Mercedes Benz is teaming up with ProGaming Italia and Sony Interactive Entertainment Italy for a new esports event. The platform of choice? None other than Gran Turismo Sport.
Called the Gran Turismo Sport E-Cup by Mercedes, the event kicks off on July 22.
Online qualifying will take place through September 16 with a variety of smaller “cup races”. The seven best players from these online events will qualify for the finals.
In addition to the online component, there are also two live qualifying sessions. The first of these will take place during the Italian Grand Prix weekend from August 30 through September 2. The second “Last Chance” qualifier will take to the ESL esports arena at the Milan Games Week 2018 on October 5–6.
For these qualifying sessions, players will use the Mercedes-AMG GT S ’15. There’s no indication of which track, but we’d guess Monza.
In total 12 racers will vie for the championship on the October 7, the last day of Milan Games Week.
The winner will take home some pretty nice prizes too. These include an Amazon gift card worth €3,000 and an “AMG Neve” driving experience from the AMG Driving Academy. The second and third place runners-up will also score a €2,000 and €1,000 respectively and an “AMG Pista” driving experience.
To enter the event you will need a PSN and ESL account.
Registration will open to contestants on July 21 and run through the qualifying time frame.
You can find out more about the E-Cup on the Playstation Italian League website. This includes times, dates, rules, and prize explanations.
There’s also a brief intro video to the series which we’ve included below.
