The regional Sprint championships – Europe, Asia and America – will remain this year, and still consist of 60-minute races in which competitors are obliged to pit at least once.
A list of Pro drivers eligible for this series has already been published, including professional esports athletes like defending European Sprint Series champion James Baldwin, VRS Coanda Simsport’s Josh Rogers, Team Redline’s Kevin Siggy and Ferrari Driver Academy-backed drivers David Tonizza and Brendon Leigh.
This isn’t an entry list, but a collation of qualified drivers to this point. Team can change their Pro drivers when the racing begins.
Drivers have been assigned to the Pro category if they scored more than 25 points in last year’s SRO European Esports series – or those who scored 15 points in the Asian or American variants. Those who failed to score this amount have been declared as Silver drivers by default.
For the regional and International competitions, manufacturers can nominate drivers for two of their Pro cars, with any available spaces filled via a hot stint qualifying session for the remaining Pros.
To determine the Silver class line-ups, three drivers from each prospective team must run qualifying laps around three tracks, with the aim of setting the fastest average time. The top 24 teams then qualify for the Silver class.
In a shakeup to the distribution of prizes, more drivers than ever will be eligible for rewards across both classes, with a prize pool of €120,000 in cash mooted, and extra bonuses for those who finish in top 10.
The IGTC prize pool for the Pro class is set at €35,000 cash, with a further €8,000 in products and prizes, with the Silver class receiving €15,000 cash and €4,000 in products and prizes.
Those in the European regional Sprint series Pro category stand to compete for €10,000 in cash and €5,000 in prizes, with Silver drivers racing for €5,000 cash and €3,000 in product value.
The Asian and American regional Sprint Series lack a cash fund, but products and prizes equate to €12,500 and €5,000 for Pro and Silver categories respectively.
Prizes include Fanatec and AK Informatica products, VIP Hospitality for undisclosed events, but most intriguingly of all, driver tests for as-yet-to-be-determined teams.
Information on this prize, in particular, will be keenly followed by all those involved in SRO’s Esports fare, and the fact it will be open to top ten finishers and not just championship winners provides a huge incentive to competitors.
As a welcome addition to the format, organisers have partially made the Balance of Performance (BoP) process more transparent, after a few teams expressed concerns over the way weight penalties were distributed previously.
As has been proposed, drivers can test other cars on request, but whether this means more detailed BoP information will be made public remains to be seen.
Silver Cup qualifying for the regional Sprint series commences 21st February, with Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) Esports qualifying beginning a week later on the 28th February.
For Pro drivers, Sprint qualifying starts on 14th March, with IGTC from 21st March 2022.
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