IMSA announces 2023 IMSA Esports Global Championship

Screenshot of IMSA Esports Global Championship logo with iRacing logo below
Image credit: IMSA

The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) has joined forces with sim racing event organiser Virtual Competition Organisation (VCO) and sim racing platform iRacing.

As a result, the three parties will host the second season of the IMSA Esports Global Championship.

ESI London 2024

The inaugural IMSA Esports Global Championship took place in 2021 and attracted a number of sim racing rosters such as Team Redline, Williams Esports and Apex Racing Team.

According to a release, the competition will enable sim racers and teams to ‘develop close working relationships’ with the manufacturers competing in the real-world IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Teams competing in the championship will be racing for cash prizes. The exact details of the prize pool have yet to be revealed

In addition to the prize pool, drivers can choose between GTP and GT cars, creating multi-class racing reflecting the real-world format of the IMSA championship.

ESJ long banner

IMSA’s second season of the championship commences on November 5th on the iRacing platform, which is no stranger to esports.

In 2022, it joined forces with NACE Starleague to launch the eNASCAR College iRacing Series giving aspiring sim racers from over 500 North American colleges and universities an opportunity to compete.

Sim racing continues to attract names from real-world motorsport. In October 2023, Indycar champion Tony Kanaan opened a sim racing facility in Indianapolis providing drivers a place to compete in a range of private events and iRacing’s extensive range of special events.

Jonno Nicholson
Jonno is a Freelance News Writer for Esports Insider and has been part of the ESI team since 2019! His interests include the rapid rise of sim racing and its impact on the wider industry.