Assetto Corsa | Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo Coming As Part Of New Esport Series

Paul Jeffrey · Jul 28, 2020

In yet more Assetto Corsa news, Italian giants Ferrari have announced a new Esport series that will include the Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo as exclusive content for participants.

Ferrari Hublot Esports Series debuts September.
The Ferrari 488 Challenge Evo will be a series exclusive new car.
Categories for PRO and AM drivers.

In a special press announcement earlier today, featuring lead Ferrari Formula One driver Charles Leclerc, the iconic Ferrari brand have announced their next official venture into the world of esport racing. The Ferrari Hublot Esport Series is set to debut over the course of the coming months, beginning this September, with pre-entries opening on August 7th for European residents over 18-years of age.

Want to know what Leclerc and co have to say about the new series? Check out the announcement conference below:

What makes this series particularly interesting, aside from the fact it involves one of the most storied names in motorsport, is the fact that the new category has elected to pair up with the original Assetto Corsa simulation, which has opened up the opportunity for the series to bring the Ferrari 488 challenge Evo car into the title - adding a free piece of content available exclusively to drivers who take part in the qualification process.

As the new championship is set to be split between PRO (invitational drivers) and AM (qualified drivers), the 12 fastest drivers in each category to emerge from the four October races will go forward to the finals in November when the overall winner will be decided over three races.

In terms of prizes, Ferrari plan to award the overall champion a place in the Ferrari Driver Academy Hublot Esports team, alongside the reigning F1 Esports Drivers’ Champion, David Tonizza, and established esport star Enzo Bonito - with coaching and advice provided to the drivers during the season from Charles Leclerc.

Assetto Corsa is available now for console and PC.

Want to enhance your Assetto Corsa experience? Head over to the AC mods section and browse through the awesome things our community have been creating!

garyjpaterson · Jul 28, 2020

Pretty cool

SunBro · Jul 28, 2020

Imma type this question in every thread for this and annoy people

"Can a-n-y-o-n-e register?" I'm an incredibly awful driver, i don't give a damn about my laptimes, i just want the car. Do i have to prove myself, qualify a below a certain laptime to permanently get this car?

BULLET4JUSTICE2 · Jul 28, 2020

this probably means that their contract with Blancpain isn't an exclusive one, meaning they can do other series on ACC. edit: NVM this is for normal AC not ACC... now I look dumb.

Amir Vodokotlic · Jul 28, 2020

^^^

nah this is not official Kunos content.

This is just like the KTM car.

..............

also it seems that only people that register can get the car.

so maybe it gets leaked? eventually.

SunBro · Jul 28, 2020

BULLET4JUSTICE2 said:
this probably means that their contract with Blancpain isn't an exclusive one, meaning they can do other series on ACC.

This is on OG assetto corsa though?

kcoxphotos · Jul 28, 2020

Is this for AC or ACC?

Will Mazeo · Jul 28, 2020

BULLET4JUSTICE2 said:
this probably means that their contract with Blancpain isn't an exclusive one, meaning they can do other series on ACC.

man why the average Joe in simracing thinks everything is exclusive?

Elaphe · Jul 28, 2020

Wasn't this car already in the game? All these modern racing cars look all the same to me.

jahiggins22 · Jul 28, 2020

Man, I know 2020 is already weird, but separate pieces of content being announced for Assetto Corsa in the same week is pretty wild.

The KTM car is wonderful, and I can't wait to try this car out (even if I have no chance in qualifying for the final)!

CDwyer · Jul 28, 2020

SunBro said:
Imma type this question in every thread for this and annoy people

"Can a-n-y-o-n-e register?" I'm an incredibly awful driver, i don't give a damn about my laptimes, i just want the car. Do i have to prove myself, qualify a below a certain laptime to permanently get this car?

I feel the same as you, I did the pre-registering thing, and we will see what happens.

SunBro · Jul 28, 2020

Amir Vodokotlic said:
^^^

nah this is not official Kunos content.

This is just like the KTM car.

..............

also it seems that only people that register can get the car.

so maybe it gets leaked? eventually.

The way the website article is worded makes me think ANYONE is free to register therefore ANYONE can get the car. But like i said, that's my understanding and a very strongely worded clear response from ferrari would clear any suspicion.

Will Mazeo · Jul 28, 2020

Wonder why they do this in AC. I mean you got a lot more official tracks in ACC.
Do they plan to use 3rd party tracks? Maybe stuff from US?

BULLET4JUSTICE2 · Jul 28, 2020

Will Mazeo said:
man why the average Joe in simracing thinks everything is exclusive?

because people want to make money, exclusively. made a mistake and retracted my statement. no need to be rude.

SunBro · Jul 28, 2020

Will Mazeo said:
Wonder why they do this in AC. I mean you got a lot more official tracks in ACC.
Do they plan to use 3rd party tracks? Maybe stuff from US?

Maybe it's because acc doesn't allow modding and they couldn't reach an agreement with sro group? You have to talk to sro first to get your car in acc after all. Not kunos.

BULLET4JUSTICE2 · Jul 28, 2020

Amir Vodokotlic said:
^^^

nah this is not official Kunos content.

This is just like the KTM car.

..............

also it seems that only people that register can get the car.

so maybe it gets leaked? eventually.

SunBro said:
This is on OG assetto corsa though?

yeah, you are right! sorry for jumping into conclusions.

Will Mazeo · Jul 28, 2020

SunBro said:
Maybe it's because acc doesn't allow modding and they couldn't reach an agreement with sro group? You have to talk to sro first to get your car in acc after all. Not kunos.

I doubt SRO has this power on ACC. The Challenge is a global series so I guess they'll have US rounds and tracks like LilSki Watkins will be used

SunBro · Jul 28, 2020

I really wonder... if ANYONE can register for it, if ANYONE can get the car via registration, why risk the leak? Because people WILL leak it.

A: "oh hey man where did you get that car?"
B: "it's from official 488 esports series but sorry man that series is over now, it was free if you registered"
A: "oh okay"
C: "yo i got you fam, here: 488challengeevo.zip"

BULLET4JUSTICE2 · Jul 28, 2020

Will Mazeo said:
Wonder why they do this in AC. I mean you got a lot more official tracks in ACC.
Do they plan to use 3rd party tracks? Maybe stuff from US?

Because Kunos develops ACC as the "official Blancpain series game", which obviously means they cant do other series on that game because Blancpain wouldn't be happy with that.

Austin Ogonoski · Jul 28, 2020

Kinda bummed it's only open to EU residents.

North American timeslot on SRS is definitely growing in popularity and there are at least 6 drivers (myself included) who would be fast enough to give this a serious shot. Off the top of my head: Moses Choi, Sai Yip, Barrett Rolph, Eduardo Cavalcanti, Vincente Da Silva, James Leeder, and of course, me. Also looks like anyone from Britain is disregarded as well since... you know. So that excludes Ethan Dean and *checks notes* James Baldwin.

So congrats on opening an eSports competition where 9 of the best active Assetto Corsa players aren't allowed to participate. But ok.