Soumil Arora
Florian’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/vcofh |
BS+ COMPETITION’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bscompetition/ |
VCO eSports’ Website: https://vco-esports.com/ |
Continuing our series of articles with Florian Haasper (Who is he, you ask? Check out my previous article here explaining his role in 2 of the most intriguing Sim Racing organisations around!), today, we understand what makes BS+COMPETITION, one of Florian’s major passion projects, such a special team in the sim racing environment.
The Formation Of The Team
With Sim Racing rising in prominence by the day, Florian and BMW Motorsport were in serious talks to be a part of this whole new vertical of racing and do so with an impact. After the inaugural BMW Sim 120 Cup, which we spoke about in our previous article, Florian, along with Laurin Heinrich and Alexander Voß (the winners of the Sim 120 Cup) floated the idea of having their own outfit and there it was! BS+COMPETITION was here!
Media Credits: VCO
The Hybrid Team, In A Once Unconventional Way
When planning to be amongst the very elite of all Sim Racing teams, there was a genuine need to stack the team up with high profile Sim Racing talent who know the platforms inside out and are able to perform in events featuring the highest caliber of talent. To fill that void, in came the aforementioned Alexander Voß (who competed in last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual for Corvette Motorsport with Jordan Taylor, Nicky Catsburg and Laurin Heinrich!), Kay Kaschube, Nils Koch, Nathan Lewis, Mikkel Gade, Phillip Denes, Ryan Barneveld and now the 16-year old Rainer Talvar.
However, what makes them really interesting is their unwavering commitment to being a hybrid team i.e having real world racing drivers that approach Sim Racing like another parallel of motorsport, rather than ‘just a video game where I can joke around and have fun’ (an approach made popular by the actions of a few real world drivers when real racing shut down in the middle of 2020).
A concept that Florian is extremely passionate about, their approach of mixing the real and virtual world has seen a new generation of ‘hybrid racers’ who compete professionally both virtually and in real life, with Beitske Visser, 2019 Carrera Cup Deutschland Champion Laurin Heinrich, 2012 DTM Champion Bruno Spengler, Spa 24h, Daytona 24h and Porsche SuperCup Champion Philipp Eng, Elias Seppänen, Robby Foley, Angus Fender, Nils Koch, and Marius Zug being BS+COMPETITION’s flag bearers in that aspect.
Does the Hybrid concept work?
Now this is a question they answered in spectacular fashion within months of forming.
In only their first year, BS+COMPETITION ended up winning the prestigious Nurburgring 24h, with Philipp Eng calling it ‘one of the best wins of his life’ after just stepping foot into the eSports world very recently. Now, the team operates independently, away from the former aim of pushing the BMW Motorsport name in eSports and has taken part in top championships like the Porsche eSports Supercup, 24h eSports Series and more along with extending the team to Rocket League too.
“𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐝𝐮𝐧𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.” 🦓
Let’s get into the perfect mood for the Major – by looking back at some more top plays. It’s @GodsmillaRL‘s turn! On YouTube.#BSCOMPETITION | #RocketLeague | #FavPlays
— BS+COMPETITION (@BScompetition) May 14, 2021
This hybrid approach has now been adopted just as prominently by the VRS Coandas, Team Redlines and Logitech G Altus eSports of this world! In fact, at this year’s Nurburgring 24h, the race was won by BMW Motorsport Team Redline, using a similar hybrid combination featuring Maximilian ‘11k’ Benecke, a former FIA Vice World Karting Champion in Chris Lulham and of course, the Formula 1 juggernaut, Max Verstappen.
However, while being early birds at the Hybrid approach that has paid them huge dividends, there is another interesting off-track aspect that makes them so unique.
The BS+COMPETITION Marketing Edge
To me, BS+COMPETITION have always been a case study in how a Sim Racing team should be packaged and promoted. From their iconic Zebra liveries and the surrounding fun interactions on Social Media to creating content with their drivers consistently, along with eye grabbing one-off campaigns such as the beautiful BS+Turner Motorsport hybrid livery brought to the IMSA Pilot Challenge in the real world, BS+COMPETITION has found a way to be constantly relevant.
Florian never intended it to be this way, but a dedication to consistently improve resulted in this!
This edge does indeed come from the fact that BS+COMPETITION have the backing of a top-line PR Agency in bürosüd plus, which allows them to create far more content than most pro-teams, who are only able to push out race results. As a result, BS+COMPETITION have been able to create a unique identity on all fronts, having a strong audience retention in all the championships they compete in.
The need to adapt
In a world where the entire sport operates online, having a strong presence there, backed up by good content has become a must, and many Sim Racing teams are now recognising this approach! In the world of physical sports too, sporting teams have made the push to become top line media businesses, creating value for sponsors and the brand itself through consistent engagement with their audiences.
The concept of taking the eSports BS+Turner livery to the real world with Turner Motorsport was a bold, but ultimately very successful campaign!
Media Credits: VCO
With eSports, there is a humongous potential audience to tap into; staying relevant on social media has to be the most critical need of the hour outside the playing field and BS+COMPETITION gets it.
