IMSA Esports Global Championship Race Preview: Road Atlanta
November 3rd, 2023 by Justin Melillo
The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), in conjunction with iRacing, the Virtual Competition Organisation (VCO) and Michelin presents the 2023 IMSA Esports Global Championship. Four high-profile events are scheduled over the course of the next two months for this second iteration. 45 teams, each car with two drivers sharing the seat, are set to compete amongst two classes of competition for the upcoming season. The first race is this Sunday at Road Atlanta.
The Cars:
The GTP car class includes:
- Acura ARX-06
- BMW M Hybrid V8
- Cadillac V-Series.R
- Porsche 963
The GTD car class includes:
- BMW M4 GT3
- Ferrari 296 GT3
- Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO
- Mercedes-AMG GT3 2020
- Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
All nine cars will compete using virtual Michelin tires.
Entry List (via IMSA):
45 full-time teams are due to compete, 20 in the GTP class and the other 25 in the GTD. Each of the nine cars available (four GTP, five GTD) will be balanced with five teams competing for each. The organizers of the series also reserve the ability to award an addition “wildcard” entry on a per-round basis.
- GTP (20 Entries)
- 3 Fraser Williamson | Marcus Hamilton | CrowdStrike Racing | Acura ARX-06
- 4 Sam Michaels | Scott Michaels | CrowdStrike Racing | Acura ARX-06
- 7 Phil Kraus | Adam Blocker | PRIVATE LABEL Team Hype | Cadillac V-Series.R
- 11 Josh Lad | Matt Farrow | Williams Esports MAHLE | BMW M Hybrid V8
- 15 Péter Zuba | Balázs Remenyik | Race Clutch | Acura ARX-06
- 16 Robin Glerum | Daniel Craft | Puresims Esports | Acura ARX-06
- 18 Pablo Espes | Nathan Olson | WAVE Italy Racing Team | Porsche 963
- 43 Oscar Mangan | Edoardo Leo | Altus Esports | Cadillac V-Series.R
- 46 João Vaz | Ilkka Haapala | Orion Race Team | Porsche 963
- 62 Austin Young | Jon Boetefuer | HydroRace Geodesic Racing | Cadillac V-Series.R
- 64 Alex Gal | Alex Ellis | Satellite Racing | Cadillac V-Series.R
- 69 Arturo Melgar | Przemyslaw Marek Lemanek | Drago Racing | Acura ARX-06
- 71 Diogo Pinto | Chris Lulham | BMW M Team Redline | BMW M Hybrid V8
- 89 Niklas Beu | Dion Fiallo | BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION | BMW M Hybrid V8
- 90 Dominik Hofmann | Jonas Wallmeier | URANO eSports Datagroup | BMW M Hybrid V8
- 91 Laurin Heinrich | Charlie Collins | VRS Coanda | Porsche 963
- 92 Ayhancan Guven | Zac Campbell | VRS Coanda | Porsche 963
- 95 Casey Kirwan | Owen Caryl | XSET | Cadillac V-Series.R
- 96 Fernando Antolí Busquets | Michael Polasek | Obsidian Racing | Porsche 963
- 99 Peter Berryman | Maxime Brient | Apex Racing Team | BMW M Hybrid V8
- GTD (25 Entries)
- 101 Alejandro Sanchez | Luke McKeown | Mercedes-AMG E-Sports Team ART | Mercedes-AMG GT3 2020
- 102 Sven Haase | Nicolás Rubilar | Virtualcoach.gg by GnG | Ferrari 296 GT3
- 103 Govand Keanie | Jakub Kwiatkowski | Grid and Go eSports | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO
- 110 Felix Quirmbach | Oskari Rinne | MAHLE RACING TEAM | BMW M4 GT3
- 111 David Toth | James T Armstrong | Arnage Competition | BMW M4 GT3
- 114 Tristán Iglesias | Gabi Montoro | Simufy eSports | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
- 116 Ross Macfarlane | Lukas Prada | Puresims Esports | BMW M4 GT3
- 120 Damon Woods | Tim Jarschel | Dörr Esports | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
- 143 Jordan Caruso | Dino Lombardi | Altus Esports | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
- 144 Yannick Lapchin | Aaron Vazquez | Altus Esports | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO
- 153 Vasilios Beletsiotis | Daniel Pasztor | Mercedes-AMG E-Sports Team Williams Esports | Mercedes-AMG GT3 2020
- 155 Alessandro Bico | Daniel Lafuente | Mercedes-AMG E-Sports Team Williams Esports | Mercedes-AMG GT3 2020
- 157 Chris Shorter | Matthieu Victorino | Impulse Racing | Ferrari 296 GT3
- 162 Hunter McDaniel | Stephen McDonald | Brabham Esports | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO
- 163 Greg Hovesen | Carl Modof | DeltaSport | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO
- 169 Ricardo Rico | Manuel Troncoso | Drago Racing | Ferrari 296 GT3
- 170 Gianni Vecchio | Ole Steinbraten | Team Redline | Ferrari 296 GT3
- 171 Josh Thompson | Tom Burns | Team Redline | Ferrari 296 GT3
- 175 Jürgen Frank | Marvin Strehl | Team75 Bernhard by SimRC | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
- 178 Luca Wünsch | Tim Matzke | Maniti Racing | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO
- 188 Bryn Collins | Oscar Py | VRS Coanda Junior | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
- 190 Alexander Thiebe | Luca Kita | Mercedes-AMG E-Sports Team URANO | Mercedes-AMG GT3 2020
- 192 Niclas Laubisch | Sam Kuitert | Mercedes-AMG E-Sports Team URANO | Mercedes-AMG GT3 2020
- 196 Rainer Talvar | Phil Denes | BS+TURNER | BMW M4 GT3
- 199 Salva Talens | Alex Dunne | Apex Racing Team | BMW M4 GT3
- Wildcard Entry – GTP
- 72 Blake Reynolds | Flinn Lazier | Nitro Circus Sim Racing Team | Acura ARX-06
The Schedule:
Two of the four tracks from the 2022 season return in 2023 with both the opening round and finale staying the same. This season, Watkins Glen and Sebring will replace what was Laguna Seca and Indianapolis on last year’s calendar.
- Sunday, Nov. 5: Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta
- Sunday, Nov. 12: Watkins Glen International
- Sunday, Dec. 3: Sebring International Raceway
- Saturday, Dec. 16: Daytona International Speedway
Each event will start at 19:00 GMT (2PM ET) and will run for two hours and 40 minutes in length.
Last Season:
In its inaugural season in 2022, the IMSA Esports Global Championship ran with the GTD class on top alongside a class of Touring Cars. The series attracted some of the world’s best sim racers and teams, some with ties to teams inside IMSA, the FIA World Endurance Championship and Formula 1.
After the four race season was concluded, the 2022 IMSA Esports Global Championship GTD title went to the #98 Apex Racing Team Porsche driven by Alejandro Sanchez and Kevin Ellis Jr. For the Touring Cars, the championship was won by the #176 SimRC Hyundai driven by Corentin Guinez and Kieran Harrison.
Coincidentally, both teams were also the respective winners in the first round of the 2022 season which also opened the season at Road Atlanta.
Track Facts:
Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta is a 2.54-mile, 12-turn course located in Braselton, Georgia, just 35 miles north of Atlanta. Known for hosting many sports car races, including the popular Petit Le Mans event, Road Atlanta is filled with elevation changes, technical sections and can be a challenge to any professional racer. Opened in 1970, the current day Grand Prix circuit layout has been in use since 1998.
Each race of the IMSA Esports Global Championship will be broadcasted live on IMSA’s and iRacing’s YouTube, Facebook and Twitch social media channels with the “Countdown to Green” pre-race show beginning at 1:45PM ET.
For more information on the IMSA Esports Global Championship, visit iracing.com/imsa-esports. For more information about the Virtual Competition Organisation (VCO), visit vco-esports.com For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit iracing.com.
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