Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup 2020, Preview
Worldwide Porsche Esports championship with top-notch sim racers
After two and a half months, the qualification process for the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup has come to an end. A strong line-up of 40 sim racers from 14 countries makes up the grid. The 22-year-old Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen (NL) is one of 20 drivers to secure a spot via the “Porsche iRacing Cup” qualification procedure. The other half of the grid consists of the top 20 competitors from the 2019 season. Last year’s champion, Joshua Rogers from Australia, and other sim racing professionals are part of this group. The new season of the digital racing series takes off on 2 May at the virtual Circuit Zandvoort on the Dutch North Sea coast. This year, drivers will compete for a total of US$200,000. As a platform for all ten events, the Esports Supercup counts on iRacing, the premier online racing simulation, for the second year.
“Last year we added sim racing to our motorsport family. We’ve set ourselves the goal of professionalising virtual motor racing and developing it into an exciting spectator sport. In the current situation, we’re attracting a huge following. The Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup with the world’s best (sim) racers offers authentic,
entertaining racing at the highest sporting level – which is precisely what motorsport fans want,” says Marco Ujhasi, Manager Esports at Porsche Motorsport.
Over 5,000 participants took part in the qualifying races for the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup. Joining Max Verstappen (Team Redline) from the Netherlands on the grid this season is the 20-year-old title defender Joshua Rogers (VRS Coanda Simsport) from Gladstone, Australia. Also among this season’s participants are 25-year-old Maximilian Benecke (D/Team Redline) and Sebastian Job (GB/Red Bull Racing Esports Team) from Britain’s East Grinstead. This trio claimed the top three overall spots in 2019.
Ten events make up the 2020 calendar of the world championship series. Each race day consists of five sessions. A free practice (20 minutes) is followed by a 12-minute qualifying session run as an individual time trial, a sprint race over 15 minutes, a warm-up (ten minutes) and the 30-minute main race. Drivers earn points towards the championship from both races. Victory in the sprint event is rewarded with 25 points, with the winner of the main event receiving double the points. The top five qualifiers also receive additional points. The pole-sitter earns ten points for the overall classification.
Further information is available on the Porsche Motorsport Hub: https://motorsports.porsche.com
| Event | Date | Racetrack |
| Round 1 | 2 May 2020 | Circuit Zandvoort |
| Round 2 | 9 May 2020 | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya |
| Round 3 | 23 May 2020 | Donington Park Circuit |
| Round 4 | 13 June 2020 | Circuit de la Sarthe |
| Round 5 | 4 July 2020 | Nürburgring Nordschleife |
| Round 6 | 18 July 2020 | Silverstone Circuit |
| Round 7 | 1 August 2020 | Road Atlanta |
| Round 8 | 15 August 2020 | Brands Hatch Circuit |
| Round 9 | 29 August 2020 | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps |
| Round 10 | 19 September 2020 | Autodromo Nazionale Monza |
