Esports has been continuously providing all sorts of opportunities to gamers all over the world. Tournaments throughout the past decade have proved that there’s a career and a future for gamers in DOTA, League of Legends, Counter-Strike, and Valorant, among many others.
In sim-racing, however, that’s not exactly the case—especially where we’re from.
The local sim-racing community has been active for years now, and Sim Racing Pilipinas, for one, has continued to provide avenues wherein sim-racers can showcase their talents on a more competitive level. Unfortunately, these race events are mostly virtual—you won’t see big-time local area network (LAN) events like those. The prize pools aren’t that lucrative, either, so it’s no surprise it hasn’t become mainstream just yet.
But that’s where Toyota comes in.
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Toyota Motor Philippines has been pushing the boundaries of sim-racing in our country with the Gazoo Racing GT Cup (formerly known as the GR Supra GT Cup) over the past few years. I was recently able to attend the Asia 2023 finals in Malaysia, and the experience was nothing short of amazing. Frankly, I didn’t expect it to be as such.
For starters, the event setup was quite a spectacle. I’m not big on sim-racing myself, so I didn’t exactly know how these tournaments go, but I am very familiar with what big-ticket esports events look like. Toyota did an excellent job with the setup in the regional finals. To put it simply, and I quote Toyota Motor Asia Pacific Marketing Services Department general manager Jaja Ishibashi: it was “legit.”
The stage design along with the lighting and audio during the races was on point. Each racer with his own high-end rig, with a personalized display behind every single one. There were audiovisual cues for us spectators inside the hall at the start and finish of each race. The commentators were excellent as well, hyping the entire arena throughout the event.
Toyota even had some fun additions to the weekend with the Media/KOL and Distributor races. There were also racing simulators set up outside the hall wherein event-goers could try their luck at setting the best time on the Tokyo Expressway track using the GR Corolla.
Of course, the racers also gave us one heck of a show, too. The finalists were neck and neck across all three races, and due to some weather changes and mishaps along the way, there was all sorts of drama. After a thrilling finish, the Philippines’ own Luis Moreno bagged second place overall, securing him a ticket to the global finals in Barcelona later this year along with Indonesia’s Andika Rama. Moreno’s teammates Russel Reyes and Matthew Ang fell short, but both had very strong outings themselves.
Now, take a quick pause to think about that: global finals. See, Toyota isn’t stopping at Asia-wide events. Past this one, there will be another global event wherein all the top sim-racers across different regions will be competing for the world title. If the regional finals were anything to go by, that upcoming event will be an even bigger and more exciting spectacle.
What Toyota is doing here means the world to the sim-racing community. It’s not often that a well-established brand goes all out in hosting a virtual racing tournament like this. The Japanese carmaker’s support for sim-racing helps legitimize it as an esport, proving that not only is there a future for gamers here, but also this is actually something even non-gamers will be able to enjoy.
I understand how the general public won’t enjoy watching the likes of DOTA or League of Legends with zero knowledge about those games. In sim-racing, it’s different. One might not know all the technicalities and intricacies when it comes to a race, but at least it’s easy to tell who’s winning and who’s not. That’s why there’s a lot of potential here for Toyota to have the next GR GT Cup outings held in public spaces.
I was able to ask a few TMAP executives about this during the race weekend. I was told that Toyota just wanted to do this right the first time, as this was the first big physical LAN event that the company had ever hosted since the advent of the GR GT Cup. The company sees the potential, too, and will look into holding the next ones in bigger venues where people outside of Toyota and the media will be able to attend.
Toyota’s continued push will help make sim-racing mainstream both globally and locally. Sooner rather than later, there’ll be flashier events, bigger prize pools, and most important, more racers at events. Who knows, maybe one day, the Philippines will begin hosting major sim-racing events, too? Consider us excited.
