The E1 Championship is back with the competition fiercer than ever featuring 11 teams with 22 drivers from 15 different countries, all competing for a prize pool the US$20,000. This season, Southeast Asia’s premier sim racing championship has gained international attention and attracted teams such as Mumbai Falcons from India, JMX Phantom from Indonesia, TX3 from France and most notably the esports team of historic F1 team Williams Racing.

Defending Team Champions, Team Flash, has an all-new driver line-up of Jyn Mazvilton and Muhammad Thasbeeh, both from Singapore, while their championship driver, Muhammad Ibrahim, will race for Mumbai Falcons alongside teammate Moritz Lohner from Germany. The defending champion has a lot to gain with the Indian motorsports team who won the 2022 Formula Regional Asia Championship with Arthur Leclerc.

All contending teams will also face added pressure by Williams Esports and its drivers Jack Keithley and Martin Stefanko. Season Zero Champion, Naquib Azlan, will race alongside his brother Nabil Azlan under SEM9, an esports team based in Southeast Asia. Both Malaysians finished 4th in the 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual earlier this year, and will be watched closely by 2017 F4 SEA champion Presley Martono and his teammate Daffa Ardiansa, who are racing with Indonesian motorsports team JMX Phantom.

Alex Yoong, E1 Championship Race Director and founder of Axle Sports, said:

“This season of E1 Championship has a stellar line-up of teams, including three real-life race teams – Black Arts Racing, Mumbai Falcons and Williams. It’s a testament as to how much sim racing has grown in Southeast Asia, and we are very excited for what the season holds in store for both drivers and viewers across the region.”

Other new teams this season include TX3 from France with drivers Mihai Neg and Christopher Hogfeldt from Romania and Sweden respectively. Among the teams returning are APEX E-Racing with a new driver line up of Lance Lau from Brunei and Ben Seek from New Zealand. APEX expands with a second team this season with APEX Racing Academy driven by the Malaysian and German pairing of Mohammad Dzikri and Julian Kunze. Josh Purwien and team Black Arts Racing continue their pursuit of E1 glory together with new teammate and fan-favourite, Kalen Chin.

Philippines sim racer Inigo Anton joins Team Safehouse to drive alongside Mikko Nassi from Finland, while team eGG Network re-joins the mix after sitting out the past two seasons with 10-year old Filipino Axel Nocom and Bernard Chan from Malaysia. E1 Championship 2022, operated by Axle Sports in partnership with eGG Network, returns to the RaceRoom platform. The competition is sanctioned by the Motorsports Association of Malaysia (MAM), an affiliate of the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile).

Follow E1 Championship on Facebook for the latest updates and catch seven rounds of intense racing from 7 September, every Wednesday, 9pm (+8 GMT) on Astro Arena (Malaysia), TVRI (Indonesia) True Visions (Thailand), VTVCab (Vietnam), Singtel TV (Singapore) and E1 Championship’s Facebook and YouTube channel.