until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
The Race All-Star Cup – Fully Charged by ROKiT Phones will be a championship series as of the fifth round.
In the next three races, drivers will be awarded points based on their finishing position, with prizes given out to the simracer and real-world pro driver who finish the trio of events with the most points.
The champion simracer will win themselves a full day’s test in a Formula 1 team’s simulator, including flights to the UK and accommodation (subject to the lifting of travel restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic).
Meanwhile, in the real-world driver category, the champion will win $30,000 to be donated to a charity of their choice.
While every driver will start on zero points, regardless of their past All-Star performances, the past four rounds have revealed who the likely contenders are in both categories.
Pro drivers
Stoffel Vandoorne
The Mercedes Formula E driver didn’t take part in the first All-Star event but in the other three he’s been consistently quick. He qualified and finished ninth in the second All-Stars grand final, giving James Baldwin a run for his money. In the third All-Star event he finished 10th and as the fourth best real-world driver, before improving to be the fastest real-world driver in qualifying for the latest grand final and finishing a credible seventh overall.
Mike Epps
Jumping into the All-Star series for the first time in the fourth event, Epps had an impressive debut. He qualified for the grand final in 12th but made up six places in the 10-lap race and was the only real-world driver to beat an ever-improving Vandoorne.
Philipp Eng
The BMW works driver has been consistently one of the best-performing real-world drivers and was even the highest-finishing real world driver in the third running of the event as he crossed the line in fifth, even beating sim racer Nikodem Wisniewski.
Ed Jones
Speed hasn’t been Jones’ problem as he showed by finishing the third All-Star grand final a strong ninth. He then qualified for the fourth grand final in the same position but was punted into a wall in the race. Even when he’s kept it clean, he’s often disconnected from races – it was this issue that cost him a spot in the second All-Star grand final.
Esteban Gutierrez
Gutierrez didn’t start off amazingly quick, failing to make the final in his first event, which was the second running of the All-Star series. However, he made the grand final for the third event and finished in 13th overall. The most recent event was another big step forward for the Mercedes F1 reserve driver as he qualified in eighth, just behind fellow Mercedes reserve Vandoorne, and would’ve been one of the highest-finishing real world drivers were it not for a crash with Bradley Smith while they were fighting for ninth place.
Simracers
Van Buren has never finished outside of the top three in the four All-Star events, despite the changes in cars and tracks. This means he’s undoubtedly a championship contender and a tough opponent for anyone to beat.
He won the fourth All-Star final, while two more grand final poles and runner-up finishes show the McLaren Shadow driver is no one-round wonder.
Jajovski may not have won an All-Star round yet but discounting one of the top rFactor 2 racers would be a mistake. He finished seventh in the second round and was able to keep up with frontrunners last time out, capitalising on Jernej Simoncic’s spin to briefly take third and crossing the line in fourth place in the end.
Another previous All-Star winner, having won the third running of the event. Huis has also proven himself as one of the few racers who can give van Buren a run for his money, successfully holding him off in the fourth-round simracer heat. He finished the subsequent grand final in second, just behind Siggy.
Nikodem Wisniewski
The Williams esports driver isn’t one of the four different winners, but he so nearly was. In the third round he took pole position and held off Huis early on. However, a tangle with Huis sent him spinning off the circuit and cost him what could’ve been an All-Star win. Even that aside, anyone familiar with the rFactor 2 racing scene will know Wisniewski is one of the fastest on that game.
