Dive into eRacing

Organized last January, the big virtual race in Las Vegas brought together drivers from Formula E and the best eSports drivers in the world. For the first time on this scale, the world of motor racing was able to become aware of the existence of virtual championships and virtual champions like the Dutchman Bono Huis. Aged 22, he was revealed in Vegas after a nine-year career, starting at the age of 13. The majority of these driving geniuses are enthusiasts lacking funding to race “in real life”.

« I didn't start playing video games out of passion, but because I didn't have the financial means to go racing., Alexandre Arnou tells us, known in the industry under the nickname Asix. One day I was advised to try my luck virtually. So I bought an Xbox, started playing, winning races. »

The barrier between the virtual and the real is becoming more and more porous thanks to precursors like the Nissan GT Academy which, in 2008, began a selection process for the game Gran Turismo 5 in order to finance a transition from the screen to the circuit. Lucas Ordóñez, first winner of the Academy, is now racing with Nissan in the Blancpain GT Series after a 2^e place in LMP2 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2011. Others like Jann Mardenborough or Gaëtan Paletou have benefited from this Academy.

2.0 drivers

With the new generation of drivers born after the end of the 1990s, virtual racing takes on another dimension. Esteban Ocon (20 years) and Lance stroll (18 years old), do not hide their interest in racing games allowing them to learn a track. To another extent, Max Verstappen (19 years old) is a regular in the game iRacing on which he trains at home just like the nugget McLaren, Lando Norris (17 years old) who became the standard bearer of McLaren's search program for the team's future simulator driver from the world of gaming.

Find the complete survey on the world of eSports in issue 2126 of AUTOhebdo available in digital version and on newsstands