Renault Sport Team Vitality clinches fourth place in 2019 F1 Esports Series with two wins

Renault Sport Team Vitality finished the 2019 F1 Esports Series Teams’ Championship in fourth place following the conclusion of the 2019 season in a widely followed Grand Final in London yesterday night. This strong result is the culmination of a positive year for the team, with two wins, six podiums and 172 points over the 12-event series thanks to an inspired team line-up of Dutchman Jarno Opmeer and Germans Cedric Thome and Simon Weigang under the guidance of British team coach James Doherty.

Over the 2019 season, Renault Sport Team Vitality has made a marked step up in performance from 2018, when it finished at the end of the standings. A huge part of the improvement is due to the increasingly tight collaboration and expertise shared between Renault Sport Racing and Team Vitality. Renault Sport Team Vitality has been able to utilise dedicated esports facilities across Enstone in the UK, and in France at the V.Hive and Stade de France in Paris to track performance and identify areas for improvement, which have then been addressed through substantial, eight-hour daily practice sessions.

The esports athletes have, essentially, been treated in the same way as any other Renault Sport Racing driving talent. Fitness and nutrition have been a major area of investment, with the Esports athletes receiving state-of-the-art guidance from Renault Sport Racing’s Driver & Race Team Human Performance Manager, David Thompson, who has coached several top-flight F1 drivers over his extensive career. Jarno, Cedric and Simon trained alongside the drivers of the Renault Sport Academy at Enstone to prepare them for the gruelling nature of the game, while Ben Hampshire, Renault F1 Team IT Race Team, was tasked with analysing real-time data gathered from the game and improving performance on track.

Later this week, Jarno – a former member of the Renault Sport Academy – will enjoy a day in the real Renault F1 Team simulator to further share learnings and cross-over points between esports and Formula 1.

Jarno ended his first season with the team fourth in the Drivers’ Championship, with (123 points), whilst Cedric finished 13th (38 points) and Simon 18th (11 points) in the Drivers’ Championship.

Jarno Opmeer, F1 Esports driver for Renault Sport Team Vitality:

“We put everything into these races and finishing fourth shows the progress we’ve made this season. I would like to do a big shout out to James Doherty for coaching, advising and supporting us throughout and would also like to thank Renault, the impressive team at Renault Sport Racing and Renault Sport Team Vitality for their drive, ambition and vision to keep pushing.”

James Doherty, Renault Sport Team Vitality Team Coach:

“I am super proud of our team and how they’ve managed to pull together all year. They’ve all put in so much hard work, averaging out eight-hour days and hundreds of kilometres on the game to perfect their skills. The team has been extremely focused on their preparation too, ensuring their diets and physical fitness are optimal, as well as spending time looking at the data analytics. It’s all counted. We had a character-building first season in the series, but it’s very positive to see how we’ve developed this year and it makes me really excited for 2020.”

Fabien Devide, Team Vitality President & Co-Founder:

“This season our drivers performed fantastically with their great surge up the leaderboard. As well as the amazing raw talent of our players, this can be attributed to the partnership with Renault Sport Racing and the infrastructure we’ve created together. A key focus for our global vision is to provide all of our players with the support and tools afforded to traditional athletes to allow them to compete at the highest possible level. It’s fantastic to see the results of our partnership reflected in the team’s success in the F1 Esports Series, and we can’t wait to see the team excel next year!”

Xavier Cousein, Renault Marketing Vice President:

“2019 has been a fantastic year for Renault Sport Team Vitality. This progress showcases the brilliant combination of Team Vitality's esports expertise coupled with Renault Sport Racing’s presence in the highly demanding field of motorsport. Esports is an important avenue to grow the awareness and the positive opinion of the Renault brand among a younger audience around the world. We are confident of Team Vitality’s continued success in the future having a positive impact on brand Renault.”

Cyril Abiteboul, Renault Sport Racing Managing Director:

“We are proud to see Renault Sport Team Vitality secure fourth place in the 2019 F1 Esports Series. There has been a lot of hard work put into the programme, and the tight collaboration between Renault, Renault Sport Racing and Renault Sport Team Vitality has been pivotal to this success. It’s also great to see such co-operation with the Renault Sport Academy. We are unique in having transferred over a driver to compete in esports and it has paid huge dividends. We are looking forward to sharing more success in the future with Team Vitality and maximising further crossovers between esports and Formula 1.”