Esports

In recent years, Formula 1 has faced the harsh challenge of trying to engage a young audience. Due to the high prices of the events themselves, and the general barrier of interacting with the series, F1 can often feel like it’s in a world of its own. However, Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost believes that there is an answer for developing the relationship between the younger generation and the historic motorsport—and it involves the world of eSports.

Endurance racing is a war of attrition. That was certainly the case for the GT Academy team at last weekend’s Dubai 24H race, as the #123 car was met with numerous setbacks en route to an eighth-place finish in-class.

If one were to make a list of innovations that have changed the way we play video games in recent years, eSports would be near the top. It’s safe to say that eSports has boomed over the last few years and could be well on its way to being classified as a regulated and officially-recognized sport.

The race is on for the GT Academy team in Dubai right now. With a little over 14 hours to go, the team has already experienced the highs and lows typical of an endurance event.

GT Academy Team RJN has confirmed it will be taking part in the upcoming 2017 Dubai 24 Hours event, which will be held at the Dubai Autodrome, UAE from January 12–14.

https://www.twitch.tv/eleaguetv/v/113155961

The biggest race in eSports history is about to kick off in Vegas today. You can watch the whole event kick off via the embedded ELEAGUE Twitch channel above.

A very special event for racers of the digital world and real world alike will be taking place in Las Vegas this weekend. Ten of the fastest sim racers (who were decided from the ‘Road to Vegas’ championship) will hit the virtual asphalt along with 20 Formula E drivers all in an effort to obtain a piece of the $1,000,000 prize that is up for grabs in the Visa Vegas eRace.

Recent eSports events like the ‘Road to Vegas’ focus on a merger of sim racing athletes and actual racing drivers competing on a single platform, providing a place for both to compete that doesn’t require either party to have years of training in the other discipline. However, a cross-dimensional approach could happen as soon as two years time according to Formula 1’s Chief Technical Officer, John Morrison.

What a month it’s been for fans of the Porsche brand. Not only have we seen DLC packs released for Assetto Corsa, but the huge reveal that EA no longer hold the exclusivity rights for the motorsport icon has been met with joyous reception around the world — Santa couldn’t bring a better gift to sim racing fans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY1h3uKs5p8

After three weeks of qualifying, the final set of races in Season 2 of the Forza Racing Championship is set to start in a few hours. This season brought a dozen names into today’s race, while the other four that are taking part were winners from last season, including Laige (who made off with a brand new Focus RS). The full lineup today:

In a recent interview with Slightly Mad Studios’ Creative Director Andy Tudor during the Red Bull 5G tournament, eSPORTS+CARS’ Tom Brooks learned more about Project Cars 2 and how it will be involved in world-recognized eSports competitions. Andy stressed that a good relationship with major organizer ESL helps, and players won’t have to wait for in-game integration:

As far as sim racing eSports prize money goes, you’ll be hard stretched to beat what the Cloud Sport organized ‘Road to Vegas’ championship is offering – a staggering $1,000,000. Through a collaboration with Formula E, racers from the biggest and best virtual racing teams have been locking horns on PC title rFactor 2 throughout the season to be in contention for the championship – and the finalists have been decided.

Project CARS’ latest eSports tournament drew to a close over the weekend, with £4500 being dished out across the lucky winners on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. Streamed live on Twitch, the best drivers on Slightly Mad Studios’ 2015 racer went head-to-head across two 15 lap races on British circuits Brands Hatch and Oulton Park in the Ginetta GT3 racer. The end results were anything but tame with such a huge prize at stake.

The climax of the 2016 Ginetta x Project CARS eSports Cup is about to get underway. This weekend 45 selected semi-finalists are going to compete for the championship trophy and a three £1,500 cash prizes. Scheduled for today and tomorrow, the big finale will be streamed live on Twitch, which you can watch above. Is everyone ready?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWpuuZySsjY

The third and final Showdown event of ForzaRC Season 2 is about to kick off. Last week’s bahn-storming RS6 Avants are traded in for something altogether faster, as the 16 racers will be piloting Audi’s fearsome R18 e-tron.

After an exciting Audi RS6 showdown, the racing keeps getting more intense in the Forza Racing Championship. Drivers this week will be treated to some high speed fun in both the Elite and Recreational categories. The stars of the track this week will be the Audi #2 Audi Team Joest R18 e-tron quattro for Elite-class drivers and the Audi RS5 Coupe for those participating in the Recreational Series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLw1qjbNZZo