The Project CARS Esports teams were back in action once again this week, with ESL Go4 Cup 24. GT4 cars were the weapons of choice as March’s battle for championship points continued. We had some new faces on the podiums in this week’s races, but with some familiar names on the top steps.
Fixed setups and the drivers’ increasing knowledge of the GT4 class is making for some intense rivalries and some very close racing. Small mistakes can now have a big impact on how far each driver progresses through the Cup bracket each week, putting them under extra pressure in the fight for weekly prize money and a place in this month’s Final.
Fixed setups and the drivers’ increasing knowledge of the GT4 class is making for some intense rivalries and some very close racing. Small mistakes can now have a big impact on how far each driver progresses through the Cup bracket each week, putting them under extra pressure in the fight for weekly prize money and a place in this month’s Final.
For Cup 24, the drivers voted to race at Circuit Zolder, a classic Belgian track which may not have the reputation of it’s big brother, Spa, but still offers it’s own particular challenges. Zolder has a lot of blind crests and apexes which require total commitment from the drivers to maximise their speed around the lap. It also has several very tight chicanes where you can really attack the curbs to carry momentum through the corner. Attack too much though, and you’ll likely find yourself pointing the wrong way in a cloud of tyre smoke.
The big headline this week is that ESL tested a larger 12-player format for the races for the first time. Up to now, ESL Project CARS Cups have been organised in a bracket format, with drivers facing off head-to-head before the winner moves on to the next round in the bracket. The larger grid format proposed by ESL sees the drivers compete in 12 player heats with the top 6 finishers in each one moving on to the next round. This will make for more cars on track and reduce the time needed to complete each Cup.
The big headline this week is that ESL tested a larger 12-player format for the races for the first time. Up to now, ESL Project CARS Cups have been organised in a bracket format, with drivers facing off head-to-head before the winner moves on to the next round in the bracket. The larger grid format proposed by ESL sees the drivers compete in 12 player heats with the top 6 finishers in each one moving on to the next round. This will make for more cars on track and reduce the time needed to complete each Cup.
For Cup 24, ESL tested this new format, but only on PC. After another test in next week’s Cup, the results will be analysed and tweaked before rolling out this format to the other platforms.
As always, the drivers were competing for a €150 prize fund - split into three €50 prizes, one for the winner on each platform. At the end of March, the top 8 drivers on each platform will be invited to race in the March Final for an additional prize fund of €450!
As always, the drivers were competing for a €150 prize fund - split into three €50 prizes, one for the winner on each platform. At the end of March, the top 8 drivers on each platform will be invited to race in the March Final for an additional prize fund of €450!
 DriverR1 returned to the top of the pile in Cup 24 after coming second last time out. It’s amazing that he keeps doing so well against such fierce competition from experienced sim-racing team drivers, despite not being part of a team himself. SRT driver, Chuckno33 went one better than his third place last week to take second this time out. While ockerocker also returned to the podium for his new team, VP, which recently signed him up to take on this year’s Logitech G Championship Series as well. |  SDL Motorsport jumped back to the front on Xbox One thanks to M power. After a little run of dominance, the 2015 Driver Network Champions have a had a tough couple of weeks in ESL events where they have underachieved a little. The team will be pleased to have notched up another win this time out. M power was followed home by TX3’s Loucaw, scoring a personal debut podium and reaffirming the much improved form of the TX3 team of late. r2jz came third for RZ, while BAM’s recent run of podiums was halted by some very strong competition from the other teams in Cup 24. |  PC saw the first ESL test of a larger grid, 12-player format this week. In the final round it was a magnificent 1-2 for SDL’s Mangator and Yoohan who both kept a cool head while dealing with this new way of racing in the ESL Cups. There was a strong finish for Th3Pr0ph3cy as well in third. ESL will now analyse the results of this larger grid test, and make some tweaks to the format before another test on PC next week. After this it will decide whether to roll this format out on all platforms. Please look out more announcements in the near future. |
The next ESL Project CARS open tournament is the Go4 Cup #25 on Sunday March 20 with a €150 prize fund!
Go4 events consist of 4 or 5 weekly cups and a monthly final each month. The Cup Series is free and open to everyone and has €50 waiting for the best player on each platform. The weekly cups take place every Sunday and start at 19:00 CEST. All players earn ranking points to qualify for the Monthly Final where the winners on each platform will receive a €150 bonus!
Don’t forget, you can now vote for the circuit you want to race at in the next Go4 Cup. Please visit the ESL Project CARS forums to make your choice!
For more information about the ESL Project CARS Go4 Cups and to register to race, please visit the ESL website for the platform you play on.
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
PC
Go4 events consist of 4 or 5 weekly cups and a monthly final each month. The Cup Series is free and open to everyone and has €50 waiting for the best player on each platform. The weekly cups take place every Sunday and start at 19:00 CEST. All players earn ranking points to qualify for the Monthly Final where the winners on each platform will receive a €150 bonus!
Don’t forget, you can now vote for the circuit you want to race at in the next Go4 Cup. Please visit the ESL Project CARS forums to make your choice!
For more information about the ESL Project CARS Go4 Cups and to register to race, please visit the ESL website for the platform you play on.
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
PC
