The Race All-Star Cup – Fully Charged by ROKiT Phones is becoming a championship series.
Having already made a huge impact since being created in just 72 hours last month by The Race’s parent company Torque Esports in response to ‘real-world’ motorsport being halted by the coronavirus pandemic, The Race All-Star Series’ evolution into a championship begins this weekend.
The field of top simracers and pro drivers from the likes of Formula 1, Formula E, IndyCar, sportscars and touring cars will fight for the title on rFactor 2 over the next three Saturdays – April 11, 18 and 25 – before the first champion is crowned.
The top simracer will receive 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), and $30,000 will be donated to the charity of the top pro driver’s choice.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for our sport to establish the esports genre as a legitimate form of entertainment for fans around the world,” said Torque Esports CEO Darren Cox.
“It’s also a potentially lucrative first step for new competitors to get involved in the sport without ever having to leave their homes.”
Points will be scored on a 35-30-26-24-22-20-19-18-17-etc basis for the 20 racers in each The Race All-Star Cup – Fully Charged by ROKiT Phones grand final.
The format remains a three-heats system – two for pro drivers and one for simracers – that take 15 drivers into the final, with the Jones Soda Last Chance Qualifying race giving another five pro drivers chance to complete the grand final field.
Those who don’t make it to the final can still score championship points, with 5-4-3-2-1 scores on offer for sixth through 10th in both the Jones Soda Last Chance Qualifying race and the simracers’ heat.
While Max Verstappen, Felix Rosenqvist, Colton Herta, Daniel Juncadella, Michael Epps and Stoffel Vandoorne have been the star performers among the real-world pro drivers in the races to date, drivers from sim backgrounds are so far unbeaten in the finals.
Jernej Simoncic’s win in the inaugural All-Star event using 2012 F1 cars on the Nurburgring Grand Prix track was followed by triumphs for Rudy van Buren, Bono Huis and Kevin Siggy in Indy Pro Series cars on the Indianapolis road course, Silverstone National and NOLA respectively.
This weekend’s car and circuit combination is yet to be revealed.
The Race All-Star Series bill also features the Legends Trophy races for superstar names from motorsport history. This weekend 1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve makes his debut in the Legends Trophy field, taking on fellow F1 title winners Jenson Button and Emerson Fittipaldi plus Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti, Helio Castroneves and many more.
The double-header format introduced for the Legends Trophy last week continues, with race one’s finishing order reversed to form the race two grid. The winner of the opening race each week gets to nominate a charity to receive $10,000.
All the action can be watched live on The Race and our YouTube channel.
