Last year saw the inaugural season of rFactor 2 Formula Pro. Now it’s back for a second season! Here’s all the news about the 2022 Formula Pro lineup.
Image credit: Studio 397
rFactor 2’s Formula Pro championship in 2021 saw some of the best drivers and teams in all of esports racing do battle with one of the highest quality grids in the entire scene. Despite this, Mercedes’ Bono Huis dominated in a fashion even Lewis Hamilton would envy. The Dutchman won every single one of the six races.
Season 2 is just around the corner, and it’s stacked with talent ready to compete for their share of $50,000.
Formula Pro Brings in Big names
The biggest headline is that Huis will be joined in the Mercedes team by none other than Jarno Opmeer. The two-time F1 Esports champion is no stranger to jumping onto rFactor 2 after last year’s Formula E: Accelerate season, in which he also competed alongside Huis at Mercedes. He also did one round of the V10 R-League as part of YAS HEAT.
BS+COMPETITION are another team which will run a new driver. Former Rocket Simsport racer Ibraheem Khan jumped over to the zebra squad. Rocket themselves have retained the services of Daniel Kiss and brought in Ferris Stanley. All the other high profile teams are sticking to their guns.
Redline has Kevin Siggy and Jeffrey Rietveld, Red Bull has Alex Siebel and Dennis Jordan, and Williams Esports has Martin Stefanko and Petar Brljak. While many teams have stayed the same, there are more changes in the form of new teams.
Season one teams Varga Sim Racing, Jean Alesi Esports Academy and Musto GD e-Sports have all dropped out. In the place of the latter two are Formula Challenge graduates ByKolles Burst Esport and NetRex Grand Prix.
New names
In the Formula Challenge top split, the top two in the standings can move up to Formula Pro with a teammate of their choice. Last season’s champion Dawid Mroczek is a part of Burst Esport, however they are already in Formula Pro with Jernej Simoncic and Michi Hoyer.
As a result, Mroczek will race under the ByKolles name, the former WEC team that has partnered with Burst for Le Mans Virtual. Damian Skowron will partner his compatriot, who was Formula SimRacing Academy class champion in 2021.
The person who finished runner-up to Mroczek was Laurent Keersmaekers of Edge Esports, he has however forfeited his entry into the championship. Instead, Keersmaekers will be the reserve driver of NetRex Grand Prix citing a combination of private responsibilities and a desire to give the opportunity to young, aspiring drivers. Such drivers include Noah Reuvers and Collin Spork, who were third and fourth respectively in Formula Challenge.
Both drivers compete in Formula SimRacing, and also for Unicorns of Love in the VCO Esports Racing League. In FSR, Spork is currently dominating for UoL and Reuvers has also been netting some strong podium finishes in a variant of the Formula Pro car. Watch out for these two in particular to get some strong finishes in Formula Pro.
How to Follow Formula Pro
The season starts on Monday 9 May with a 15 minute qualifying session and a 60 minute race. The schedule is as follows:
Rd 1: Spa-Francorchamps – 9 May
Rd 2: Monza – 23 May
Rd 3: Daytona Road Course – 6 June
Rd 4: Donington Park – 4 July
Rd 5: Côte d’Azur – 18 July
Rd 6: Laguna Seca – 1 August
Coinciding with the second season of Formula Pro is also Formula Challenge’s second season. The first three rounds will be held on the Mondays after the respective Pro rounds. Meanwhile, the last three will be held on the Mondays prior to Formula Pro. Broadcasts for all the Formula Pro and Formula Challenge action will be on Traxion.GG’s YouTube and Twitch channels.
Who will win the Formula Pro championship? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
