Supercars unveils next-level 2019 eseries

Supercars has entered an exclusive partnership with Gfinity Esports Australia (Gfinity AU) to take the virtual Virgin Australia Supercars Championship to the next level in 2019.

In the second Supercars Eseries, Supercars and Gfinity AU are teaming up with the world’s leading online racing simulation service, iRacing, as the competition platform.

The 2019 Gfinity Supercars Eseries will start in August and run through to the end of the Supercars season.

Twelve teams will contest the 2019 competition, with a mix of Supercars outfits and others representing high-profile brands.

Boost Mobile Racing is the first Supercars team to confirm an entry, with more to follow in the coming weeks.

The eseries will be broadcast live and free across Supercars.com and the Supercars and Gfinity AU social media channels, including live streaming platform Twitch.

Gamers can make the eseries grid by being selected by one of the participating teams through impressing in the Gfinity Supercars Eseries open qualifiers, from which teams may choose a driver.

With thousands of registered iRacing competitors in Australia, the tournament is expected to attract the most talented sim racers in the country.

Gfinity has been a significant force in esports globally and Gfinity AU’s link with Supercars follows global tournament partnerships with major video game publishers and sporting organisations, including Formula 1.

"This is a great opportunity to embrace and engage the growing Supercars fan base and esports community," Supercars CEO Sean Seamer said.

"The partnership with Gfinity will help engage a new generation of fans and offer a pathway for sim drivers to showcase their skills in our cars against our best teams and drivers."

Each of the 12 teams will field an elite sim driver, contesting eight rounds, with the winner awarded the 2019 Gfinity Supercars Eseries title.

Registration for the open qualifiers starts in July, with individual team driver nomination programs to be detailed separately on eseries.supercars.com.

The eseries supports the strategic objectives of Gfinity AU and Supercars by broadening audience bases and diversifying revenues across a non-traditional esports space.

"We are very excited to be partnering with Supercars and taking their esports strategy to a new level," Gfinity Esports Australia CEO Dominic Remond, above with Seamer and some future sim racers at Thursday's launch, said.

"Racing titles are exciting and easy to comprehend, with a significant crossover into real world motorsport.

"It’s a unique opportunity for brands to engage both the massive existing audience in Supercars and rapidly growing esports community."