Porsche are to field a fully-fledged works esports team in partnership with Coanda Esports.
Image credit: Porsche / Coanda
German auto manufacturer Porsche has teamed up with sim racing organisation Coanda Esports to create its first official esports works team. Porsche announced the partnership via Twitch broadcast on Wednesday 25 May.
Both companies had already successfully worked together within the last two years. As a result of the deal, five drivers from the Coanda line-up will be signed as Porsche Esports work drivers and race under the flag of ‘Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team’.
Among them is two-time Porsche Esports Supercup winner Joshua Rogers. He will be joined by 2021 Le Mans Virtual 24h runner-up Mack Bakkum, 2020 Le Mans Virtual 24h winner Tommy Ostgaard and former iRacing Rallycross World Champion Mitchell deJong. “Excited for the journey ahead alongside some of my best friends and teammates”, wrote deJong on Twitter.
Three-time iRacing World Championship Grand Prix Series winner Martin Krönke will be a reserve driver for the team. Philip Stamm will work as Team Principal. The German is a founding member of Coanda and has been working as a team manager since 2014.
Porsche and Coanda – A Historic Partnership
The collaboration between Porsche and Coanda is not new. In 2020, both parties partnered up for the 24 Hours Le Mans Virtual and secured victory in the GTE class. Rogers and Ostgaard were part of the successful squad. In January 2022, the team returned and brought home a second-place finish, this time with deJong and Bakkum on board.
“The fact that Coanda is also included in the official team name is a matter of course, and it underlines the partnership at eye level” said Marco Ujhasi, Head of Esports at Porsche Motorsport. Even though both parties have spoken about a ‘long-term deal’ no information on the exact duration has been published.
There is also no information yet on which competitions the team aims to take part in. With all five drivers being especially successful in iRacing, we expect to see them in the major competitions of the simulation soon.
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