Porsche Esports Carrera Cup GB begins its fifth season.

Reading, Great Britain. The fifth season of RAFA Racing Club Porsche Esports Carrera Cup GB, the virtual championship for professional sim racers, starts on Sunday 12 January and will take place across eight weekends between January and April. Reflecting its real world counterpart, a busy 16 race calendar will visit a mix of venues familiar to Porsche Carrera Cup GB, with the addition of two new British circuits and an exciting ‘wild card’ track chosen by followers of the Porsche Instagram account – @PorscheRaces_GB.

For a second year the championship continues with the support of RAFA Racing Club, the enthusiast-based motorsport community dedicated to supporting driver development. The championship returns to the iRacing platform, the online subscription-based racing simulation software is trusted by racers around the world for its realistic racing experience. Competition was close during open pre-qualification in December 2024, more than 85 hopefuls set their best lap times at a pixel perfect Silverstone Grand Prix circuit, with the top 30 going on to form the grid.

Amongst the returnees and talented newcomers is triple champion (2021, 2023 and 2024) Sebastian Job from East Grinstead in Surrey. Seb recently explored the link between the sim and the real world in Oracle Red Bull Sim Racing’s Game to Glory: Level Up. The four part documentary on YouTube (www.youtube.com/redbullracing) follows the professional sim racer on his journey from the sim rig to driving a Formula One car in real life. In the first episode the 24-year old attempts to master the 510hp 911 GT3 Cup at Snetterton with the help of Porsche Carrera Cup GB 2024 / 2025 Junior, James Wallis, underlining the accurate correlation between the two worlds.

The 2025 RAFA Racing Club Porsche Esports Carrera Cup GB calendar mimics that of Porsche Carrera Cup GB, which races exclusively as part of the TOCA package in support of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC). Alongside visits to a simulated Silverstone and digital Donington Park, the championship takes in three new circuits for its fifth consecutive season. Thruxton – the UK’s fastest circuit – and Croft are new to the iRacing platform and make their exciting championship debuts. Two 'wild card’ races on 9 March will take place at Zandvoort located in the Netherlands. The addition of the storied track was decided via an online poll put to followers of the Porsche Motorsport GB Instagram account, voted ahead of Mugello, Portimão and Zolder.

Continuing with its successful format and important position on the Porsche Virtual Motorsport Pyramid, drivers in two categories, Pro and Am, will fight for honours, replicating the system adopted by Porsche Motorsport’s other three championships in Great Britain. In total 18 drivers will battle for overall honours in the Pro category, with 12 aiming for Am category glory. All 30 entrants will race identical recreations of the 911 GT3 Cup with predominantly fixed setups designed to foster a level playing field. The split category system provides those with less sim racing experience an opportunity to score podium results, winning their own distinct prizes. Alongside championship favourite Sebastian Job come a list of familiar names in the Pro category, including former race winners Luke McKeown from Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex, Peter Berryman from Corby in Northamptonshire, and William Chadwick from Wigan in Greater Manchester. Luke Pennington from Bideford in Devon steps up from an Am category campaign in 2024, while Matt J Caruana from Reading in Berkshire transitions from the entry-level community-based sim racing championship – Porsche Esports Sprint Challenge GB, Matt clinched overall honours last season.

Porsche Carrera Cup GB’s Charles Rainford from Tunbridge Wells in Kent, a former overall race winner, and Porsche Sprint Challenge GB’s Jacob Tofts from Harlow in Essex attempt to adapt their real life racing experience into the virtual world, the reverse translation of skills showcased by Sebastian Job. Meanwhile, the Am category includes a fascinating mix of new and returning names, including Scott Moakes from Meppershall in Bedfordshire, former Porsche Esports Sprint Challenge GB Am category champion Oliver Ettridge from Nuneaton in Warwickshire, Nathan Tague from Derby in Derbyshire and Daniel Cofield from Doncaster in South Yorkshire.

Each Esports Carrera Cup GB weekend will follow a familiar format unchanged from 2024. Drivers take part in a 60-minute practice session followed by a 10-minute qualifying session to set the grid for the first of the day's two 25-minute races. The grid for the second race of each weekend will see the top eight finishers from Race One starting in reverse order. After each round, the top three overall finishers in their category (Pro and Am) in each race will receive prize money – £150 for first, £100 for second and £50 for third.

At the end of the season cash rewards for the top three overall Pro category championship finishers will see racers take their share of a generous prize pot; £7500 for first, £5000 for second and £2500 for third place. The top three Am category drivers receive £3250 for first, £2500 for second and £1250 for third. In a unique opportunity to meet in real life, champions in both categories are invited to join drivers from Porsche Carrera Cup GB and Porsche Sprint Challenge GB at the Porsche Night of Motorsport awards ceremony to receive their physical trophies on stage.

The new season gets underway on Sunday 12 January 2024 at 14:00 GMT with live coverage and professional commentary featuring David Addison – part of the dedicated ITV commentary team on BTCC weekends drawing a further link between the digital and physical worlds. All eight weekends will be broadcast live on the Porsche Twitch (twitch.tv/porsche) and YouTube channels (youtube.com/Porsche).

Follow the latest Porsche Esports Carrera Cup GB news directly from Porsche Motorsport via Instagram at @PorscheRaces_GB – users can share experiences via the hashtag #EsportsCarreraCupGB.