2024 Year in Review - $30,000+ in prizes for kiwi sim racers
It’s that time again to look back at the year that was. It was almost a year of two halves with kiwi sim racing success throughout. Early in the year we saw many in person events where locals could earn great prizes. Later in the year, after some delays, NZ Esports came in strong hosting their big three events all at the same time.
In total kiwi sim racers picked up $30,000+ worth of prizes. Kiwis raced across 12 big competitions. 6 online and 6 in person. And 3 drivers qualified for overseas world finals.
Plus this year sim racing communities from across NZ teamed up to launch NZ Sim Racing TV and NZ Sim Racing Hub continuing to grow sim racing from the ground up.
You can also look back further with the 2023 review.
NZ Sim Racing Events from 2024
Computer Lounge ACC 1v1 - In person @ Computer Lounge - March - $3,500 of Moza equipment. J. Da Silva won the event taking home a Moza R9 bundle.
JustTheAtoms 1,000 followers special event - Online - March - Thrustmaster T248 & Toyota Gazoo Racing merch. Matthew McEwen won the GT7 series after 4 reverse grid races.
The Rock FM sim challenge at Taupo Super400 - In person @ Taupo Supercars round - April - Trip to watch the Bathurst 1000. Cameron Fleming set the fastest lap time around Bathurst in Assetto Corsa to win the trip.
X-Golf/Racing Sims Competition - In person @ X-Golf Christchurch - May, June, July - $3,500 across three events. William McDonald was the big winner taking out two rounds of the iRacing competition to claim $1,500 in prize money.
Logi Race Days Fastest Lap on GT7 - In person @ One NZ NorthWest - August/September - 2x Astro A50 & Playstation 5.
NZ Esports ACC Qualifier (NZEAQ) - Online - October - Trip to race in the Global Esports Games world final in China. Matthew McEwen and Sasha Death won their divisions and join the E Blacks to represent NZ, however the GEG have been delayed into 2025.
NZ Esports Hyperfiber League (NZEHL) - Online - October - $5,000. Kory Lazarus won the iRacing season after an incredibly consistent season, taking home $1,600 for his efforts.
NZ Esports Racing Series (NZERS) - Online + in person final in Wellington - November - Test drive in Toyota 86 race series. Matthew McEwen swept the field to win back to back seasons of the GT7 championship.
Mega Esports GT7 Race Day - Online - November - $1,170. It was two Australians who picked up the lion share of the prize money but kiwis Matthew McEwen and Simon Bishop were right amongst it with $210 and $110 in prize money respectively.
Kiwis Competing Internationally
K1Z Tom won Logitech McLaren G Challenge on Forza Motorsport - Online - March - $3,000 + F1 Grand Prix trip.
Tri-Nations Esports Cup. Team NZ managed second place in the online iRacing competition in August. Stefan McCartain was the top kiwi winning themselves a Next Level Racing Haptic Feedback Pad.
Heineken Player 0.0 Finals. Quin Zander qualified to represent NZ back in October then headed over to the world finals in Madrid in December to compete on F1 24 and have a VIP experience with Max Verstappen.
Other NZ Sim Racing News from 2024
NZ Sim Racing TV launched. In July NZ sim racing communities joined together to launch the NZ Sim Racing Collective with new broadcast channels across Twitch and Youtube that were then used for all NZ sim racing events through the rest of the year.
Motorsport NZ (MSNZ) Esports Pass. MSNZ launched the new pass in July, were involved in the Tri-Nations event, then promptly have done nothing else in sim racing since. The pass does come with a 1 year iRacing license for new users so is still worth it if you want to get started with iRacing.
NZ Sim Racing Hub launched. The new hub was launched in December to be the new go to place to find all things sim racing in NZ including leagues, retailers, and broadcasts.
And I’d be silly not to mention Hectic Motorsport News was born in 2024! Frustrated by the lack of coverage for NZ Sim Racing events I launched Hectic as an experiment back in January. The goal was simple, be the easiest way to keep up with all the big NZ sim racing news. One year on it’s been awesome to hear from those that have enjoyed the newsletter and people who have discovered events they would otherwise have missed.
On its first birthday it’s fair to say Hectic is no longer just an experiment but it is still small. In 2025 I’d love to see it grow into its potential and I’d love some help doing it. If you have ideas for Hectic, would like to write about NZ sim racing, or otherwise can help out then please get in touch. Reply to this email or message me on Bluesky, Twitter, or Facebook.
As always if I’ve missed any events or news please reply to this email and let me know.
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