THE BEST RACERS IN THE (VIRTUAL) WORLD
Sim racing is no longer a poor cousin to traditional motorsport, it’s now hugely popular in its own right
The world of digital virtual motorsport exploded during the Covid-19 pandemic, as racers and realworld championships all over the planet pivoted to provide an esports alternative. Among the most successful was the BP Supercars All Stars Eseries, which completed its 10-round season this week.
Dunedin’s Simon Bishop and Christchurch’s Matt Smith are among New Zealand’s leading esports racing competitors. Bishop is a former Gran Turismo Sport world champ and currently sits atop the local rankings for the game. Smith, meanwhile, is a former eSports World Rally Championship finalist, Gran Turismo Sport finalist, and is a defending Logitech G Challenge winner.
“It’s almost overwhelming as a sim driver, as, with many of these series having elements open to public participation, you don’t know where to focus,” said Smith.
“In a few years we’ve gone from not really having any exciting global sim racing opportunities to having more than you can count with various formats and motorsport disciplines. With the lockdown we’ve seen public perception catching up to how great sim racing has become.”
“It went from being a curiosity to being mainstream overnight,” Bishop added.
The pair are gearing up for their next virtual challenge: the 2020 Logitech McLaren G Challenge. Making use of the Project Cars 2 platform, the series is grouped
into North America, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. Finalists from each quadrant will progress to the (all expenses paid) worldwide grand finals.
The outright winner will earn a four-day trip to London where they will tour the McLaren Technology Centre, receive coaching from McLaren F1 driver and former Castrol Toyota Racing Series winner Lando Norris, and drive a
McLaren road car at the 2021 British F1 Grand Prix as an event VIP. “Nowadays the Logitech G Challenge has grown even bigger, and the McLaren integration is a huge drawcard,” said Bishop. “Being able to enter that competition across all platforms, only needing a standard controller, and a regular copy of the game is pretty unheard of for accessibility. To learn more and enter, visit the Logitech website at bit.ly/2BRaxdz