since 1976
since 1976
The third season of the Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship kicks off in September with a series of qualifying rounds, a semi-final and a challenging four-race format grand finale.
Four online qualifying rounds, limited to 180 participants per round, will run over two consecutive weekends from 3-4 September and 12-13 September, with some 720 racers expected to compete. Qualifying will take place at the 4.5km Fuji International Speedway in Japan with racers piloting a GR Supra RZ.
The top 20 fastest drivers will then advance to the semi-final to be held on 26 September at UMW Toyota Motor Sdn. Bhd.’s (UMWT) headquarters in Shah Alam. The semi-final will involve two individual races held in Japan. The first is a 22-lap race at the Kyoto Driving Park behind the wheel of a TS050 Hybrid prototype sports car, and later piloting a Dallara Super Formula SF19 around the 5.8km Suzuka Circuit in an 18-lap battle.
The 10 fastest drivers will book a spot to compete in the grand final on 27 September at the same venue, where the battle to become champion and win the grand prize money of RM20,000 will be decided over four gruelling races with points awarded for every round. Race 1 will see drivers competing in a GR Supra RZ at the Autodrome Lago Maggiore circuit in Italy (15 laps); Race 2 at Autopolis Racing Course Japan in a FT-1 Vision Gran Turismo (18 laps); Race 3 behind the wheel of a TS050 Hybrid sports car at Circuit de la Sarthe in France (10 laps); while the fourth and final race will take place at the famous 13.6km Belgium Spa- Francorchamps circuit behind the wheel of a Toyota-powered Dallara Super Formula SF19 (18 laps).
Billed as one of the most lucrative and rewarding local online racing series, the Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship offers a cash prize of RM20,000, RM10,000, RM7,000, RM5,500, RM4,500 to the top five overall winners.
The top three racers will also earn the honor of representing Malaysia in the first ever GR Supra GT Cup Asia 2020 regional e-motorsports competition organized by Toyota Motor Asia Pacific (TMAP) in October 2020. The GR Supra GT Cup Asia 2020 will see or Malaysian virtual racers competing against the best from Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines and India.
Meanwhile, prize monies amounting to RM4,000, RM3,500, RM3,000, RM2,500 and RM2,000 also awaits those who finish in 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th positions respectively at the Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship. A prize of RM500 each will also be given out to those who finish 11th to 20th positions.
With RM70,000 up for grabs, racers will also stand a chance to win additional cash in the form of RM450, RM200 and RM100 awarded to the first, second and third place winners at each of the four grand final races.
Season 3 of the Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship will also feature a special 10-lap exhibition race involving racers and celebrities competing in the Toyota Vios Challenge and Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival.
TGR racers will go head-to-head in a 10-lap race behind the wheel of a Toyota GR Supra Racing Concept race car at the 4.5km Fuji International Speedway, while celebrities will drive a TS050 Hybrid sports car in a 17-lap race at the Tokyo Expressway.
“The race must go on, amidst a post-pandemic era and in the new norm, and while physical motor-racing involving Toyota is not expected to return until the first quarter of 2021, the past five months presented UMWT with the perfect opportunity to advance our virtual racing activities and to bring the Gazoo racing spirit and motorsports to the masses,” said Toyota Gazoo Racing Malaysia’s Chief Motorsports Officer Akio Takeyama.
Takeyama, who is also UMWT Deputy Chairman said, the company kicked off its online racing campaign with organizing the Toyota Gazoo Racing Online Challenge that featured five individual rounds being held from April. The challenge attracted gamers as young as six years old who participated in a competition which utilized Sony PlayStation’s popular Gran Turismo Sport platform in a quest to find the fastest “racer” at five different virtual circuits around the world.
UMWT is the first and remains as the only Malaysian car company to be associated with the fast-growing E-sports motor-racing activities, and Takeyama said the company is honored to have been able to positively contribute to the growing interest in online racing in Malaysia.
