Paul Jeffrey
Premium
Esport continues to occupy the majority of viewing time for those missing the thrill of real racing, so let's take a look at the week just gone, and what to look forward to in the days ahead.
Virtual motorsport continues to go from strength to strength, as the racing held during the week past once again showcased how close our hobby is towards replicating the thrills of real life motorsport action.
Last Week
In tin top action, the Australians had much of the fun with thrilling races in both the AGR eSports Cup for TCR Audi iRacing cars, as a mix of experienced and young drivers from the world of Australian motorsport battled it out on the now sadly demolished Oran Park racetrack in iRacing.
Stars from the world of the popular TCR Australia series showed great pace and racecraft on the iRacing simulation, with wildcard entrant Josh Files (of TCR Europe fame) also showing strongly with a race two podium finish.
Keeping it 'down under', the Supercars All Star Esport Series once again produced some fantastic action, with the field taking to the Circuit of the Americas for a three race battle that featured McLaren Formula One driver, Lando Norris.
Norris would be making his second guest appearance in the series at the American venue, and took to the category like a duck to water as he secured his first race victory in a dominant performance during the shorter race 2 sprint event.
In GT racing, the SRO E-Sport GT Series PRO and SILVER categories would be at Spa-Francorchamps for their second round of the championship, with Audi driver Lorenzo Marcucci comfortably taking the victory spoils of the real world drivers. Former Formula One World Champion Jenson Button would have a difficult race, the 40-year-old in the wars as he retired early on in his his Jenson Team Rocket RJN liveried McLaren. Another star name trying their hand in the series would be follow F1 racer and double Formula E Champion Jean-Eric Vergne, however the Frenchman lasted even less time than his British rival, having failed to even cross the line on the opening lap.
In the SILVER category, Andrea Capoccia would end up on top in a close fought race, the Audi man managing to secure an eventual race victory with 11 seconds in hand over the chasing pack.
Moving on to open wheel machines, yet another entertaining F1 Virtual Grand Prix took place last weekend, taking to the Barcelona circuit as Charles Leclerc enjoyed more than his fair share of action throughout the race.
George Russell and Leclerc would have a battle royal for the race victory, with Russell taking the place on track but carrying a three second penalty, only for the Ferrari driver to gain a penalty of his own in the dying moments, allowing Williams George Russell to take home his first race victory of the series.
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois would have a solid race himself, ending up in 12th position and best of the football stars taking part in the event.
Speaking of football players, check out this start from Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero:
Next Week
The week ahead is again packed full of exciting action to enjoy, with the best of the best from the world of Formula E set to battle it out in rFactor 2, the next round of the SRO E-Sport PRO and SILVER series, and a debut for both Formula 2 and Formula 3 drivers in the world of virtual racing.
Keeping it closer to home, RaceDepartment will be hosting the first round of their new SRO E-Sport GT Series AM Championship races on Saturday evening, with a field of 45 community AM drivers taking to the Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit for a 60 minute dash to the chequed flag. Unique in that the series is running a 'fan first' approach, those who tune into our race broadcast from 19:00 UTC on the RaceDepartment Twitch channel can be in with a shout of winning a £650 widescreen BenQ curved gaming monitor! Check out the details here.
Summary of Events
I'm sure plenty more is happening in the week ahead too - feel free to let us know about any good entertainment in the comments section, and I'll be sure to add them to the list for future roundup articles.
Stay safe, stay inside, stay sim racing!
Virtual motorsport continues to go from strength to strength, as the racing held during the week past once again showcased how close our hobby is towards replicating the thrills of real life motorsport action.
Last Week
In tin top action, the Australians had much of the fun with thrilling races in both the AGR eSports Cup for TCR Audi iRacing cars, as a mix of experienced and young drivers from the world of Australian motorsport battled it out on the now sadly demolished Oran Park racetrack in iRacing.
Stars from the world of the popular TCR Australia series showed great pace and racecraft on the iRacing simulation, with wildcard entrant Josh Files (of TCR Europe fame) also showing strongly with a race two podium finish.
Keeping it 'down under', the Supercars All Star Esport Series once again produced some fantastic action, with the field taking to the Circuit of the Americas for a three race battle that featured McLaren Formula One driver, Lando Norris.
Norris would be making his second guest appearance in the series at the American venue, and took to the category like a duck to water as he secured his first race victory in a dominant performance during the shorter race 2 sprint event.
In GT racing, the SRO E-Sport GT Series PRO and SILVER categories would be at Spa-Francorchamps for their second round of the championship, with Audi driver Lorenzo Marcucci comfortably taking the victory spoils of the real world drivers. Former Formula One World Champion Jenson Button would have a difficult race, the 40-year-old in the wars as he retired early on in his his Jenson Team Rocket RJN liveried McLaren. Another star name trying their hand in the series would be follow F1 racer and double Formula E Champion Jean-Eric Vergne, however the Frenchman lasted even less time than his British rival, having failed to even cross the line on the opening lap.
In the SILVER category, Andrea Capoccia would end up on top in a close fought race, the Audi man managing to secure an eventual race victory with 11 seconds in hand over the chasing pack.
Moving on to open wheel machines, yet another entertaining F1 Virtual Grand Prix took place last weekend, taking to the Barcelona circuit as Charles Leclerc enjoyed more than his fair share of action throughout the race.
George Russell and Leclerc would have a battle royal for the race victory, with Russell taking the place on track but carrying a three second penalty, only for the Ferrari driver to gain a penalty of his own in the dying moments, allowing Williams George Russell to take home his first race victory of the series.
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois would have a solid race himself, ending up in 12th position and best of the football stars taking part in the event.
Speaking of football players, check out this start from Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero:
Next Week
The week ahead is again packed full of exciting action to enjoy, with the best of the best from the world of Formula E set to battle it out in rFactor 2, the next round of the SRO E-Sport PRO and SILVER series, and a debut for both Formula 2 and Formula 3 drivers in the world of virtual racing.
Keeping it closer to home, RaceDepartment will be hosting the first round of their new SRO E-Sport GT Series AM Championship races on Saturday evening, with a field of 45 community AM drivers taking to the Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit for a 60 minute dash to the chequed flag. Unique in that the series is running a 'fan first' approach, those who tune into our race broadcast from 19:00 UTC on the RaceDepartment Twitch channel can be in with a shout of winning a £650 widescreen BenQ curved gaming monitor! Check out the details here.
Summary of Events
- Formula E Race At Home Challenge - Saturday 16th May - 14:30 UTC
- SRO E-Sport GT AM Championship - Saturday 16th May - 19:00 UTC
- SRO E-Sport GT PRO & SILVER Championship - Sunday 17th May - 12:45
- Virtual F2 & F3 - Sunday 17th May - 16:00
- GT Rivals America - Sunday 17th May - 3pm ET
- WTCR Esports - Monday 18th May - 18:30
- Supercars All Star E Series - Wednesday 20th May - 10:00
I'm sure plenty more is happening in the week ahead too - feel free to let us know about any good entertainment in the comments section, and I'll be sure to add them to the list for future roundup articles.
Stay safe, stay inside, stay sim racing!
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