The racing scene in esports has existed for quite a while. Let’s take a look back at some of the early players who competed and dominated.
Photo: EA
Esports racing has experienced a gigantic boom in the past years. However, there have always been competitions for racing game enthusiasts. Let’s take a look back to those talents who dominated in the early 2000s and established themselves as some of the most important trailblazers of the scene.
Note: There are of course many more talented racers to write about. If you want a part two or simply want to highlight some of your favourite esports drivers, feel free to write in the comments below!
Chompr – Project Gotham Racing 3
Our first look back is one at Project Gotham Racing 3, where we find American Wesley “chompr” Cwiklo as the dominating force of the game. Despite only being active from 2006 until 2007 he achieved some noteworthy victories and walked away with quite a bit of prize money ($88,500) in his pockets.
He claimed his most important win in 2007, when he came in first place at the 2007 Champion Gaming Series with his team Chicago Chimera alongside team-mate Jason “JaSoN-X” Exelby. Throughout his career he often rubbed elbows with Wouter “Handewasser” van Someren from the Netherlands, who he lost to during the World Cyber Games of 2007 after having been victorious the year before.
FrostBeule – TrackMania
The Swedish TrackMania player Kalle “FrostBeule” Videkull dominated the game from 2006 until 2011, mostly finding his success on TrackMania Nations Forever and TrackMania Nations. After securing second place in the TrackMania Nations Verizon Playlinc, which was won by Sander “Sandder” Kuusik, FrostBeule would go on to dominate in TrackMania Nations Forever.
From 2008 until 2011 FrostBeule competed in multiple TrackMania Nations Forever tournaments, almost always securing first place with a few exceptions. Some notable victories came at ESWC 2008, where FrostBeule won $12,000, and WCG 2010. One of his fiercest rivalry was with fellow Swede Jesper “KarjeN” Karjalainen, which always made for some interesting battles. One of the most notable took place back then at DreamHack Summer 2009, where KarjeN was able to beat FrostBeule.
Sliver – Need for Speed
When it comes to Need for Speed, German Niklas “Sliver” Timmermann is one of the first names that comes to mind. The now 33-year-old Timmermann competed in Need for Speed from 2004 until 2010 across different titles such as Need for Speed: Underground and Need for Speed: ProStreet. In total he earned over $25,000 in prize money.
He won his first major tournament at the World Cyber Games 2004 where he competed in Need for Speed: Underground. He would go on to secure first place over Korean Yoo “LordofGround” Myung Chun and Brazilian Andre Luiz “andinhovsen” de Macedo. Sliver would later also participate in the World Cyber Games Samsung European Championship of 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. He retired from esports racing after 2010, when he completed his final tournament in Need for Speed: Shift.
Which other iconic esports racers inspired you back in the days? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!