BMW Motorsport, the German car manufacturer’s motorsport branch, has outlined its plans to expand its involvement in simulation racing.
As part of its expansion, BMW Motorsport has joined forces with Team Redline, G2 Esports, Williams Esports, and BS+COMPETITION.
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The four esports organisation will compete with BMW cars and represent BMW Motorsport at sim racing events throughout 2021.
Alongside the partnerships, BMW Motorsport will be launching a sim racing academy, an esports event circuit known as the ‘BMW SIM World Tour’, and will add more of its cars across a range of sim racing platforms.
Rudolf Dittrich, Head of BMW Motorsport Sim Racing, spoke on the expansion:“At BMW Motorsport, we have learned a lot this year and are determined to put what we have learned into practice, with regard to our 2021 programme. The area of hardware development will also focus on technological innovations and new developments next year.
“Our BMW SIM Cups will once again play an important role, but in an adapted form. Our cooperations with four of the best sim racing teams in the world, and our new academy, see us continue our approach of promoting sim racing as part of the community through mutual dialogue. Together, we will continue to fuel the growth in this exciting Esports sector. The BMW Motorsport sim racing programme provides the ideal basis for this.”
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The World Tour is set to begin in April 2021 in Austria, depending on the COVID-19 pandemic. Racers will have the opportunity to compete for prizes along with the chance to qualify for the national finals.
Esports Insider says: As real-world motorsport slowly returns to some form of normality, the initial sim racing boom has begun to slow down. It’s great to see a recognisable brand such as BMW expand its esports offerings, especially when there are so many similarities between virtual racing and the real thing.