This year, we’ve increased the speed, switched to Hypercars, and reworked the format—and now you have the chance to get involved.
With the 2026 Munich Summit completed, and our first-ever community team taking on the R1 heavyweights, we’ve revamped the sporting format for the new season—giving the community a chance to qualify and go wheel-to-wheel with the pros!
Here’s everything you need to know:
Qualifiers: Your Journey Starts Here
The R1 Season consists of 3 stages: Qualifiers, Main Season and R1 Finals.
To enter, drivers must sign up using the registration form and set a lap on one of the official R1 Time Trial servers between March 30th and April 5th.
The registration form can be found here: https://forms.gle/WS8kK9JcP4rxR8gf9
- 6 professional teams are already confirmed.
- 3 more team organizations can qualify for the remaining team slots.
- 6 privateer drivers from the community can qualify into 3 pre-made community teams.
Sign-Up Information for Professional Teams
If representing a team, drivers can declare their organisation affiliation during the registration process, and will represent that team during the qualifiers.
For a team to be eligible, it has to be a trademarked and legal entity. More than one driver can register for the same team.
Qualifier Rounds
40 community drivers will advance to the three R1 Qualifier rounds, based on their RENNSPORT Rating or the lap time set in the Time Trials. Qualifier rounds are separated into two splits:
Split 1: features the 20 highest-rated drivers from the Time Trial.
Split 2: features the 20 fastest remaining drivers based on lap time.
Qualifier Dates:
Qualifier Round 01 — April 10th, 2026*
Qualifier Round 02 — April 14th, 2026*
Qualifier Round 03 — April 17th, 2026*
Drivers can compete in all races, however, the two best race results will count toward an overall points score.
Privateer Qualification
At the end of qualifying, the six highest-scoring privateers will be grouped into three teams of two drivers, based on their final standings.
Team Qualification
At the end of qualifying, the highest-placed driver determines the team’s position, and the top three automatically qualify.
Main-Season: High Level Competition
The main season consists of four rounds held over eight weeks.
Each round features four races, with teams split into two groups and each team racing twice. Groups are reshuffled after each round so teams face a new set of opponents at the next race day.
Race Dates:
Main Season Round 01 — May 8th*
Main Season Round 02 — May 15th*
Main Season Round 03 — May 29th*
Main Season Round 04 — June 12th*
Tracks for each round are voted on by the community, who can choose up to four of six options.
Drivers earn points toward the team championship, and the 6 highest-scoring teams at the end of the main season progress to the next stage.
R1 Finals:
In the R1 Finals, the 6 highest-scoring teams compete for the R1 title and the event has 2 stages: Hero Stage and Finalist Mode.
The Hero Stage
For the Hero Stage all 12 drivers take to the track for 4 races. Each driver races twice as ‘Hero’ and twice as ‘Defence’, with teams choosing roles based on strategy or personal strengths.
The Hero driver scores double points, while the Defence scores normally.
Finalist Mode
After the Hero Stage, the top ranked team starts the Finalist Mode races on 100 points. The other 5 teams begin with points proportional to their percentage of the Hero Stage winner’s points.
Once a team reaches 160 points, they enter ‘Finalist Mode,’ where a single race win is enough to claim overall victory. If no team wins in Finalist Mode, the highest-scoring team after eight races is crowned R1 Champion.
See you on the track!
*Dates and times subject to change.