IMSA Esports Global Championship schedule set

The countdown is on to the fifth season of the 2026 IMSA Esports Global Championship, which will premiere in September, the week between the last two IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship rounds of the season. IMSA will be partnering with iRacing, VCO (Virtual Competition Organization), AMD and Kinetic for the season.

But before you can race in the IMSA Esports Global Championship, first, you must qualify.

Here’s the qualifying and schedule details for the 2026 season, which starts Sept. 27:

Qualifying information via iRacing Time Attack

With the first race set for Sept. 27 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, the qualifying takes place a little over a month beforehand, starting Aug. 24.

The qualifying is open to all iRacing members via the iRacing Time Attack platform for one week, with registration opening Monday, Aug. 24 at 8pm ET and closing Friday, Aug. 28, at 7:59pm ET. During that timeframe, you can register here.

Once registration wraps, the iRacing Time Attack will open Friday, Aug. 28 and close on Aug. 31. The qualifiers will occur at virtual WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and be open to both the GTP and GTD classes.

Fastest eligible teams in both GTP and GTD will be invited to participate in the Car Shootout, which will determine each team’s manufacturer affiliation for the series. The Car Shootout is due to take place Sept. 12 and 13, with individual sessions hosted at five different times each day.

Of note, invitations to the 2026 IMSA Esports Global Championship can be achieved in three ways:

• Class Champions in 2025 IMSA EGC (pending eligibility)
• 2026 VCO Grand Slam Broadcast Split GTP or GTD Class Winners
• iRacing Public Pre-Qualifying

The 2025 class champions who have secured an invite are BMW M Team Redline in GTP and Coanda Esports in GTD.

Teams can accept up to two invites from winning VCO Grand Slam Broadcast Splits in the GTP and GTD classes. If a team wins more than two invites across the two classes, they may choose which two invites to accept. Teams who have solidified a spot for the 2026 season by winning the top-split of a special event are Grid-and-Go.com eSports and Verstappen Sim Racing.

Each race will once again feature a “wild-card” entry. Last year, wild-card entries included Porsche Motorsport, TC Esports, Moradness and CSM.

Up to 52 teams will compete in each race.

2026 IMSA Esports Global Championship Schedule

The 2026 IMSA Esports Global Championship schedule follows a similar timeline as in 2025, starting near the end of the actual on-track IMSA season with esports races then coming every other Sunday from Sept. 27 through Nov. 22.

Rounds at virtual Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Sebring International Raceway and Daytona International Speedway carry over from season four.

New venues Watkins Glen International and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca come in Rounds 3 and 4, replacing a split-race concept from season four where GTP ran at the Streets of Long Beach and GTD at Virginia International Raceway.

• Round 1: Sunday, Sept. 27 – Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta
• Round 2: Sunday, Oct. 11 – Sebring International Raceway
• Round 3: Sunday, Oct. 25 – Watkins Glen International
• Round 4: Sunday, Nov. 8 – WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
• Round 5: Sunday, Nov. 22 – Daytona International Speedway

Eligible Cars for 2026

There are four GTP and eight GTD models available for the 2026 IMSA Esports Global Championship.

• GTP: Acura ARX-06, BMW M Hybrid V8, Cadillac V-Series.R and Porsche 963
• GTD: Aston Martin Vantage GT3, BMW M4 GT3, Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, Ferrari 296 GT3, Ford Mustang GT3, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO, Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO and Porsche 911 GT3 R

Complete details for the 2026 IMSA Esports Global Championship, including information on how public iRacing drivers and teams may register for the pre-qualifying sessions, are included in the official series rulebook, which can be found here.