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After breaking records for Esports racing live streaming last Sunday, The Race All-Star Esports Battle returns this week with the world’s greatest sim racers taking on leading drivers from Formula 1, IndyCar, Formula E and more.
The inaugural event had a combined total of 12.1 million minutes watched on The Race’s YouTube channel – that’s a combined total of 23 years of total content consumed around the world. The massive fan engagement featured nearly 30,000 combined comments and millions of impressions on social media.
Sunday’s event was created following the cancellation of the opening round of the Formula 1 World Championship in Australia. Other major motorsports championships including the NASCAR Cup Series, Formula E, IndyCar and the World Endurance Championship have also been shut down thanks to the COVID-19 virus pandemic.
The debut race attracted some of the world’s leading drivers including Formula 1 star Max Verstappen, Indianapolis 500 winner Simon Pagenaud and Formula E points leader Antonio Felix da Costa but was won by Esports racer Jernej Simoncic.
Following the incredible debut event organiser Torque Esports has been inundated with drivers – both real and virtual – looking to take part in this week’s race, which will be held on Saturday starting at 5pm UK time.
“Last week was a massive success but we’re raising the bar for round two,” said Torque Esports president and CEO Darren Cox.
More drivers and qualifying details for virtual competitors on the rFactor 2 platform will be announced soon.
“Esports racing was already in a dramatic growth phase, but given the current global situation with COVID-19, the ‘stay at home economy’ is booming,” Cox said.
“People can’t go to concerts, sporting events, festivals, movies or parties – but we’re committed to working with the motorsport community around the world to create this incredible spectacle.”
Saturday’s race can be seen on Torque Esports’ motorsport and sim racing platform’s YouTube page and The Race’s YouTube channel. The commentary team will again be led by Formula 1 callers Jack Nicholls and ex-Formula 1 racer Jolyon Palmer.
