Rally New Zealand Esports Series: Auckland Presented by MSNZ

General info

Tournament Information:
LetsPlay.Live have teamed up with Rally New Zealand, Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED) and MotorSport New Zealand to host the official Rally New Zealand Esport Series, featuring the recently released WRC 9 motor-sim game and the beautiful Rally New Zealand rally stages.

Motor-sim PC racers will be able to compete in a series of online and offline qualifiers for the chance to win some amazing prizes: including flights and accommodation to a LAN Final in Auckland to compete against Rally New Zealand celebrities on November 8th. Entry is free and open to New Zealand residents.

Rally legend Hayden Paddon is the first traditional racer announced as taking part in the celebrity finals event - a joint initiative between Rally New Zealand, MotorSport New Zealand and ATEED to bridge the gap between traditional and digital motor racing.

The Semi Finals, Grand Finals and special Rally NZ Celebrity Race will be broadcast live to Twitch.tv/letsplaylive and Sky Sport.

Key Dates:

Online Qualifiers: Monday 12th October 12PM NZDT - Monday 19th October 12PM NZDT
Offline Qualifiers: - Friday 23 October and Saturday 24 October @ Armageddon
Semi Finals: - Sunday 25 October @ Armageddon 3-5PM.
LAN Grand Finals: - Sunday 8 November

Prizes:
Prizes confirmed so far, thanks to Vodafone NZ include:
1st place - $750
2nd place - $500
3rd place - $250

More prizes to be announced at a later date, watch this space!

More Information

Tournament Format:
The tournament format will be in three phases: Online & Offline Qualifiers, Semi-Finals and Grand Finals.

Online Qualifiers
Players must complete one stage (Te Akau South) via Club Mode on WRC9. Top 6 fastest racers at the end of the Online Qualifier date will qualify into Semi-Finals.

In order to keep entry mechanisms fair across both online and offline qualifiers LPL have decided to allow two entry mechanisms into the Rally New Zealand Esports Series: Auckland online qualifiers.

Currently players can submit a qualification track time via. Club Mode on WRC 9 - and are still able to do so. However, if they are unhappy with their performance and submitted time players are also allowed to submit a time through WRC 9's Quick Play mode.

Submitted track times via Quick Play must be played on the following settings:
- Stages & Tracks – Te Akau South (normal, not reverse)
- Car – Any WRC (Standard) Car can be selected.
- Settings – Classic Settings
- Weather - Clear Weather
- Time of Day – Dawn

We hope in allowing multiple ports of online entry - and giving players a 'second chance' to submit a better track time - we will see a variety of talent at the top of their game heading into the Semi Finals at Armageddon Expo Auckland.

Offline Qualfiers
Players must complete one stage (Te Akau South) @ Armageddon. Top 8 fastest racers at the end of the Offline Qualifier date will qualify into Semi-Finals. Entrants may race and try to qualify as many times as they want, however they will be required to queue up again.

Semi-Finals
Top 6 Online Qualifiers and Top 8 Offline Qualifiers will be split into two pools randomly (two pools of Top 3 Online Qualifiers playing online @ home and Top 4 Offline Qualifiers reinvited to play @ Armageddon). Each pool will play six stages. Pool A to play at 3PM and Pool B to play at 4PM. Players will accumulate points over six races. Top 2 racers from each pool with the highest points to qualify for Grand Finals (four total).

Grand Finals
Top 4 from Semi Finals will join three celebrities and fly to LPL Studios, Auckland (flights & accommodation covered) to race an eight stage Grand Finals. Players will accumulate points with the winner taking the championship.

To view the specific stages & tracks, cars settings and how points will be allocated during Semi-Finals and Grand Finals, please refer to the below.

Online Qualifiers:
For those willing to participate in the Online Qualifiers, please search and participate in the "RallyNZEsports" lobby via Club Mode on WRC9. Once you have completed the Te Akau South stage, please click here and submit your times through the website as reflected through the in-game leaderboard. The Top 6 from Online Qualifiers will be contacted by LPL Admins on Tuesday 20th October.

In order to keep entry mechanisms fair across both online and offline qualifiers LPL have decided to allow two entry mechanisms into the Rally New Zealand Esports Series: Auckland online qualifiers.

Currently players can submit a qualification track time via. Club Mode on WRC 9 - and are still able to do so. However, if they are unhappy with their performance and submitted time players are also allowed to submit a time through WRC 9's Quick Play mode.

Submitted track times via Quick Play must be played on the following settings:
- Stages & Tracks – Te Akau South (normal, not reverse)
- Car – Any WRC (Standard) Car can be selected.
- Settings – Classic Settings
- Weather - Clear Weather
- Time of Day – Dawn

We hope in allowing multiple ports of online entry - and giving players a 'second chance' to submit a better track time - we will see a variety of talent at the top of their game heading into the Semi Finals at Armageddon Expo Auckland.

Offline Qualifiers:
If you would like to participate in Offline Qualifiers, just turn up at the Booth 35 @ Armageddon on Friday 23 October and/or Saturday 24 October!

Stages & Tracks, Cars, Settings and Points:
Click here to view the specific stages & tracks, cars settings and how points will be allocated during Semi-Finals and Grand Finals.

FAQ
Want to know more about LPL? Got a question about LPL Esports? Click here for our FAQ!

Connect with us
On behalf of the entire LPL Admin Team, we would like to wish everyone competing the best of luck! For any questions, please do not hesitate to ask by either posting in the forums or contacting an admin via Support Ticket. Alternatively, you can join the LPL Community Discord.