With no real motor races on track, eSports are taking over the motorsport world, with a high-profile female driver joining the field: Abbie Eaton will race against the likes of Max Verstappen and others celebrities in "The Race All-Star eSports Battle" on Saturday.
After the Melbourne F1 Grand Prix was cancelled, several eSport events popped up in a short time to entertain the many motorsport enthusiasts. Among the most successful events was the #NotTheAUSGP organizied by Veloce eSports with McLaren star Lando Norris, who showed some German skills and consistently forgot about DRS.
The other star-studded event was "The Race All-Star eSports Battle", starring Max Verstappen, Juan Pablo Montoya, Simon Pagenaud, Maximilan Günther, Antonio Felix Da Costa e many other real-life drivers.
Both events were huge successes. Many F1, IndyCar and Formula E athletes, as well as eSport professionals, fought against each other and even a soccer star was on board. And now, both events approach into the second round, with the cancellation of the Bahrain race this weekend.
"The-Race" featured three qualification rounds to determine the grid for the final race. The quali races were contested over eight laps, the final over 12.
The #NotTheAusGP was a bit different in format, with three qualification laps to set a time and a final race on a distance of 50% compared to the real one.
This Saturday, "The Race All-Star eSports Battle" will be back with another impressive great grid: next to Max Verstappen, Ed Jones, Antonio Felix da Costa and Maximilan Günther, there will also be former F1 star Nico Hülkenberg and the only female on the grid - W Series newcomer Abbie Eaton.
Sim Racing isn´t new territory for the drivers, as many use the virtual platform to train and learn new circuits. Professional simulators usually provide the engineers with the possibility to test cars' setups and strategies, but now it will become the only possibility to see races in these months. The Race and Veloce eSports reacted fast and immediately involved big names, attracting audience: this weekend two new virtual events will fill the time of the many isolated people around the world, without real racing on the track for some time.
Abbie Eaton was the official racing driver for Amazon Prime´s "The Grand Tour" show and has many years of racing experience on her resumé. She won a race in the Blancpain Endurance Series in a Ferrari 488 GT3 in 2017 and entered two races in the Australian Super2 championship last year. 2020 will be her first season in formula cars, as she qualified for the second season of the all-female W Series championship. She now follows the route of many a-list drivers, showing her talent in one of the biggest eSports event this Saturday.
The race will be live and free on the YouTube channel of The Race.
