Formula E unveils new esports series

Formula E has announced plans for a new esports competition with the winner getting to test a Gen2 car.

The Formula E Accelerate series will see 24 drivers compete in six, 25-minute, events while being mentored by Formula E teams and drivers with a prize pool of €100,000 up for grabs as well as a test in a Gen2 Formula E car, which was introduced for Season 5 and will be used for the first ever Formula E world championship season, the 2020/21 season.

Unlike the Race at Home Challenge, drivers will have to learn the intricacies of energy management as well as Attack Mode although the series will still be run on rFactor2.

The series also confirmed that there will be an open qualification for the public around Berlin Tempelhof with the top-three earning a place on the grid.

Hannah Brown, the chief strategy and business development officer for the series, said: “Following the success of the ABB Formula E Race at Home Challenge in support of UNICEF, we have evolved our esports product for both gamers and fans. The added element of energy management and Attack Mode translates the real-life Formula E racing experience into the virtual world more accurately than ever before and tests the sim racers’ ability to master electric racing.”

The Race at Home Series Challenge champion, Stoffel Vandoorne, added: “Formula E continues to create opportunities for fans and the next generation of racing drivers to get involved with the sport, and Formula E Accelerate will see a number of improvements that bring us closer to the real-life experience since our last event. Having won the ABB Formula E Race Home Challenge, I learnt how competitive and demanding it is to race at such a high standard on a regular basis. This time there will be an extra challenge, having to contend with the introduction of energy management and Attack Mode – something even I haven’t tried yet – so it will be interesting to see how drivers manage.”