Officially sponsored by Toyota Motor Corporation, represented by Toyota GAZOO Racing, supervised by Jordan Motorsport as a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) representative, and organized by Desert Fox Racing, the first round of national qualifiers for the 2023 Toyota GAZOO Racing MENA Esports Cup has concluded.
Skilled simulator drivers from seven nations competed in this round to earn a seat in the regional qualifiers for the 2023 Toyota GAZOO Racing MENA Esports Cup, which will be held on October 13 and 14 in the Jordanian capital of Amman.
On August 16, Jordan was the first country to begin national qualifying matches, followed by Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon, Palestine, Cyprus, and finally Iraq.
After each country's top 12 drivers had practiced for 10 minutes and qualified for the race for 10 minutes, they raced for 15 laps around Japan's legendary 4.5-kilometer Fuji Speedway course in the feature race. Those that finish in first and second place advance immediately to the regional qualifications, where a total of 32 players will compete for a spot in the finals of the third Toyota GAZOO Racing MENA Esports Cup.
Those that made it through the preliminary round and into the regional finals are:
Jordan: Ghaith Abu Taha / Rami Azzam
Egypt: Hazem Zaki / Ahmed Allam
Lebanon: Karl Etyemezian / Wassim Abou Khalil
Palestine: Martin Handal / Issa Handal
Iraq: Rozh Rashid / Ammar Al-Wazzan
Morocco: Reda Hsaine / Hamza Mennane
Cyprus: Panagiotis Petsas / Constantinos Tsiamas
Nations taking part in the second round of qualifying at the national level:
Saudi Arabia: 6 September
Oman: 7 September
Bahrain: 8 September
UAE: 9 September
Qatar: 13 September
Kuwait: 14 September
Yemen: 15 September
Tunisia: 16 September