Renault Formula 1 driver Esteban Ocon will take part in the manufacturers’ new esports event held on Gran Turismo Sport this coming Tuesday.
The Renault Vitality GT Sport Show will feature a number of Renault-affiliated drivers alongside Ocon, racing the Renault R.S.01 GT car and the Megane Trophy R car.
It makes Renault the first Formula 1 team to host its own tournament in the COVID-19 pandemic-enforced break from real-life racing. Vitality – the manufacturer’s esports partner – has teamed up to deliver the event and it will be broadcast on Vitality’s Twitch channel.
Joining Ocon will be reigning French F4 champion Hadrien David – one of the team’s academy members – the squad’s esports driver Nicolas Longuet and Laurent Hurgon, who holds the Megane Trophy lap record at the Nurburgring.
Ocon and David race against each other regularly online, and will recommence that rivalry at 1900 GMT on Tuesday, April 7.
How many different circuits or which tracks will be used is yet to be confirmed.
Renault has been active in the absence of real-life racing due to the coronavirus outbreak, with its reserve driver Guanyu Zhou winning Formula 1’s first official Virtual GP at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain last month.
Christian Lundgaard – another Renault Sport Academy driver – followed that up with second place to Charles Leclerc in last weekend’s Virtual GP at Melbourne.
