SRO Esports Expands to North America with ROG Invitational set for Indianapolis 8 Hour Weekend Debut

SRO Esports Expands to North America with ROG Invitational set for Indianapolis 8 Hour Weekend Debut

Indianapolis, IN – North American sim racing debuts at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a part of the third edition of the Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS. SRO America and ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) have partnered to feature an esports arena at the famed Brickyard on October 7th & 8th and host the first-ever SRO Esports ROG Invitational.  

Racing on Assetto Corsa Competizione, the official game of Fanatec GT World Challenge powered by AWS, sim racers and real world drivers will compete in a series of events throughout the Indy 8 Hour race weekend. In partnership with Fanatec, drivers will race on matching equipment featuring Fanatec’s Podium DD2 Wheelbase and ClubSport v3 pedals, mounted to their Rennsport 2 Cockpit. An ASUS ROG esports gaming PC and Ultrawide ROG Strix XG349C gaming monitor complete the sim rigs. 

“It’s been a long time coming to host our first live esports event in North America,” said Robbie Montinola, Vice President of Marketing & Business Development. “The ROG Invitational will highlight the intersection of virtual and real world racing at none other than the Racing Capital of the World. With the success we’ve had with the Fanatec Arena in Europe, this seemed like a natural progression to exploring live esports events for 2023.” 

After a thrilling SRO Esports online season in the Mobileye GT World Challenge America season, many of the top drivers will make the trip to Indianapolis to compete in-person. Gregor Schill, runner-up in this year’s championship, will drive the BMW Team BS+Turner M4 GT3. Also representing BMW will be Cameron Martineau for ST Racing Esports. Both BMW teams have real-world ties to Indy 8 Hour participants Turner Motorsports and ST Racing. 

HPD JAS Pro America’s Josh Staffin pilots the #93 Acura NSX GT3 Evo, representing Racer’s Edge Motorsports. Meanwhile Nine 4 Nine Racing will field two cars for Ed Kerstetter (Audi R8 LMS Evo II) and Joseph Kostovich (Aston Martin V8 Vantage). SOP Esports fields a Bentley Continental GT3 for Adrien Bourdon. 

Porsche will be represented by EGT Canada driver's Thomas Lavioe and Eric Bourduas, competing in the 911 GT3 R (991.2). Former race winner Christopher Severt joins the grid for Team Severt Racing in a Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo. Alpha SimSport’s Jonathan Clifford brings a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo with Aloo Gobi driving the Griphax Engineering McLaren 720s GT3. The remainder of the Sim Racer field will be announced shortly. 

Real world Pros will also compete in an exclusive sprint race on Friday evening. This event will feature drivers who currently compete across SRO America’s various championships - Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS, GT America powered by AWS, Pirelli GT4 America, and TC America powered by Skip Barber - including Steven Aghankhani (USRT), Guy Cosmo (Stephen Cameron Racing), Jason Harward (Zelus), Daniel Morad (Craft Bamboo Racing), Devin Anderson (TechSport), Kevin Boehm (CrowdStrike by Skip Barber), Shaoyi Che (TechSport), Sally McNulty (Skip Barber), Cristian Perocarpi (Mini JCW Team), Elvis Rankin (Skip Barber), Jacob Ruud (FastTrack Racing), Gresham Wagner (TechSport), and Chris Walsh (ST Racing). 

ASUS Republic of Gamers empowers present and future gamers, streamers, and gaming talent with the tools they need to compete at their best. With the high demands of sim racing on gaming hardware, the ROG product line will set the pace in providing sim racers with leading performance, premium features, and stylish design from desktop gaming PCs to gaming monitors and more.

The SRO Esports ROG Invitational is supported by ASUS Republic of Gamers, Fanatec, AWS, CrowdStrike, and AK Esports. 

Don’t miss any of the live esports action on Friday, October 7th or Saturday, October 8th in the Pavillion just across from the world-famous Pagoda at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Tickets are available at: https://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/events/endurance/buy-tickets 

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About ROG

Republic of Gamers (ROG) is an ASUS sub-brand dedicated to creating the world’s best gaming hardware and software. Formed in 2006, ROG offers a complete line of innovative products known for performance and quality, including motherboards, graphics cards, laptops, desktops, monitors, audio equipment, routers and peripherals. ROG participates in and sponsors major international gaming events. ROG gear has been used to set hundreds of overclocking records and it continues to be the preferred choice of gamers and enthusiasts around the world. Learn more about the choice of champions at http://rog.asus.com.