Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team leads the way in Rennsport R1 qualifiers

Having topped the initial seeding stage, the team has solidified its strong position in the group stages, and sits joint top of the championship table alongside Team Redline.

They head into the closing stages of the championship as one of the favourites to take the outright honours when the series ends later in the year at the Esports World Cup.

Previous seasons have seen great success for the team as Josh Rogers topped the drivers’ championship in 2023, with Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team the runners’ up in the teams’ championship. Combined, that brought in winnings of €60,000.

Last year’s outing in the Esports World Cup wasn’t as fruitful, but the team still placed fifth in the points standings, earning $25,000.

So far in the 2025 spring season - which in essence is a qualifier for the main event at this year’s Esports World Cup - Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team have had a near perfect run.

Seeding stage

To begin with, there was the seeding stage which took place across three rounds held between March and April.

Each team has four drivers in their roster, and whilst the teams’ championship standings are the vital ones for tournament progression, Charlie Collins was the highest scoring driver in the seeding stage.

One driver from every team took part in each quarter final, with the top six finishers from those 12 moving onto the semi-final stage. From there, the top six made it into a final and drivers’ earned points from every race they took part in.

A perfect record of a race win in the quarter-final, semi-final and the final of the first round held at Spa-Francorchamps meant Collins had the maximum possible points tally.

All three of his team-mates also made it through to the final, ensuring a strong points haul to lead the championship after the first round.

Round two took place at Monza and it was there where Collins’ run of race wins came to an end, claiming a win in the quarter final before second place results in the semi-final and final.

Jordan Caruso was the only other Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team driver to join him in the final, finishing in ninth place.

The third and final round was held at the Hockenheimring and it was another strong showing for Collins as he was the only driver from the team to make it through to the final.

However, a mistake in the first sector of his qualifying lap saw him start from 11th place. A good start in the race meant he worked his way up to seventh on the opening lap, until a contact induced spin at the Turn 12 hairpin dropped him to last.

Ultimately, Collins finished the final in 11th after Dáire McCormack of Virtus.pro was hit with a time penalty for a jump start.

McCormack’s penalty also ensured Collins ended as the highest scoring driver in the seeding stage, taking 190 points compared to McCormack’s 187.

The three other Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team drivers had solid points hauls as Rogers, Caruso and Dayne Warren finished 12th, 13th and 14th respectively.

Most importantly though their combined points tally of 427, narrowly pipping Team Redline behind them with 422 points, was enough to win the seeding stage and qualify for Group A in the group stages.

Group stages

The next phase of Rennsport R1 takes on a different format, with three races per group with all four drivers from each team racing at the same time.

Joining Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team in Group A for the first round were the second and third placed teams from the seeding stage, Team Redline and Virtus.pro.

To date, only two of the five group stage rounds have taken place and currently Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team and Team Redline sit joint top of the table with 23 points each from a maximum available 24 points.

In each group stage round, teams are scored points based on the group they’re in and their position within each group. The top placed team in Group A scores 12 points, down to the bottom placed team in Group D which scores just one.

The total points accrued across the group stages will be crucial for progression to the Esports World Cup final. Only the team that tops Group A in the final round, as well as the next two highest scoring teams, will automatically qualify for the finals.

Fuji Speedway played host to the first group stage round, and it proved to be a fantastic start for the Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team.

Josh Rogers won the first two races and Dayne Warren the third. They both also secured a 100% podium finishing record, as the races they didn’t win they were still able to claim third place.

Collins and Caruso didn’t have quite as flashy a set of results, but the four of them still comfortably outscored their rivals Team Redline and Virtus.pro to top Group A and score the maximum 12 points.

Round two at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit wasn’t as much of a success, albeit the first race still saw Collins and Rogers finish third and fourth respectively.

None of the four Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team drivers were able to make the podium in the second race, claiming fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth.

However the team ended the most recent round on a high, with a race win for Collins after passing Siggy for the race lead on the penultimate lap.

Though the team fell short of winning the round, as they were outscored by Team Redline, crucially they escaped relegation to Group B as they had more than double the points of last placed MOUZ.

A round win and second place for both Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team and Team Redline means the two teams are firmly established as the ones to beat.

With both the Group A winner in the fifth and final round, and the next two highest scoring teams all guaranteed a place in the final at Esports World Cup, Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team are looking likely to qualify for that final without needing to navigate the last chance qualifier process.

The next round will be run at Daytona on May 16 followed by Group A competing at Monza on May 29 and then an as yet unknown final venue on June 6. All rounds will be live streamed on the Porsche Twitch channel.