The third season of Porsche Esports Carrera Cup GB, the virtual championship for professional sim racers, is poised to get underway at a computer-generated Silverstone on Sunday 15 January. Porsche Motorsport GB's third championship, which runs alongside Porsche Sprint Challenge GB and Porsche Carrera Cup GB, will deliver an action-packed calendar of 16 races across eight weekends between January and April. This season also sees the championship debut of Porsche Carrera Cup GB Junior, Adam Smalley.

The championship which operates on the iRacing platform, an online subscription-based racing simulation used by racers around the world, saw drivers take part in pre-qualification in December. Skilled hopefuls from around the world set their best lap times on an accurate digital rendition of the challenging 3.6-mile Silverstone Grand Prix circuit, the top 27 progressing to form the championship grid for the season.

Following the established format, the championship will visit some of the best circuits in Great Britain, mimicking Porsche Carrera Cup GB which competes exclusively as part of the TOCA package racing in support of the British Touring Car Championship. In addition, on 12 March a pixel perfect Spa Francorchamps will play host to two 'wild card' Esports Carrera Cup GB races – the iconic Belgian circuit last visited by Carrera Cup GB in 2015.

2023 Calendar:

15 January - Silverstone (GP) - Rounds 1 & 2

29 January - Brands Hatch (Indy) - Rounds 3 & 4

12 February - Snetterton (300) - Rounds 5 & 6

26 February - Oulton Park - Rounds 7 & 8

12 March - Spa Francorchamps - Rounds 9 & 10

26 March - Silverstone (National) - Rounds 11&12

16 April - Donington Park (GP) - Rounds 13&14

30 April - Brands Hatch (GP) - Rounds 15&16

New for 2023 is the adoption of Pro and Am categories, following the successful category format employed in Porsche Motorsport GB's other championships. The overall pace of a driver in pre-qualification determines their category for the season: the top 17 will fight for overall Pro category honours, while the remaining entrants compete for Am glory. The introduction of two distinct categories makes the championship even more accessible and exciting, providing less experienced racers with the opportunity to compete for Am podium results and prizes of their own.

Following his nail-biting duel with eventual champion Kevin Ellis Jr last season, 2021 Esports Carrera Cup GB champion Sebastian Job is amongst the returnees chasing championship victory in 2023. The 22-year-old will be joined by a mix of familiar names and interesting newcomers. Amongst those seeking to challenge Job come a host of former front-runners including 2022 Porsche Carrera Cup GB overall podium finisher Josh Malin (Comline Richardson Racing).

Malin is not the only Porsche Carrera Cup GB driver hoping to translate his real world racing skill to sim racing. Porsche GB Junior Adam Smalley will also join the championship as a guest entrant for five of its eight weekends, racing with the Apex Racing team – the squad that took Kevin Ellis Jr to championship glory in 2022. Smalley, who only began his sim racing journey at the end of last year, will use the Esports championship as a warm-up to his 2023 Porsche Carrera Cup GB title challenge.

The 17 Pro category entrants are:

William Chadwick
Josh Thompson
Josh Malin
Sebastian Job
Jon Robertson
Jamie Moone
Kane Halliburton
Oli Peacock
Will Redford
Leon Penn
Jack Sedgwick
Will Dames
Thomas Cope
Matt Emery
Daniel J Thomas
Eric Grove
Adam Smalley

The 10 Am category entrants are:

Leo Gariboli
Brandon Blakesley
Ben Palmer
Daniel McAuley
Scott Moakes
Gareth Higgins
Jamie Rushworth
Luke Pennington
Adam State
James Parker

The championship continues to utilise an incredibly accurate representation of the 'Type 992' Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, introduced to Esports Carrera Cup GB for the 2022 season. iRacing's version of the Porsche 911 Cup car is universally praised for its parallels with the same 510 hp GT3 Cup used in Porsche Carrera Cup GB, many of the championship's current roster of drivers using it for practice ahead of each race weekend.

The Esports Carrera Cup GB weekend format remains from 2022, drivers take part in a 60-minute practice session followed by a 20-minute qualifying session to set the grid for the first of the day's two 25-minute races. 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, the top three overall Pro category championship finishers receive their share of a £33,600 prize pot; £7,500 for first, £5,000 for second and £2,500 for third place. The top three Am category drivers also receive their share; £4,500 for first, £3,000 for second and £1,500 for third.

The championship gets underway on Sunday 15 January 2022 at 14:00 GMT. Fans can spectate via a dedicated online livestream featuring professional commentary and post-race driver interviews broadcast on the Porsche Twitch (www.twitch.tv/porsche) and YouTube channels (youtube.com/Porsche).