//////// E-Sports

As a modern and forward-thinking team, MERTEL Motorsport runs its own sim racer team in e-sports series. A novelty: MERTEL Italo Cars is the only Ferrari dealer in Germany to participate in the official Ferrari E-Sports Series. The drivers pilot the current Ferrari 488 Challenge EVO, Ferrari 488 GT3 and the new Ferrari 296 GT3, winning model of the 24h Nürburgring 2023. E-sport is indeed real racing and driving ability, skills as well as technology and strategy are just as crucial as in real racing. But the overlaps are also important. Or rather, the overlap between virtual and real racing. Increasingly, successful SIM racers are entering real life racing as outstanding competitive new talents. The MERTEL Motorsport Academy - from SIM racing into the real cockpit - wants to achieve exactly that and thus train and promote successful young Ferrari drivers for real racing.

//////// Sponsoring

Are you also interested in e-sports as a representation platform for your company? We offer you various options or concepts. Of course, the branding of the cars, the logo insert in the livery - as in real life racing - is a very attentive feature. But the MERTEL Motorsport E-sports Team can also be part of your company's own events. You want to offer your customers an exciting experience with a lot of fun at a presentation or event - by giving them the opportunity to try out SIM racing themselves? Contact us and we will take care of the guests on site at the simulator, show what is possible with it and "coach" your guests to have the best experience.Interested?Get in touch with us: info@mertelmotorsport.com

//////// Definition

What actually is e-sports? In a nutshell: Virtual environment - realistic real competition. E-sports racing - also known as SIM racing - is virtual racing simulation, but using realistic physics and virtual tracks. Controlling their virtual car with steering wheel and pedals, drivers/players compete against each other in online races. Racing simulations have become increasingly realistic over the years as technological advances have allowed for more accurate physics, tyre models and track models. Today, e-sports is a distinct and very popular form of motorsport. The races are streamed live and attract many fans. You can watch an e-sports race of one of our drivers here:

Timi Lehtonen / Ferrari 296 GT3 in Suzuka / The Simzone

//////// E-Sports Racing Calendar

HOWE Sprint + Enducup
Sprint
Paul Ricard 1h 06.02.25
Silverstone 1,5h 20.02.25
Kyalami 1h 06.03.25
Barcelona 1h 20.03.25
Suzuka 1h 03.04.25,
Watkins Glen 1,5h 17.04.25
Zandvoort 1h 01.05.25
Donington Park 1h 15.05.25
Indianapolis 1h 29.05.25
Nürburgring GP 1,5h 12.06.25

Stream HOWE Sprint

Enducup
Misano 6h 15.02.25
Red Bull Ring 4h 15.03.25
"Nordschleife NBR 24h" 8h 05.04.25

Stream HOWE Enducup

The Coach Dave Delta World Sprint ChampionshipRound 1 - Interlagos - 05.03.2025Round 2 - Spa - 12.03.2025Round 3 - Fuji - 19.03.2025Round 4 - Bahrain - 26.03.2025 (Night Race)Round 5 - Monza - 02.04.2025Round 6 - Imola - 16.04.2025Round 7 - LeMans - 23.04.2025 (Night Race)Round 8 - Portimao - 30.04.2025Round 9 - COTA - 07.05.2025Round 10 - Sebring - 14.05.2025

Stream The Coach Dave Delta World Sprint Championship

Onid Abruzzi Endurance
Spa 6h 08.02.25
Donington 4h 08.03.25
Monza 4h 03.05.25
Valencia 6h 07.06.25

Stream Onid

EOS WEGT (World Endurance GT Championship)
Race 2: Red Bull Ring 8 hours - 01/03/25
Race 3: Zolder 6H - 05/04/25
Race 4: Bathurst 12 hours - 10/05/25
Race 5: Suzuka 10 hours - 07/06/25
Race 6:  Spa Francorchamps 24 hours (double points) - 05/07/25
Race 7: Watkins Glen 8 hours - 26/07/25
Race 8: Kyalami 9 hours - 13/09/25
Race 9: Imola 8 hours - 11/10/25
Race 10: Monza 10 hours - 15/11/25

Stream EOS

VMS PRO (Virtual Motorsport Series) GOLD SPLIT
Race 1: Imola - 06/04/2025
Race 2: Fuji - 20/04/2025
Race 3: Bahrain - 04/05/2025
Race 4: Sebring - 18/05/2025
Race 5: Le Mans - 01/06/2025
Race 6: Monza - 29/06/2025
Race 7: Portimao - 13/07/2025
Race 8: Qatar - 27/07/2025
Race 9: Spa - 10/08/2025

Stream VMS PRO

Das MERTEL Motorsport E-Sports Team plant, an folgenden Serien teilzunehmen:
RCI (Racing Club International)
SRO IGTC (Intercontinental GT Championship)
FERRARI E-Sport Challenge
HOWE Sprint + Enducup

Stream SROStream Ferrari ESports

//////// E-Sports PARTNER

We’re thrilled to join forces with Ascher Racing and our successful E-Sports team.

Ascher Racing is a German manufacturer of Premium SimRacing equipment and is known for its first-class, robust and ergonomic steering wheels, which many motorsport drivers consider to be the best on the market.Ascher Racing develops products with a maximum performance focus that set new standards in both virtual and real motorsport; functionality is always at the centre of development and innovations always serve the purpose of optimally supporting drivers.Together, we’ll be pushing the boundaries of performance in virtual racing and beyond! 🔥🏁

E-sports TEAM

Robert Tänzer (Rob Spleen)SIMRACING Teammanager

Nation: Germany
Residence: Frankfurt a.M.
Date of birth: 1984
Simulation: ACC, AC, iRacing

Motorsport has fascinated me since I was a child, and this passion is still with me today. In the past, I mainly used consoles and played with a gamepad. But during the lockdown, I tried out my first steering wheel and was immediately hooked. From then on, everything happened quickly: I built myself a DIY rig and put together a high-quality setup.

A lot has changed since then. I’m no longer just a simracer, but also the team manager and coach of our team. This team means a lot to me and I do everything I can to support and develop our drivers in the best possible way.

Thanks to hard work and countless hours on the track, I have gained a lot of experience. At the same time, I am convinced that there is always something new to learn – both on and off the track.

If you have any questions or would like to exchange ideas, please get in touch with me.

Oliver GleißnerTrainer

Nation: Germany
Residence: Erlangen
Date of birth: 1995
Simulation: ACC

Motorsport has always been an issue for me from an early age. From watching Formula 1 with dad to playing all the racing games.
Back then it was just the arcade games that everyone probably played, aka NfS, Grid, Formula 1, etc.
But as I always wanted to race actively, I was looking for something more realistic.
I then came across simracing, which allowed me to satisfy my desire to become a racing driver, at least virtually.
After my ego was initially dampened, the urge to get better was greater than ever, which led to me absorbing and training all the information I could on driving techniques.

In the meantime, I have built up my know-how to such an extent that, in addition to riding, I can also act as a setup engineer and as a trainer/coach in a team.

Markus JanesTrainer

Nation: Germany
Date of birth:
Simulation: ACC

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markuspixxelhunter

Timi Lehtonen

Mertel Motorsport Academy Driver

Nation: Finland
Residence: Turku
Date of birth: 2002
Simulation: ACC, Raceroom

My name is Timi Lehtonen and I am a Sim driver from Turku. I started sim racing in 2016, but even before that I had played many racing games. It’s always been my dream to be a real racer, but it’s hard to get there, so I thought sim racing would at least be a place to start. My goal in sim rally is to reach the top of real motorsport or sim driving. I take sim racing very seriously and consider it a real career. I always want to compete and be the best at it, and I’m going to work hard to achieve that, whether it’s sim driving or real motorsport.

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timi_lehtonen

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Nico Benzler

Nation: Germany
Residence: Sauerland
Date of birth: 2011
Simulation: ACC

For several years now, sim racing has become an integral part of my free time and I have been playing ACC more or less actively since 2024.
I’ve always been enthusiastic about motorsport, and I’m also active in real life, including karting, car slalom and, in the future, rallycross.
I have been here since midst 2024 and would describe this time as expandable and instructive, as it is also the first time that I am not playing an F1 game in which I am gaining my virtual experience.

Björn Betz

Nation: Germany
Residence: Ahrensburg
Date of birth: 1990
Simulation: ACC

My enthusiasm for racing began as a child with Schumi and Formula 1. I watched every race with my dad – whether it was Australia at 7 a.m. or the races in Hockenheim in the afternoon. My first racing game on the PC was Colin McRae Rally.
Via the F1 games on the Playstation and longer breaks, I then came to ACC at the beginning of 2023 and have been trying to reduce the gap to the best times of the strongest drivers as much as possible ever since.

Marvin Butzin

Nation: Germany
Date of birth: 1998
Simulation: ACC

I love Motorsports since I can think. I grew up with Micheal Schumachers last glory years at Ferrari and since that I love Ferrari and also Motorsports. When I got older I started to play Videogames like F1 and Need for Speed. My first real Simracing title was Project Cars,, I bought a T300 and at this moment I fell in love with Simracing. Over Project Cars 2 I got to Assetto Corsa Competizione and gained a reasonable pace. One day I was looking for a Teammate for a Endurance Race at Spa and then I met Rob, he agreed to do the race with me, I don´t knew him before. One day later I checked his profile at the platform we met and his team affiliation was “MERTEL Motorsport” so I checked the website and I instantly knew: “That is what I want”. After the race, we where happy with the result, I asked him if he could talk to the team responsible. He did and now I´m a proud member of MERTEL Motorsport and I can represent a Team Racing with Ferrari. I´m very ambitious to represent MERTEL Motorsport at the highest level of Simracing Esports and I´m very proud what we already archived together as a team in just one year

Kevin Fehrenbach

Nation: Germany
Date of birth: 1998
Simulation: ACC

I currently live in Villingen-Schwenningen with my family. I have been simracing professionally for some years. I started on the Playstation with Gran Turismo and a steering wheel but I wanted more seriousness and so I moved to the computer and finally to the community and the simulation through which I joined the team. My goal is to make this hobby a steady livelihood.

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kevin_fehrenbach

Leon Hoppe

Nation: Germany
Residence: Steinfurt
Date of birth: 2000
Simulation: ACC

I’m the type of person who has no idea how he got into simracing.
I never had any interest in motorsport as a kid and I can remember sitting in front of the TV at my grandma’s house around 2005 while an F1 race was on and saying, those aren’t cool cars.
Then at 15 I bought F1 2014 on a whim and less than six months later I had my first steering wheel.
A decade and thousands of hours later, I’m still behind the wheel and have learned to love and live motorsport in the process.

This sport has shown me that my greatest interest is competition and I am confident that I can be a part of that team.

Tim Köster

Nation: Germany
Date of birth: 1988
Simulation: ACC

I started simracing in 2020 when Corona started. I had watched a few streams on Twitch. Then I only drove the PS4 sporadically here and there. I really started in December 2022. My goal is to sit in a racing car “once”. My simracing goal is to make it into the big series (SRO etc.).

Micah Pattusch

Nation: Germany
Residence: Würzburg
Date of birth: 2004
Simulation: ACC

I have always been fascinated by cars since I was little. Together with my father, I often used to attend races at the Nürburgring, Hockenheimring and Norisring and found my love for motorsport more and more. From the DTM to the NLS, WEC and Formula 1, everything that has four wheels and goes fast inspires me. My big dream has always been to drive a race in a real racing car. I’ve been playing racing games since I was a child, starting with Forza Motorsport 3 and 4, then F1 2011, its successors and, since Early Access, ACC.
I’m looking forward to our time together here and hope that we can achieve many successes together.

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@mpattusch03

Linus Ruwisch

Nation: Germany
Residence: near Düsseldorf
Date of birth: 2008
Simulation: Assetto Corsa Competizione

I have been taking simracing more seriously for three years and started with ACC at that time. What excites me the most is endurance racing, especially 24-hour races. When I’m not training for the next race, I hop into Assetto Corsa and do a few relaxed laps. Outside of the simracing world, I like mountain biking, preferably downhill.

Emil Vogel

Nation: Germany
Residence: Ronneburg
Date of birth: 2011
Simulation: ACC

Ever since my first time driving a Twinkart with my father, I was enthusiastic about fast cars and motorsport. However, everything quickly faded into the background due to soccer and other things.

However, when I played Gran Tourismo for the first time, I was really enthusiastic again and so I got my first real steering wheel at the beginning of this year.

My ambition quickly got the better of me and so I decided to switch to PC. Through my grandpa, I also rediscovered real motorsport and karting.

In the summer I discovered this wonderful team and since then I’ve been trying to improve every day, which means I already have almost 200 hours in ACC.

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@eml_vgl