IndyCar champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Will Power will follow in Red Bull Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen’s footsteps in taking on this week’s Australian Supercars esports event.
Australian driver Power – the 2014 IndyCar champion and 2018 Indy 500 winner – has raced in the Supercars championship six times, most recently scoring a pair of podiums at Surfers Paradise in 2012.
Verstappen scored a hat-trick of podiums as he contested the second round of the Supercars esports series, set up to bridge the gap while real-life racing isn’t happening due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Penske driver Power has had two-time and reigning Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin as a team-mate in the IndyCar’s equivalent iRacing series for all four of its rounds, each of which Power has finished in the top four.
The 38-year-old Power will now join McLaughlin – who took victory in round two of the IndyCar iRacing Challenge at Barber Motorsports Park and leads the Supercars Esports series – and Fabian Coulthard in the DJR Team Penske squad for the Bathurst event.
“Being Australian, the Supercars series is really important to me and I’ve always followed it over the years; even more now that Team Penske has such a great presence,” said Power.
“We all pay attention to what the Shell V-Power Racing Team, Scott and Fabian are doing and their success is huge for our organisation.
“I really hope to get the chance to race some Supercars events for the team one day, but of course now I’m focused on winning another IndyCar Championship and another Indianapolis 500.
“I’ve always done a lot of simracing, but been spending a lot more time online since we’ve been dealing with the pandemic.
“I’ve had the chance to race all the IndyCar races and have been doing some other stuff too, so I’m pumped add a Supercars race to it as well.
“It’s a lot of fun and gives the fans something to watch and gives us drivers something to compete in so it will be a lot of fun.”
Supercars CEO Sean Seamer added: “We’re humbled by the hugely positive response to our Eseries from people in Australia and internationally.
“This is a special thing to be able to offer everyone during our break from on track racing, and it’s great to have not only our full suite of Supercars drivers, but also a number of household global names like Will Power joining them each week.
“We’re really happy with the response so far, and look forward to offering everyone our Supercars stars, along with fresh faces, new formats, and exciting races each Wednesday night.”
The championship raced at Phillip Island and Monza for round one and followed that up next time out with Verstappen at Silverstone and Barcelona.
After Bathurst, the series heads to Montreal and Watkins Glen for round four, with 10 rounds in total.
