Paul Jeffrey
Premium
We live in strange times. The people of the world staying indoors in order to fight off Covid-19, and worldwide sport has ground to a halt. Stepping into the void quite nicely indeed is our favourite hobby... simracing!
Yes, who would have thought that at the end of 2019 that our little niche hobby in the corner of the internet would gather so much attention from the worldwide pubic in the early months of the current year? Already we've had high profile sim racing events, legends of the past, present and future racing wheel to wheel with each other on the virtual tarmac, real world series drivers substituting their race car for a virtual version en masse, and one or two drivers wishing they behaved a little bit more maturely in front of the webcam....
With so much happening, and continuing to happen in the world of (virtual) motorsports, we are starting up a regular round-up and preview feature designed to keep you up to speed on what is going on, and signpost you to some of the key events that are due to take place in the days ahead.
A pretty comprehensive task considering the sheer volume of events, so if I miss anything, feel free to reference them in the comments section at the foot of this article.
This first post in the series will be a little longer than future articles, as we've got a fair bit of catching up on news to cover, so I'll try and keep it as brief as I possibly can.. within reason.
How have we got to where we are today?
This is a big question with a short answer - Coronavirus, or Covid-19, or whatever you want to call it, has quite simply exploded around the world in record time. From first officially appearing at the end of 2019, the virus has rapidly travelled around the globe and left few untouched in one way or another due to this awful disease.
With the need for social distancing in place in the vast majority of countries, sport has very quickly ground to a stop as every major and minor event and championship has been forced into a temporary hiatus - with little known about when things can realistically begin to return to something like normal.
Sadly for petrol heads, Formula One and motorsport in general have not been immune to these restrictions, which has left something of a void in the schedule of drivers, teams, commentators, presenters, TV stations, championships, event organisers and pretty much anyone with any level of touch point within the larger racing eco-system.
Step in sim racing. A hobby, passion, profession, obsession of every one of us here at RaceDepartment for varying periods of time. Some of us have been around the scene for a long time, others are just finding their feet in the pastime we call home - but one thing remains the same for us all - the level of interest and exposure our sport is beginning to enjoy is absolutely unprecedented in the history of digitally recreated racing cars.
What's been happening so far?
Well, basically, everyone and anyone has jumped feet first into our little sport, with mixed and often impressive results. In recent weeks we've seen high profile Formula One drivers fighting it out in a variety of official, and no so official racing series, even go so far as to having current Grand Prix stars having a bash in European Truck Simulator!
On the more serious side of things, series such as Nascar, IndyCar, Australian Supercars, GT World Challenge, Formula E, TCR Europe and DTM have confirmed or already begun their own official replacement championships, often featuring the majority of their real life grid taking up the fight on the virtual tarmac - unsurprisingly with many of the real world top runners finding themselves towards the sharp end of the virtual grids too.
In terms of Grand Prix racing, we've had a number of lighter entertainment pieces from the top level category, with replacement events featuring select Formula One drivers, celebrities and influences taking to the track in Codemasters F1 2019 videogame. Notable for known sim racer Lando Norris and his habit of calling fellow drivers during the race, these events have been an interesting way to show a different side of the sport and drivers to fans, without taking the on track action too seriously as is often the case in the real world championship.
While multi-race events have been or are about to become a regular occurrence for a number of different series, we've also seen some interesting standalone categories coming to the fore, not least of which has been The Race organised Legends events - which see's drivers of prominence from the history of the sport pitched against each other in identical cars within rFactor 2. Such massive names as Emerson Fittipaldi, Jenson Button, Jacques Villeneuve, Tony Kannan, Juan Montoya and Dario Franchitti to name check but a few of the stars who've already taken part. Pretty impressive stuff.
What's coming up next?
Frankly, with so many different and varied initiatives taking place across the entirety of the internet, this part of the article is going to be quite challenging to summarise without missing out too much - so apologise in advance if I leave off one or two I've overlook - sadly TV Times isn't published for sim racing events (a reference only our UK readers will get).
Right, let's try and make a start shall we?
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!
Yes, who would have thought that at the end of 2019 that our little niche hobby in the corner of the internet would gather so much attention from the worldwide pubic in the early months of the current year? Already we've had high profile sim racing events, legends of the past, present and future racing wheel to wheel with each other on the virtual tarmac, real world series drivers substituting their race car for a virtual version en masse, and one or two drivers wishing they behaved a little bit more maturely in front of the webcam....
With so much happening, and continuing to happen in the world of (virtual) motorsports, we are starting up a regular round-up and preview feature designed to keep you up to speed on what is going on, and signpost you to some of the key events that are due to take place in the days ahead.
A pretty comprehensive task considering the sheer volume of events, so if I miss anything, feel free to reference them in the comments section at the foot of this article.
This first post in the series will be a little longer than future articles, as we've got a fair bit of catching up on news to cover, so I'll try and keep it as brief as I possibly can.. within reason.
How have we got to where we are today?
This is a big question with a short answer - Coronavirus, or Covid-19, or whatever you want to call it, has quite simply exploded around the world in record time. From first officially appearing at the end of 2019, the virus has rapidly travelled around the globe and left few untouched in one way or another due to this awful disease.
With the need for social distancing in place in the vast majority of countries, sport has very quickly ground to a stop as every major and minor event and championship has been forced into a temporary hiatus - with little known about when things can realistically begin to return to something like normal.
Sadly for petrol heads, Formula One and motorsport in general have not been immune to these restrictions, which has left something of a void in the schedule of drivers, teams, commentators, presenters, TV stations, championships, event organisers and pretty much anyone with any level of touch point within the larger racing eco-system.
Step in sim racing. A hobby, passion, profession, obsession of every one of us here at RaceDepartment for varying periods of time. Some of us have been around the scene for a long time, others are just finding their feet in the pastime we call home - but one thing remains the same for us all - the level of interest and exposure our sport is beginning to enjoy is absolutely unprecedented in the history of digitally recreated racing cars.
What's been happening so far?
Well, basically, everyone and anyone has jumped feet first into our little sport, with mixed and often impressive results. In recent weeks we've seen high profile Formula One drivers fighting it out in a variety of official, and no so official racing series, even go so far as to having current Grand Prix stars having a bash in European Truck Simulator!
On the more serious side of things, series such as Nascar, IndyCar, Australian Supercars, GT World Challenge, Formula E, TCR Europe and DTM have confirmed or already begun their own official replacement championships, often featuring the majority of their real life grid taking up the fight on the virtual tarmac - unsurprisingly with many of the real world top runners finding themselves towards the sharp end of the virtual grids too.
In terms of Grand Prix racing, we've had a number of lighter entertainment pieces from the top level category, with replacement events featuring select Formula One drivers, celebrities and influences taking to the track in Codemasters F1 2019 videogame. Notable for known sim racer Lando Norris and his habit of calling fellow drivers during the race, these events have been an interesting way to show a different side of the sport and drivers to fans, without taking the on track action too seriously as is often the case in the real world championship.
While multi-race events have been or are about to become a regular occurrence for a number of different series, we've also seen some interesting standalone categories coming to the fore, not least of which has been The Race organised Legends events - which see's drivers of prominence from the history of the sport pitched against each other in identical cars within rFactor 2. Such massive names as Emerson Fittipaldi, Jenson Button, Jacques Villeneuve, Tony Kannan, Juan Montoya and Dario Franchitti to name check but a few of the stars who've already taken part. Pretty impressive stuff.
What's coming up next?
Frankly, with so many different and varied initiatives taking place across the entirety of the internet, this part of the article is going to be quite challenging to summarise without missing out too much - so apologise in advance if I leave off one or two I've overlook - sadly TV Times isn't published for sim racing events (a reference only our UK readers will get).
Right, let's try and make a start shall we?
- eNascar Pro Invitational - Saturday 25th April - 00:00 UTC
- Formula E Race at Home Challenge - Saturday 25th April - 15:20 UTC
- The Race All Star Battle - Saturday 25th April - 18:00 UTC
- IndyCar iRacing Challenge - Saturday 25th April - 18:30 UTC
- GT World Challenge Europe - Sunday 26th April - 11:45 UTC
- Formula One Challenge Williams - Sunday 26th April - 17:00 UTC
- Supercars All Stars E Series - Wednesday 29th April - 23:00 UTC
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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