Formula E starts esports competition in rFactor 2 with all official drivers
Formula E, the electric brother of Formula 1, is organizing an e-sports competition to replace the races that are currently canceled. All teams and drivers participate in the digital variant. Race simulator rFactor 2 is being driven.
The Formula E Race at Home Challenge is a nine-week competition. According to the organization, all teams and drivers participate. There is also a second grid, in which gamers and influencers compete against each other. The two grids complete the races at the same time, but are not in each other’s way. The gamer who is on top at the end of the competition gets to prove himself in a real Formula E car.
Race simulator rFactor 2 is used for the virtual races. It already contains the latest Formula E cars and a number of street circuits that are also used in real life. The drivers play from home. They all do it with the same hardware: a Playseat, a steering wheel and pedals from Fanatec, and PC hardware from Asus.
Drivers get one qualifying lap that determines their place on the grid. The races are then completed in Race Royale format. The last driver is eliminated after each lap. When ten drivers are left, there is a final sprint lap to the finish, where the points are divided.
Participating gamers must qualify for each weekend by setting a time with rFactor 2. You can do that from Monday to Thursday. The eighteen fastest gamers can participate in the race weekend. The selection of gamers also includes a number of influencers and famous faces from the motorsport world, according to the organization. The top three gamers automatically get a spot for the next race weekend.
A test event will start on Saturday, April 18; the following weekend is the first race where points are awarded. A race takes place every weekend and the final is on June 13. The virtual Formula E races can be followed via streams with commentary on YouTube, Facebook and Twitch. These are ninety-minute broadcasts and there are two streams at the same time: one with the real drivers, and one with the gamers and other participants.