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Saturday, July 5, 2025

BMW M Motorsport’s Alpine Bootcamp Preps Drivers for Esports World Cup


Once I began dabbling in sim racing, I had no concept how deep the rabbit gap would go. It started innocently sufficient: a curiosity for digital racing, a rising appreciation for the rising world of esports, and—like lots of you studying this—the temptation to construct my very own sim rig. Fanatec gear shortly entered the image, and earlier than lengthy, I discovered myself absolutely immersed on this digital motorsport universe. However to really perceive what makes this world tick—and the way it connects to BMW M Motorsport—I made a decision to do one thing totally different. I packed a bag, picked up the brand new BMW M5 (G90), and pointed its nostril towards the Austrian Alps.

This was no abnormal street journey. BMW M Motorsport had invited a choose group of world-renowned sim racers and particular company on a three-day bootcamp within the mountains of Ebbs, Austria. The purpose? To organize bodily, mentally, and emotionally for the upcoming 2025 Esports World Cup in Riyadh. However past that, it was a technique to unplug from screens, reconnect with nature—and one another—and produce real-world workforce spirit to the digital paddock.

The Drive to Disconnect

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The journey started in Munich, naturally. I used to be handed the keys to a brand-new G90 BMW M5—a 717-horsepower hybrid brute cloaked in Frozen Deep Gray, good for carving by Alpine passes. The drive was a soul-stirring warm-up act, climbing towards the Tyrolean border the place screens fade and the air feels totally different. As soon as in Ebbs, the digital world stopped. From there, every little thing continued on foot: a one-hour hike into the mountains led us to our headquarters—Berg’ok‘hof Kaisertal—a distant alpine lodge and our base for the subsequent three days.

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It didn’t take lengthy for issues to get severe. After settling in, the group was welcomed with a keynote on psychological energy, adopted by mobility and stretching classes to organize for the journey forward. The message was clear: this wasn’t going to be a wellness retreat. It was going to problem you—and make you higher for it.

Teamwork at 1,600 Meters

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The next day began with a 6-kilometer hike to the Ritzau Alm, however that was simply the prelude. Ready for us was the Naunspitze Ridge—a jagged climb reaching 1,600 meters. Climbing gear was handed out. Security directions got. After which, the true work started. For many of us, together with the skilled drivers, this was unfamiliar terrain—bodily and mentally. However that was the purpose. Because the climb progressed, one thing clicked. Drivers started serving to one another assess routes, providing a hand, or simply phrases of encouragement. They weren’t opponents anymore. They had been teammates.

Jürgen Eberhart and Matthias HaunholderJürgen Eberhart and Matthias Haunholder

The climb was guided by Jürgen Eberhart, a WINWARD RACING workforce supervisor and mountain skilled, together with Matthias Haunholder, knowledgeable Austrian freeskier and excessive sports activities filmmaker. And whereas I’ve skilled some attention-grabbing experiences in my life, together with a North Pole journey, this was genuinely one of the demanding challenges I’ve ever confronted. The summit, although, was unforgettable. Planting a BMW M Motorsport flag on the peak felt symbolic—for the game, for the workforce, and perhaps for this entire new journey I used to be on.

Shelter Constructing and Sim Legends

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However the mountain wasn’t the one check. Later that day, the group hiked again all the way down to take part in a shelter-building workshop deep within the woods—one other lesson in belief, teamwork, and improvisation. Regardless of the sore legs and drained minds, the workforce spirit was current and collaborations began to kind. It was additionally the right setting to bond with the drivers—lots of whom are among the many greatest sim racers on this planet. This 12 months, BMW is supporting three standout groups within the R1 sim racing collection:

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  • Workforce Redline, owned by Max Verstappen, who gained the 2024 R1 Workforce Championship with consistency, tempo, and sheer dominance.
  • BS+COMPETITION, the daring, artistic esports arm primarily based in Munich, identified for its modern spirit and shut ties to BMW Motorsport. The workforce additionally races within the eNascar iRacing Sequence.
  • MOUZ, considered one of Germany’s most iconic esports manufacturers, now bringing recent momentum to the R1 grid.

And whereas BMW isn’t fielding a manufacturing unit workforce within the Esports World Cup, their assist by activations like this bootcamp exhibits a deepening funding within the scene.

From Brazil to Bavaria

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Probably the most fascinating facets of the week was studying how these drivers bought right here. Every story was totally different, however equally compelling. In truth, through the COVID period, many of those sim execs routinely outran Components 1 drivers in digital races.

Max BeneckeMax Benecke

Max Benecke, of Workforce MOUZ, began sim racing in 2015 and have become the primary to interrupt 11,000 iRating on iRacing. He as soon as dreamt of DTM however now channels his expertise into esports—and BMW acknowledges his abilities. He even works with BMW’s engineering workforce to check simulators and supply setup suggestions.

Ferris StanleyFerris Stanley

Ferris Stanley, now with BS+, got here from humble beginnings in Indonesia. With a Logitech wheel and goals greater than his tools, he climbed his method into the highest tier of sim racing—ultimately touchdown a spot on the workforce in Munich.

Caique OliveiraCaique Oliveira

Caique Oliveira, one other BS+ driver from Brazil, has no aspirations for real-world racing. For him, esports is the vacation spot, not the stepping stone. And judging by his talent and self-discipline, that vacation spot seems to be shiny.

Moritz LöhnerMoritz Löhner

Then there’s Moritz Löhner, who began sim racing at seven. His sim profession led to real-world drives within the DTM Trophy and LMP3. From Spa-Francorchamps podiums to a current return to sim racing with MOUZ, Löhner proves that the Gran Turismo film isn’t a fluke. He has hopes to proceed racing in each the digital and actual world.

Trying Forward: From the Alps to Riyadh

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Whereas my journey with the group ended after just a few days—off to cowl the 24 Hours of Le Mans—the groups had been simply getting began. The Esports World Cup 2025 in Riyadh is ready to be the most important occasion of its variety. Working from July 7 to August 24, it would function:

  • 2,000 elite gamers
  • 200 Golf equipment
  • Over 100 international locations
  • 25 tournaments throughout 24 video games
  • A staggering $70 million prize pool

Automotive esports titles like Rennsport are on the coronary heart of this development, and the R1 collection is racing with the BMW M4 GT3 on iconic tracks just like the Nürburgring and Daytona. The full prize pool for the sim racing portion alone? $500,000.

Timo BrücknerTimo Brückner

Based on Timo Brückner of BMW M Motorsport, the model sees this area as an extension of real-world racing. “We wish to assist the groups who race our vehicles and supply them among the BMW Motorsport experience,” he mentioned. “It’s a bridge between sim racing and motorsport—and perhaps in the future, considered one of these drivers will race for BMW in the true world.”

What I realized within the Alps is that sim racing is not confined to the display screen. It’s a world, bodily, emotional, and deeply linked expertise. It’s the place engineering meets digital, the place expertise meets tenacity, and the place the boundaries between actual and digital motorsport are blurring.

For BMW, it’s not only a branding train, it’s additionally a technique to share their motorsport experience. And for me, it was a humbling, inspiring, and sometimes exhausting glimpse right into a world I’m solely simply starting to know.

 



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