Gamers8 ESL R1 2023 Mid-Season: All You Need to Know

Titled "Land of Heroes" in 2023, Gamers8 is back with a bang for its second edition and is the home of the world’s largest esports and gaming festival. Happening in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Gamers8 kicked off on 6th July and will come to a close on 31st August. This year the festival features brand new challenges and experiences and fans can watch the world’s top esports teams compete for the highest prize pools.

This year, sim/virtual racing game RENNSPORT is a part of Gamers8 and the ESL R1 - Racing Released is its esports league hosted by ESL. This new racing game's goal is to make ultra-realistic racing accessible to everyone.

The ESL R1 2023 Mid-Season Event is all set to take place between 27th and 30th July as part of Gamers8 and will feature 48 of the world’s best virtual racing drivers from across 12 different teams competing to take home the lion's share of the staggering $1,000,000 USD prize pool.

Here's all you need to know about ESL R1 2023 Mid-Season Event for RENNSPORT including the drivers, teams, and the championships.

ESL R1 2023 Mid-Season Event: Teams, Drivers, Schedule & More

All 48 drivers will participate in a head-to-head battle consisting of a series of RENNSPORT races to win bragging rights and take home a major share of the prize pool. As part of the tournament, fans and viewers will get to see high-octane racing in notable tracks including Spa, Nürburgring, Hockenhiem, and Monza.

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.

There's two Championships at play during the ESL R1 2023 Mid-Season Event: the Driver Championship and the Team Championship.

Across the two 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," said the organizer.

Here's the four-day schedule for the event.

Driver Championship:

Day 1 (Group Stage)

• Group Stage (Format)

• 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.

Teams and Drivers participating in ESL R1 2023 Mid-Season Event

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Esports Team

1. James Baldwin

2. Bono Huis

3. Marko Pejić

4. Graham Carroll

Porsche Coanda

1. Joshua Rogers

2. Mitchell DeJong

3. Dayne Warren

4. Mack Bakkum

BMW M Team BS+Competition

1. Ryan “Ryan” Barneveld

2. Ferris “Ferris” Stanley

3. Ibraheem “ibrah” Khan

4. Pedro “BMWPedro” Sanchez

FaZe Clan

1. Ian “Crimsix” Porter

2. Cem Bolukbasi

3. Gianmarco Fiduci

4. Ulas Ozyildirim

FURIA            

1. Caique “Oliveira” Oliveira

2. Gustavo “Ariel” Ariel

3. Lasse “Sørensen” Sørensen

4. Lasse “Bak” Bak

G2 Esports               

1. Joni “Joni”  Törmälä

2. Frederik “Frede” Rasmussen

3. Sebastian “Sebi” Job

4. Isaac “Isaac” Price

HEROIC                    

1. Tommy Østgaard

2. Mikkel Gade

3. Tuomas Tähtelä

4. Oskar Biksrud

MOUZ            

1. Maximilian Benecke

2. Moritz Löhner

3. Patrik Holzmann

4. Yuri Kasdorp

Team Redline           

1. Luke Bennett

2. Kevin Siggy

3. Jeffrey Rietveld

4. Enzo Bonito

R8G eSports             

1. Marcell Csincsik

2. Erhan Jajovski

3. Jiri Toman

4. Thibault Cazaubon

Mercedes-AMG Williams Esports Team               

1. Dáire McCormack

2. Jack Keithley

3. Daniel Pásztor

4. Kuba Brzeziński

Apex Racing Team              

1. Peter “Pete Berryman” Berryman

2. Kevin “Kev” Ellis, Jr.

3. Jamie “Jamie” Fluke

4. Yohann “Yohann” Harth

The total prize pool for the ESL R1 2023 Mid-Season tournament will be distributed across the top 12 drivers and top six teams. Apart from that, there are also several Merit awards to be distributed:

• Most Creative Fans

• Best Team Content

• Fastest Lap #1 Monza

• Fastest Lap #2 Spa

• Fastest Lap #3 Hockenheim

• Fastest Lap #4 Nürburgring

Where to watch ESL R1 2023 Mid-Season tournament?

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