BMW M Motorsport impressively stamped its mark on the climax of the virtual ESL R1 season. At the Esports World Cup (EWC) in Riyadh (KSA), all titles went to BMW M Team Redline. On Thursday, Kevin Siggy (SLO) triumphed in the drivers’ championship, and on Sunday, the newly crowned champion, along with his teammates Sebastian Job, Luke Bennett (both GBR), and Jeffrey Rietveld (NED), also secured first place in the team championship. While Siggy was rewarded with a prize of 25,000 euros, BMW M Team Redline received 140,000 euros for the overall victory. In total, the participants at the Esports World Cup competed for 500,000 euros.
In the drivers’ championship, BMW M drivers dominated the event. Behind Siggy, Job and Bennett finished second and fourth, respectively, with BMW M Team MOUZ driver Maximilian Benecke (GER), last year’s season highlight winner, placing third. BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION also brought a driver into the top-ten with Caique Oliveira (BRA) finishing tenth. Eight out of nine race victories went to BMW M drivers.
In the team competition, the three BMW M representatives, with their virtual BMW M4 GT3s on the “Rennsport” simulation platform, also performed strongly, finishing the group stage in first (Redline), sixth (BS+COMPETITION), and ninth (MOUZ) places. On Saturday, in the “Second Chance” event, BMW M Team MOUZ secured its ticket to the final of the top six teams thanks to a solid team performance and three victories by Benecke. On Sunday, BMW M Team Redline took the reins again and celebrated three more individual victories.
With 300 points, the quartet was unbeatable after the fifth race. The decisive victory was clinched by Job. BMW M Team MOUZ finished third in the final.
The three BMW M teams had prepared together for the Esports World Cup and were supported in various ways by BMW M Motorsport. Central to this was a joint training week at Formula Medicine in Viareggio (ITA), where the twelve drivers underwent a similar programme to the BMW M works drivers from real motorsport.
Comments on the Esports World Cup:
Andreas Roos (Head of BMW M Motorsport): “Congratulations to BMW M Team Redline and the new champion Kevin Siggy on this impressive triumph at the Esports World Cup. The Redline quartet once again showed outstanding performance throughout the week and racked up victory after victory – that’s how you win titles. BMW M Teams MOUZ and BS+COMPETITION also showed very good form and celebrated numerous further victories and podium finishes. This shows that our preparation programme was more than worthwhile. We have transferred training methods from the real BMW M Motorsport programme into the virtual world more intensively than ever before for the Esports World Cup. It has paid off. Virtual motorsport has played an important role for us for many years. And it’s fantastic that our teams could reward themselves for their hard work at the Esports World Cup.”
Kevin Siggy (Driver BMW M Team Redline): “We were a real powerhouse as a team. We invested a lot of work in preparation, and it paid off. We dominated the event.”
Luke Bennett (Driver BMW M Team Redline): “The week went even better than we had hoped. We were confident and knew we were extremely strong but we did not expect such dominance.”
Sebastian Job (Driver BMW M Team Redline): “This team title means an incredible amount. I am very proud of our team. We came here as one of the favourites and had a lot of pressure on our shoulders. The way we dealt with it was great. I am very happy for the entire Team Redline, BMW M Motorsport,and also the other BMW M Teams that have also gave very strong performances here.”
Jeffrey Rietveld (Driver BMW M Team Redline): “This success feels fantastic. We made no mistakes and were always there when it mattered – especially in the qualifyings. This is the result of our excellent preparation, including the training camp at Formula Medicine, which really helped us mentally in dealingwith the pressure.”
Maximilian Benecke (Driver BMW M Team MOUZ): “This week has gone very well for me personally. If someone had offered me third place in both the drivers’ and team standings beforehand, I would have gladly accepted. Now it has happened, and I am very happy. Especially with my qualifying performances, as I managed to get pole position in many races. As for our team performance, third place was the maximum we could achieve. Overall, I think allthree BMW M teams have given an outstanding performance. We managed to get two teams on the podium in the team standings and occupied the top four places in the drivers’ standings. This underlines the incredibly high level at which we have performed here.”
Caique Oliveira (Driver BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION): “I am proud of our team’s performance here at the Esports World Cup. Personally, I am very satisfied with my first victory at a LAN event as well as additional podium finishes. This is a great motivation for future events with BMW M Motorsport and BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION.”