IEM Katowice marked a massive step for sim racing Esports: A dozen of the finest organizations came together for two days of competition using the RENNSPORT platform for the first time ever – and it was a memorable debut alongside other established Esports disciplines. Great racing, a professional broadcast and some of the best sim racers in the world made for a must-see event, as Alex Goldschmidt and Yannik Haustein underline in our ESL R1 recap.
With the competition taking off at virtual Spa-Francorchamps, it was Germany’s Maximilian Benecke for Mouz Esports who took the very first win in an ESL R1 final, beating the R8G Esports duo of Jiri Toman and Marcell Csincsik.
On Sunday, the Hockenheimring was the center of attention, as Joshua Rogers of Porsche-Coanda Esports took to the top step of the podium followed by Mouz’s Moritz Löhner and Csincsik.
The full streams for both Saturday and Sunday are available via the official ESL R1 YouTube channel should you be inclined to re-watch the event in all its glory. What did you think of the debut of the competition? Let us know in the comments!