We take a look at World eX prior to the fifth round at Interlagos. Learn what makes the innovative format different from other series.
Photo credit: Virtual Competition Organisation
The World eX championship is a revolutionary virtual racing series pitting professional drivers and sim racers against each other in short and rapid races, whilst also simultaneously pursuing and promoting a more sustainable future for all of motor racing.
There are nine full-time teams competing in this championship. Names you will be already familiar with such as Williams Esports, W Racing Team, Absolute Racing and Romain Grosjean’s team R8G Esports. You even have seasoned racing drivers starting up their own teams especially for this series, including Patrick Long, Frank Biela, Tom Kristensen and Nico Müller.
The racing utilises an interesting football tournament-esque format starting off with duel races. Each winner progresses up through the stages until it’s whittled down to two, who meet for a single lap shootout to crown the winner of the eX Prix.
With the next round coming up next week, here’s all you need to know about this pioneering esports series.
The season so far
In the first two rounds, it was Danish touring car champion Lasse Sorensen who was victorious for TK9 E-Speed, the team formed by nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen. By winning the opener at Silverstone ahead of seasoned sim racer Jernej Simončič, Sørensen guaranteed himself a place in the grand finale shootout on the Nordschliefe to decide the champion on 23 November.
Sørensen also won the second round on the Sebring circuit after a robust last-corner move on BS+COMPETITION driver Alen Terzic, but the Munich-based outfit struck back in the following round at Sepang with American racer Phillippe Denes who held off the advances of Absolute Racing’s Michi Hoyer.
Last time, World eX raced on a fictional street circuit in the Dutch city of Maastricht which made for some incredible racing in round four. It ended up with two drivers in the same team in the super final. R8G Esports’ two racers Risto Kappet and Gordie Mutsch went head-to-head and it was Kappet who came out on top.
The racing in this championship is remarkable and the good news is that if you haven’t seen any World eX action yet, you can still watch the remaining six rounds.
- Rd 5: 29 June – Interlagos
- Rd 6: 27 July – Estoril
- Rd 7: 31 August – Spa-Francorchamps
- Rd 8: 28 September – Monza
- Rd 9: 26 October – Indianapolis
- Rd 10: 23 November – Nürburgring
NOTE (21/10/2021): Round 9’s host circuit was originally the Monaco Grand Prix circuit, however it was amended today to be the Indianapolis oval.
Virtual testing ground for sustainable racing
World eX is the brainchild of the Racing Car Concept Organisation headed by Le Mans victor and DTM champion Mike Rockenfeller. It is a championship that is leading the charge of sustainability in racing, and the aim of the series is to allow manufacturers in the future to utilise their unique virtual racing championship to develop their own electric vehicles virtually before putting the technology into real cars. After all, eX stands for ‘electric experimental’.
This concept is not entirely impossible as the RCCO held a set of championships on Gran Turismo Sport in the Audi e-Tron VGT, a concept car developed by Audi in collaboration with Polyphony Digital’s Vision Gran Turismo program. The e-Tron VGT has since been developed into a fully functioning concept car and has been used for taxi rides in support of Formula E races.
World eX is held on rFactor 2 and in partnership with Studio 397, the eX ZERO was developed. One of the fastest cars in all of sim racing, the eX ZERO produces 1,000 horsepower from its 100 kilowatt/hour battery and weighs only 1,000 kilograms. As a result, it can do 0-100kph in 2.3 seconds, 0-200kph in 4.6 seconds and 0-300kph in 9.5 seconds, and in its lowest drag configuration it can top out at 384kph.
Be sure to tune in to World eX‘s Twitch channel at 8 PM CEST next Tuesday to watch the next round on the Interlagos circuit.
What do you think of World eX? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
