Rocking F1 2021, iRacing and rFactor2 all at once? No problem for some of the most talented sim racers.
Photo credit: RaceRoom / Moritz Löhner
An age-old proverb in the esports racing community says: “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 sims once, but I fear the man who has practiced one sim 10,000 times”. Okay this is not a real proverb, but the meaning behind that is simple. Often, professional drivers stick to one discipline where they excel and try to hone their skills to perfection. Other esports racers, however, explore different titles and are quite successful at all of them. An overview of four talented drivers who made it in several games and sims.
Moritz Löhner – Skill on the virtual and the real track
Our most recent Hero of the Month Moritz Löhner proved his skill in various disciplines. The 23-year-old talent from Germany started competing in RaceRoom and scored his first podium finish at the DTM Winter Cup in 2016. He eventually switched to iRacing for two years, racing in events such as the VRS GT iRacing World Championship, the Porsche Tag Heuer Esports Supercup and several endurance races.
Moritz then returned to his master discipline RaceRoom where he competed under the flag of Williams Esports and Dörr Esports. He successfully claimed the title as ADAC GT Masters Esports champion two years in a row which granted him a test drive in traditional motorsports at the DTM Trophy – which he completed with dominance. In an interview with OverTake for HOTM, he also told us he is currently greatly enjoying Assetto Corsa Competizione, so watch out as he might enter that scene as well.
Patrik Holzmann – His unconventional road to the top
German esports racer Patrik Holzmann can look back on quite an unconventional career. After school, he started an apprenticeship as a roadbuilder, switched to software developer, then pursued a job as a car mechanic and eventually he became a full-time sim racer. He always had a passion for motorsports and racing games, but he participated in races just for fun. In 2014, he started driving in the iRacing World Championship Grand Prix Series and took part for several years.
Four years later however, his life changed as he was signed by the Toro Rosso Esports Team to represent them in the F1 Esports Series. He was later transferred to the rebranded Scuderia AlphaTauri squad and continued racing in F1 Esports. Simultaneously he also participated in the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup for Team Redline.
Enzo Bonito – The talent doesn’t stop in iRacing
The 26-year-old Enzo Bonito from Italy is another quadruple-threat in the competition. Enzo started playing Gran Turismo as a child after watching his father enjoying the game.
His professional career took off in iRacing in 2012. He has been competing in this discipline ever since, participating in some of the most prestigious events such as the iRacing World Championship, driving under the banner of teams such as ineX Racing or Team Redline.
In 2018, Enzo started to to pursue a career in the F1 Esport Series and showed he had mastered Codemasters’ F1 games as well. He was part of McLaren Shadow for two years until eventually switching to esports division of the Ferrari Driver Academy.
Frederik Rasmussen – Taking victories in any kind of discipline
A world champion who can do it all: 21-year-old Frede Rasmussen i is known for his abilities in the F1 series as he took the Teams’ title back-to-back and finished in second place in the solo division twice. The Red Bull Esports driver from Denmark also took part in various iRacing tournaments, such as the VRS GT iRacing World Championship.
As if being talented in two titles is not enough, he also dominated in his maiden rFactor2 tournament, the Formula E: Accelerate Drivers’ Championship. In the Grand Final, he snatched the pole position, fastest lap and the race win. This means he was even able to beat top competition such as Erhan Jajovski. For Frede Rasmussen, his amazing performance in the Finals was surprising to himself. He hadn’t even mapped the button to see the positions of the other drivers, so he wasn’t even aware of his great lead. His victory granted him a cash prize of €20,000 and a drive in a real Gen2 Formula E car.
What other esports racers that dominate in multiple disciplines do you follow? Tell us on Twitter at @overtake_gg or in the comments down below!