{"id":1420,"date":"2025-08-04T19:38:02","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T17:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/?p=1420"},"modified":"2025-08-19T21:01:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T19:01:15","slug":"whats-new-in-season-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/whats-new-in-season-8\/","title":{"rendered":"What&#8217;s new in Season 8"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css_animation=&#8221;none&#8221;]<strong><em>The endurance championship will officially return in September for its eighth edition.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">With Season 7 in the<\/span> history<span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"> books, it is already time to think about the new year of racing. which will be the first on <strong>Le Mans Ultimate<\/strong> here at <strong>e-Racing Series<\/strong>. Get ready to hit the track in September in an Hypercar or in a GT3.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><em><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1429 size-full alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/GRAB_037-1024x576-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/GRAB_037-1024x576-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/GRAB_037-1024x576-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/GRAB_037-1024x576-1-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1430 size-full alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/1733142049_cover-image.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/1733142049_cover-image.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/1733142049_cover-image-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/1733142049_cover-image-768x432.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">We already unveiled the first big news of the upcoming year, let&#8217;s break down everything else you need to know.<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>Signing up to Season 8<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">This year will continue to use a sign up phase that will take place in August.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">In the first phase, as in previous years, we will send out invites to the teams, indicating the classes we think suits them better.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">By replying to our invite inside the timeframe that will be indicated below, drivers will benefit from a discount on the entry fee.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">When this first sign up session will be over, <strong>public sign ups will open<\/strong>. In this second stage, teams can freely sign up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">In case you&#8217;ll not receive an invite, In order to apply for a spot teams must send a request to <strong>ersracedirection@gmail.com<\/strong>, bringing proof of your palmares in endurance championships across the simracing community.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">This is the complete schedule for sign ups:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>4th of August 21 CEST &#8211; 6th of August 21 CEST<\/strong>: Drivers Categories will be reviewed and published<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>7th of August 21 CEST &#8211; 18th of August 21 CEST<\/strong>: Invites will be sent out<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>19th of August 21 CEST &#8211; 31st of August 23:59 CEST<\/strong>: Public sign ups<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">In the first days of September, the full entry list will be published.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">The time separating the end of sign ups and the first preseason race will be used to fill the vacancies in the grid.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">During this phase we will prepare invitations for the teams <strong>we know well<\/strong> and <strong>who participated in all the races last season<\/strong>, If you think your team deserves an invitation, send a request to <strong>ersracedirection@gmail.com<\/strong>, bringing proof of your palmares in endurance championships across the simracing community.<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>Cars, classes and schedule<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">This year, as we move to another platform (Le Mans Ultimate), all cars will be the original ones from the game.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Hypercars will be divided into PRO and AM, so will be GT3s. So 4 classes in total, with no LMP2 as middle class.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Here is the complete list of cars that we will see on track:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><b>Hypercars:<\/b><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Alpine A424<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Aston Martin Valkyrie<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">BMW M Hybrid V8<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Cadillac V-LMDh<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Ferrari 499P<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Peugeot 9X8 (2024)<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Porsche 963<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Toyota GR010<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><b>GT3:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Aston Martin Vantage AMR<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">BMW M4 GT3<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Corvette Z06 GT3.R<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Ferrari 296 GT3<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Ford Mustang GT3<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Lexus RC-F GT3<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">McLaren 720s EVO<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Mercedes-AMG LMGT3<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Porsche 911 GT3 R<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">We will tend to accept all entries in a specific class, but some limitations will be applied to newbies to the championship or known lineups which we know they doesn&#8217;t suit to a specific class.<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>Races, tracks and official schedule<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Season 8 will use the original tracks from Le Mans Ultimate and the competition hours will stay the same as Season 7. While iconic track such as <strong>Bahrain, Imola, Sebring, SPA, Le Mans and Interlagos<\/strong>\u00a0will stay, the eSport Endurance Series, <strong>will return to COTA and Fuji <\/strong>after a few years absence. Fuji was raced in Season 1, 7 years ago!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Race day will still be Saturday, with the start of the weekend at\u00a0<strong>13:00 Server Time<\/strong> (Rome time). It will then be one hour later than last year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Here is the full detailed schedule of the championship:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>[20\/09\/2025 &#8211; Preseason]<\/strong> &#8211; 3h of Monza<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>[25\/10\/2025 &#8211; R1]<\/strong> &#8211; 8h of Bahrain<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>[22\/11\/2025 &#8211; R2]<\/strong> &#8211; 6h of Imola<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>[20\/12\/2025 &#8211; R3]<\/strong> &#8211; 6h of Fuji<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>[17\/01\/2026 &#8211; R4]<\/strong> &#8211; 6h of COTA<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>[21\/02\/2026 &#8211; R5]<\/strong> &#8211; 6h of Interlagos<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>[21\/03\/2026 &#8211; R6]<\/strong> &#8211; 12h of Sebring<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>[18\/04\/2026 &#8211; R7]<\/strong> &#8211; 8h of Spa Francorchamps<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>[19\/06\/2026 &#8211; R8]<\/strong> &#8211; 24h of Le Mans Qualy*<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>[20-21\/06\/2026 &#8211; R8]<\/strong> &#8211; 24h of Le Mans &#8211; Race<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">*qualy on Friday evening prior to the race<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>Rules Updates<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">We have made a few adjustment on the official championship rulebook, here you will find a small summary:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>Tyres allocations:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Since Le Mans Ultimate manages the tyre sets used per weekend (Qualy + Race) we will implement this to the eSport Endurance Series.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">So we will have limited tyre sets for the weekend, depending on the race length.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>Prizes:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">This topic will remain unchanged from last year. So we will continue to <strong>guarantee prizes<\/strong><strong> for every category <\/strong>(so all 4 categories &#8211; Hypercar PRO and PRO-AM and GT3 PRO and PRO-AM), but this year there will be only for <strong>each class winner<\/strong> with the amount to be communicated at the end of the subscription phase in any case not exceeding <strong>\u20ac100 per team<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>Timetable:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">This year <strong>we will delay our timetable by an hour<\/strong>. <strong>Our official weekend will start at 13:00 Server Time (Rome Time).<\/strong> All the <strong>Race Sessions<\/strong> (except from the 24h of Le Mans which stays at 15:00 ST) <strong>will start at 14:00 ST<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">The practice servers will be open for the whole race week from Monday to Friday from 9:15 PM (21:15) Rome time to midnight (24:00).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>BOP:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">BOP will be the official one used by the game.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>Driving Times and Drivers Categorization:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Since Season 4, we introduced the drivers categorization (Gold, Silver and Bronze) and split PRO and PRO-AM championship has been held since then.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">This year, a new degree of drivers categorization will be introduced, with stricter rules regarding both teams categorization and the introduction of minimum and maximum driving times, depending on race length, car class and driver rating.<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>Live Stewarding<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">After the positive test of the last 24hrs of Le Mans we decided to go for a live race direction for the entire Championship.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">This means that every RD decision will be taken during the Race so&#8230; no more waiting for the RD Report!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">This is a very important update and we think this is an important step to give you a better experience during Season 8!<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>Final Thoughts<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">So, now you know a little bit (actually a lot) more about Season 8. We are gonna have a few surprises along the way:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">The one we can already announce is that we are working at a new, <strong>powerful website<\/strong>! We acknowledge that our current platform is not perfect, so we are perfectly aware that this is a core update to bring you!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">New website will be available before the official start of the season and we hope you will love it!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Last, but not least, <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1DSilB8vbIcVKZ6ia3o6JrZCydx_dIfu2GhuBA83QffU\/edit?usp=sharing\">HERE<\/a> you will find the new Rulebook! We kindly suggest you to have a deep look at it!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><strong>Server details will be shared on the championship HUB page when LMU Driver Swap will be available for hosted servers!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Make sure to follow us on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eRacingSeries2020\" rel=\"nofollow\"><strong>Facebook<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/eracingseriescom\/\" rel=\"nofollow\"><strong>Instagram<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>and to join our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/discord.gg\/VmyUgakrRM\" rel=\"nofollow\"><strong>Discord community<\/strong><\/a>, where we tend to post some sneak peeks and anticipations.<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1426 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/EES-Splash-2048x1152.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/EES-Splash-2048x1152.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/EES-Splash-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/EES-Splash-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/EES-Splash-1536x864.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/span><\/h1>\n<h1><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">Be Ready, Season 8 is coming!<\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif;\">[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css_animation=&#8221;none&#8221;]The endurance championship will officially return in September for its eighth edition. With Season 7 in the history books, it is already time to think about the new year of racing. which will be the first on Le Mans Ultimate here at e-Racing Series. Get ready to hit the track in September in an<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":1427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"table_tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1420"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1420"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1455,"href":"https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1420\/revisions\/1455"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1420"},{"taxonomy":"table_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esportenduranceseries.com\/rf2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/table_tags?post=1420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}