2021 SMRC eSports Championship

2021 SMRC Esports Championship

Following the success of the recent Lockdown Cup, we’re delighted to announce the launch of our full 2021 iRacing programme.

The 2021 SMRC Esports Championship will have a unique format, consisting of 3 separate Cup competitions, running (mostly) every fortnight from March and concluding in November, with the top points scorer across the three Cups crowned as the overall 2021 SMRC Esports Champion.

Each of the three Cups will feature a different car and track selection, offering drivers variety and also rewarding those who can adapt well across the season. The Cups will each consist of 6 events and will retain the qualifying and 3 race format that proved popular in the Lockdown Cup, with the third race seeing a reverse grid.

The first competition – the Spring Cup – will see us continue with the hugely popular Mazda MX-5 Car, visiting a range of tracks in the states and the UK, from the undulating Road Atlanta to the world famous Brands Hatch Grand Prix track. The Summer Cup, on the other hand, will be an entirely British affair; drivers will step up into the more powerful front wheel drive Audi RS3 LMS TCR car to tackle our own virtual UK Touring Championship. The final test for drivers in the SMRC Esports Championship – the Autumn Cup – will see a return to rear-wheel-drive competition but this time in single seaters. We have outlined the dates for the Autumn Cup (below) but full details of the car and tracks will be released closer to the time (this is to help us evaluate and fit in any newly released content into the programme).

Streaming

Our usual streaming partner, David Christie of Camber Media, has elected to take a step back from production duties going forwards. With this in mind, we are pleased to announce a new partnership with Sim Broadcasts, who will be producing our streams for the 2021 season. We have some new ideas to further enhance these streams and we’re looking forward to working with Sim Broadcasts to capture all the action for this exciting new championship. We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank David Christie for all his efforts commentating and showcasing our esports events over the past year!

In the virtual commentary box, we are pleased to be welcoming Duncan Vincent and Andy Alston back to cover all the thrills and spills and give their insights.

Driving standards

As in the real world, we are committed to keeping the on track action fun but fair. With this in mind, we have appointed current SMRC Clerk of the Course and FIA Race Director, Steve Burns, as our virtual Clerk of the Course for the 2021 SMRC Esports Championship.

Steve will be responsible for reviewing all protests from the championship but also reviewing any ‘non-protested incidents’ that we as organisers pick up on during the races. In addition, for this championship, we will be introducing a ‘behaviour warning points’ system, similar to the one used in international GT racing.

Full details can be found in the rules.

Registration

Each of the Cup’s will cost £25 to enter. Entries are now open for the Spring Cup and close on Friday 12^th March.

However, drivers also have the option to sign up for the full championship (all three Cups) to secure their place for a discounted price of £60. The closing date for full championship entry will be Friday 12^th March also.

We will launch entries for the individual Summer and Autumn Cups at a later date.

You can enter the individual Cup’s or full Championship here.

Prizes

The top 3 in each Cup will earn themselves an official SMRC trophy. Details on the overall prize will be announced in due course.

2021 SMRC Esports Calendar