Familiar names lead the way in NZERS qualifying
Defending champion Matthew McEwen has once again topped the leaderboards claiming the #1 seed position in the New Zealand Esports Racing Championships (NZERS) 2024.
After a successful season 1 that saw NZs best Gran Turismo drivers fight for the NZ title at Respawn Esports Center in Wellington last December NZERS is back for a second season in 2024.
Qualifying took place from Aug 8th to 18th to determine the 28 drivers who would race across the top two divisions. Using GT7s circuit experience mode to ensure a level playing field each driver had to set their best lap at Laguna Seca in the Dodge Viper Gr4 car.
Matthew McEwen led the way with a 1:25.642 followed closely by Caleb Birtles and Simon Bishop. Not only was that fast enough to be the top three qualifiers, it was faster than anyone else in the world has managed. Those three drivers now sit atop the global leaderboard.
It’s set to be a competitive season as the front three were joined by a further 5 kiwi drivers to make it 8 kiwis in the Laguna Seca top 10 stars.
Below are the final results and divisions heading into the online championship. The online championship is crucial as only the top 10 drivers will earn their spot in the LAN finals at the end of the year where the NZERS champion will be crowned.
Keep an eye on division 2 drivers such as Kaine Goonan and Glenn Mead as this year sees new rules where top performing drivers will be able to earn promotion into division 1 mid season.
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In 2024 division 1 will feature 8 returning finalists, including last seasons top three; McEwen, Atkinson, and Smith. We also see the return of Simon “Sidawg” Bishop who did well enough to qualify in 2023 but was unable to attend the final. He’s unofficially “retired” from Gran Turismo after attending 10 world tour events but will be making a return for NZERS as one of the favourites after qualifying in third.
Unfortunately missing from the starting grid will be Jake, iWizard, and Scooter. All drivers that competed in division 1 last year and qualified fast enough this year but have since withdrawn from the championship. They would have qualified 6th, 10th, and 14th respectively.
Three of last years div 2 drivers have improved enough to earn the step up to div 1 for 2024; Logan "VTX_BlindMan" Nelley, Olaf “ClanFever” Flesch, and Campbell "Airbrn" Knowles. They finished 1st, 3rd, and 12th respectively in NZERS 2023 div 2 and will no doubt be looking to continue the upwards trend as they race against the very best this season.
The remaining two spots are made up of brand new names in NZERS; Caleb “NZ_Caleb” Birtles and Ben "SlyBenTheCat" Groves, both making a statement to qualify as one of the top 14 drivers in the country. Birtles in particular is one to watch having qualified in second place. He made a big impression with his arrival on the GT7 scene, immediately fighting for top split wins in the Gran Turismo World Series online races this year.
The New Zealand Esports Racing Series 2024 had 45 entries that have now been seeded into three divisions. Up from 35 entries in 2023.
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Our attention now turns to the six round online championship which gets underway this Friday, September 6th at 8pm. The top 10 drivers from the championship then earn their spot in the LAN finals where the NZERS champion will be crowned.
All races will be broadcast live on twitch.tv/RespawnEsportsCentre
The NZERS champion will go on to test a full metal Toyota 86 thanks to Toyota Gazoo Racing New Zealand. Plenty of racing to come.
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