PRESS RELEASE SUMMARY – ESL R1 returns on July 27-30, 2023, for a thrilling Mid-Season event, hosted at Gamers8 sponsored by Aramco, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. – 48 drivers from 12 teams, including Team Redline, G2 Esports, and Heroic, will all compete across the four days. – A staggering $1,000,000 is for the taking, as some of the world’s best virtual racing drivers fight for the top spot.

Monday, July 24, 2023, New York/Cologne/Riyadh – The ESL R1 2023 Mid-Season Event is set to take place on July 27-30 and will be hosted at Gamers8 sponsored by Aramco in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Fans across the globe can tune in and watch the action take place in real-time as 48 of the world’s best virtual racing drivers across 12 different teams will be competing to take home a share of the jaw-dropping $1,000,000 prize pool.

Here is all you need to know about the ESL R1 2023 Mid-Season Event:

The competition continues with the ESL R1 2023 Mid-Season event across four exhilarating days. As the 48 drivers come head-to-head in a series of RENNSPORT races, in the hopes of taking home a stake of the $1,000,000 prize pool.

Amongst the competitors, the tournament is set to see ESL R1 2023 Spring Season winner Marcell Csincsik from R8G eSports compete alongside other legendary drivers, including Team Redline’s Luke Bennet and Mercedes-AMG’s James Baldwin.

Schedule and Format:

The ESL R1 2023 Mid-Season event will feature two two-day Championships, beginning with the Driver Championship, before ending with the Team Championship. Viewers and attendees can expect to see high-octane racing across some of RENNSPORT’s most notable tracks, including Spa, Nürburgring, Hockenhiem, and Monza. 

Across the Championships, the drivers and teams will be narrowed down on the first day, resulting in the highest ranking competing against one another. Each championship will come to a thrilling conclusion with Finalist Mode, where the first to hit the allocated points needed and win a race will claim the first prize.

Driver Championship:

Day 1:

• Group Stage
  • 48 Drivers
  • 8 Races

Day 2:

• Finalist Mode
  • Top 12 Drivers from the Group Stage
  • Open-ended races
  • 80 points needed to reach Finalist Mode, plus a first-place victory to win

Team Championship:

Day 3:

• Group Stage
  • 12 Teams
  • 8 Races

Day 4:

• Finalist Mode
  • Top 6 Teams from the Group Stage
  • Open-ended races
  • 150 points needed to reach Finalist Mode, plus a first-place victory to win.

ESL R1 2023 Mid Season event confirmed teams and drivers:

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Team

1. James Baldwin
2. Bono Huis
3. Marko Pejić
4. Graham Carroll

Porsche Coanda

5. Joshua Rogers
6. Mitchell deJong
7. Dayne Warren
8. Mack Bakkum

BMW M Team BS+Competition

9. Ryan “Ryan” Barneveld
10. Ferris “Ferris” Stanley
11. Ibraheem “ibrah” Khan
12. Pedro “BMWPedro” Sanchez

FaZe Clan

13. Ian “Crimsix” Porter
14. Cem Bolukbasi
15. Gianmarco Fiduci
16. Ulas Ozyildirim

FURIA

17. Caique “Oliveira” Oliveira
18. Gustavo “Ariel” Ariel
19. Lasse “Sørensen” Sørensen
20. Lasse “Bak” Bak

G2 Esports

21. Joni “Joni”  Törmälä
22. Frederik “Frede” Rasmussen
23. Sebastian “Sebi” Job
24. Isaac “Isaac” Price

HEROIC

25. Tommy Østgaard
26. Mikkel Gade
27. Tuomas Tähtelä
28. Oskar Biksrud

MOUZ

29. Maximilian Benecke
30. Moritz Löhner
31. Patrik Holzmann
32. Yuri Kasdorp

Team Redline

33. Luke Bennett
34. Kevin Siggy
35. Jeffrey Rietveld
36. Enzo Bonito

R8G eSports

37. Marcell Csincsik
38. Erhan Jajovski
39. Jiri Toman
40. Thibault Cazaubon

Mercedes-AMG Williams Esports Team

41. Dáire McCormack
42. Jack Keithley
43. Daniel Pásztor
44. Kuba Brzeziński

Apex Racing Team

45. Peter “Pete Berryman” Berryman
46. Kevin “Kev” Ellis, Jr.
47. Jamie “Jamie” Fluke
48. Yohann “Yohann” Harth

Broadcast talents

• Stage Host: Barney “BANKS” Banks
  • British presenter, famously known for being Rainbow Six Siege host.
• Desk host: Jasmine “Veracity” Kanuga.
  • British presenter, commonly known for being a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive host.
• Expert: Jaroslav “Jardier” Honzik
  • A popular virtual racing YouTuber from the Czech Republic, who is also an YAS HEAT Ambassador of Abu Dhabi and YAS Marina Circuit.
• Pit Lane Rep: Rory “EERIEISSSS” Alexander
  • A popular British virtual racing YouTuber and Streamer, covering a variety of titles.
• Caster: Lewis McGlade
  • An award-winning virtual racing commentator from the United Kingdom, previously covering events such as ESL R1, Le Mans Virtual, and RaceSpot TV.
• Caster: George Morgan
  • The lead commentator for GT Sport Organización, FRECA, F1 Esports, and ESL R1.
• Caster: Arjuna Kankipati
  • Co-founder of the virtual racing team Artifact Racing and broadcaster for RaceSpot TV.
• Caster: Ewan O’Leary
  • British commentator known for events such as ESL R1, RaceSpot TV, and VCO Esports.

Prize pool:

The total prize pool of $1,000,000 for the ESL R1 2023 Mid-Season tournament will be distributed across the top 12 drivers and top 6 teams: 

Driver Championship
Place	Prize money
1st	$100,000
2nd	$75,000
3rd	$52,000
4th	$37,000
5th	$30,000
6th	$23,500
7th	$20,000
8th	$17,500
9th	$15,000
10th	$12,500
11th	$10,000
12th	$7,5000
13th – 24th	–
Total	$400,000

Team Championship
Place	Prize money
1st	$250,000
2nd	$150,000
3rd	$100,000
4th	$50,000
5th	$30,000
6th	$20,000
7th – 12th	–
Total	$600,000

Apart from the $1,000,000 prize pool for both Championships, the ESL R1 2023 Mid-Season Event also features Merit Awards, part of a separate prize pool to recognize top level competitors and more across all Gamers8 titles.

Merit Awards
Award	Prize money
Most Creative Fans	$50,000
Best Team Content	$50,000
Fastest Lap #1 Monza	$10,000
Fastest Lap #2 Spa	$10,000
Fastest Lap #3 Hockenheimring	$10,000
Fastest Lap #4 Nürburgring	$10,000
Total	$140,000

Broadcast details:

The ESL R1 Mid-Season will be streamed live from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on the official ESL R1 Twitch and YouTube channels and on the official Gamers8 channels, including Twitch and YouTube.

Photos of the ESL R1 2023 Spring Major that took place in Munich, Germany, can be found here. 

For more information about the ESL R1 2023 Mid-Season event you can check out the official trailer, head to the official Gamers8 website, follow Gamers8 Esports on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, and follow ESL R1 on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

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About ESL

ESL creates a world where everybody can be somebody. For more than two decades, we have been shaping the industry and leading esports and gaming innovation globally across the most popular video games, creating a comprehensive ecosystem with opportunities for players to go from zero to hero and for fans to witness the best stories esports has to offer. The ESL portfolio consists of high-profile products such as the ESL Pro Tour, Intel® Extreme Masters, the Snapdragon Pro Series, and many more, ranging from grassroots to global elite competitions. ESL is part of ESL FACEIT Group, the leading competitive games and esports company.

About ESL R1

Setting a whole new standard for virtual racing, ESL R1 – Racing Released is the pristine RENNSPORT esports league by ESL, part of the ESL FACEIT Group. Bringing racing culture to the digital age, ESL R1 places the passionate community of racers right in the driver’s seat, ensuring it is always the number one priority. RENNSPORT utilizes cutting edge Unreal Engine 5 technology to bring the incredible virtual racing experience to life, whether you’re behind the steering wheel yourself or experiencing the exhilaration of an ESL R1 competition (https://eslr1.com/).

About RENNSPORT

RENNSPORT is a new virtual racing platform that makes ultra-realistic racing accessible to anyone. It´s our obsession to create the perfect racing game, ensuring it’s an ultra-realistic virtual experience but also fun to drive. Throughout the journey, automotive and game development experts join forces to create a virtual racing hub for all motorsports enthusiasts, and we want to inspire with a bold combination of driving physics developed by experts within the automotive industry, combined with custom Unreal Engine 5 graphics. We create the future of virtual racing and car culture together with you.

About “Gamers8 – The Land Of Heroes”: 

Gamers8 is the world’s largest esports and gaming festival and the destination for elite esports champions and gaming universe lovers. It’s the ultimate place to compete for glory and become a hero walking among the worlds of your chosen story. Located in Riyadh at the heart of Saudi Arabia, Gamers8 spans a period of eight weeks from July to September 2023, with new challenges and experiences unlocked every week. You can watch the world’s top esports teams compete for the highest prize pools, attend performances by global music artists, experience your favourite gaming platforms come to life, and learn the mysteries behind the creation of video games. Gamers8 is your world and it’s your adventure to choose.

“Gamers8: The Land of Heroes” follows the success of last year’s Gamers8 at Boulevard Riyadh City. Gamers8 2022 saw the world’s best teams and players battle it out across five top titles – Rocket League, Dota 2 Riyadh Masters, Fortnite, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege and PUBG Mobile – for a prize pool of $15million. The 2022 event was visited by more than 1.4 million visitors and watched by more than 132 million people around the globe. A total of 391 professional players – representing more than 61 nationalities – and 113 international teams took part in the world-class esports competitions. 

Gamers8: The Land of Heroes has a total prize pool of $45 million – more than double last year’s grand prize total – and will host the elite of esports in a state of the art, purpose-built venue at Boulevard Riyadh City. The festival will conclude with a gaming and esports forum, known as “The Next World Forum”, that brings together sector leaders and experts from around the world.