Some sim racing games feature esports, including events hosted either directly by the developer or by other organizers. Premier series can receive official developer support. These series may include large prize pools and see participation from a number of high-profile esports organizations across the globe, such as FaZe Clan, G2 Esports, Mouz, Team Falcons, Team Redline, Virtus.pro, and XSET. In some cases, players are rewarded with test drives; Alpine and Mercedes-Benz grant winners of their respective events with an exclusive test of a race car from their brand's car lineup.
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the highest governing body in auto racing, formally incorporated an esports appendix into its International Sporting Code in 2024. This new regulatory section, Appendix E, provides a formal structure for both international and national esports events. It also establishes organizational requirements and conduct standards for competitions sanctioned by the FIA. The FIA MENA Esports Championship, held on Gran Turismo 7, was the first esports competition to utilize the new appendix in November 2025. Prior to this, FIA-sanctioned series and events were already in place; the Gran Turismo World Series was sanctioned by the FIA between 2018 and 2021, and Assetto Corsa Competizione hosted the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games Esports Cup.
Some console racing games have featured major esports events, though they are less common than their computer-based counterparts. Two notable franchises, Gran Turismo and Forza, have had organized events on their respective platforms. Since 2018, Polyphony Digital, developers of the Gran Turismo series, have hosted the Gran Turismo World Series, which was previously sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) from 2018 to 2021. Additionally, Gran Turismo also hosted the 'Motorsport' event in both editions of the Olympic Esports Series. Turn 10 Studios, the creators of the Forza Motorsport series, organized the Forza Racing Championship between 2016 and 2018 in partnership with ESL. Unlike traditional events, which typically use a wheel and pedals, Turn 10 Studios had their players use game controllers.
A number of real-world racing series and governing bodies have established officially sanctioned sim racing series across multiple platforms. Car manufacturers have also hosted tournaments of their own. Assetto Corsa Competizione previously featured official tournaments hosted by governing body SRO Motorsports Group, utilizing the game's library of officially licensed Group GT3, SRO GT4, SRO GT2, and single-make sports car content. These competitions were hosted under SRO Esports, which included esports tournaments for SRO-sanctioned series such as the Intercontinental GT Challenge, GT World Challenge America, GT World Challenge Europe, and GT World Challenge Asia, all sponsored by Mobileye.
Formula One has annually hosted F1 Sim Racing since 2017, played on Formula One's official games during several shows in the late year. They have a current prize fund of $750,000, and all participating teams from the real-life Formula One championship select three drivers to represent them, with two participating in select races. Jarno Opmeer holds the most titles with three, and Frederik Rasmussen holds the record for the most wins and pole positions.
iRacing currently hosts numerous esports championships on its platform, including official series presented by major car manufacturers and governing bodies such as the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup, World of Outlaws Pro Series, IMSA Esports Global Championship, and the FIA F4 Global Esports Championship. eNASCAR is also hosted on iRacing, including its premier championship, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, which comes with a purse of $500,000, with $100,000 awarded to the champion.
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