Ferrari Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc will contest the opening round of the World Rallycross Championship’s new esports series.
Leclerc has taken to virtual racing enthusiastically during the current pause in real-world motorsport.
He has been a frontrunner in F1’s own Virtual Grand Prix series, SRO’s esports GT series and Veloce Esports’ NotTheGP events.
Leclerc was announced on Friday as part of the Ferrari GT line-up for the virtual Le Mans 24 Hours being held on the June weekend when the real-world event was originally scheduled.
World RX initially held two standalone esports events on the weekends that its first two 2020 rounds should have taken place.
It has now committed to a four-round simracing championship using Dirt Rally 2.0, beginning on Sunday, before it hopes to resume real-world racing in mid-August. The esports series opener will use the RX version of F1’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix venue Yas Marina.
Reigning RX champion Timmy Hansen and his 2019 title rivals Kevin Hansen (his brother and a regular in The Race All-Star Series – Powered by ROKiT Phones) and Andreas Bakkerud lead the championship regulars in the new online series.
Supercars star Shane van Gisbergen is among the other guests from elsewhere in the motorsport world.
