In 2020, people were unable to enjoy actual racing on the tracks and many turned to simulator racing at home, giving eSports or what the FIA calls ‘digital motorsports’ a boost in popularity. Some manufacturers got involved in it, among them BMW with its SIM Cups.
After their successful debut in the 2020 season, this year’s BMW SIM Cups will offer an even wider range of race formats, cars and sim platforms on which they take place.
The BMW SIM GT Cup, BMW SIM M2 CS Racing Cup and BMW SIM Time Attack offer the world’s best sim racers the opportunity to qualify on the iRacing, rFactor 2 and Assetto Corsa Competizione platforms for the Grand Finals at BMW SIM Live 2021, and to win attractive prize money. The races will be streamed live on the BMW Motorsport social media channels.
“Having introduced our new BMW SIM Cup formats at BMW SIM Live last December, it is now time to get down to the serious business, as the first races are just around the corner,” said Rudolf Dittrich, Head of BMW Motorsport SIM Racing. “We are understandably excited to see how our new race formats and the wider range of BMW race cars will be received by the sim racing community.”
“We are now active on three major platforms: iRacing, rFactor 2 and Assetto Corsa Competizione. This allows us to reach a far larger group of sim racers and their fans than last year. We are obviously hoping to attract a lot of top-class competitors, as well as to receive expert feedback on our race formats and cars, which helps us to keep improving all the time,” he said.
BMW SIM GT Cup – iRacing
The BMW SIM GT Cup is the successor to the BMW SIM 120 Cup. Divided into two seasons, a total of 10 races will take place in 2021. In the five rounds that comprise Season 1, sim racers go head to head in teams of two in the BMW M8 GTE. In Season 2, the new BMW M4 GT3 will be the car of choice for the teams. A total prize purse of US$4,200 (about RM16,870) is offered for the top 3 teams in the first 4 races of each season.
BMW SIM M2 CS Racing Cup – rFactor 2
Same car, same simulation platform, but new format. This year’s BMW SIM M2 CS Racing Cup features as a support series for the popular and top-class rFactor 2 GT Pro Series. As a result, the BMW one-make cup will take place at different racetracks, whereas it was previously held exclusively at the Nurburgring and on the Nordschleife. The top three at each event will share a total prize purse of €1,850, and the winners of each race will qualify for the final at BMW SIM Live.
BMW SIM Time Attack by Assetto Corsa Competizione
New simulation platform, new race format, new car. BMW SIM Time Attack by Assetto Corsa Competizione takes the form of a lap time competition on circuits that change monthly. Each month, the competitor who sets the fastest lap time, at the wheel of the virtualM4 GT4, qualifies for BMW SIM Live 2021.
