In light of the postponement of the Australian GP due to coronavirus, two virtual races are happening in its place! Here are the details on each.
“The Race's All-Star Esports Battle”
When: Sunday, March 15 at 1 pm UTC / 9 am EDT / 6 am PDT (convert for your time zone)
Game: rFactor 2 (Formula ISI 2012 cars on a “surprise circuit”)
Watch: The-Race’s YouTube channel
Confirmed drivers
Max Verstappen (Formula 1)
Antonio Felix da Costa (Formula E)
Max Gunther (Formula E)
Neel Jani (Formula E)
Nelson Piquet Jr (ex-Formula 1 and Formula E driver, inaugural Formula E champion)
Simon Pagenaud (IndyCar, Indy 500 winner)
Felix Rosenqvist (IndyCar)
Colton Herta (IndyCar)
Juan Pablo Montoya (ex-Formula 1 and IndyCar driver) and his son Sebastian
Wolfgang Reip (GT & endurance driver, 2012 Gran Turismo Academy champion)
Billy Monger (Eurofomula)
Devlin DeFrancesco (F3 Asian Championship)
Paul O'Neill (British Touring Car Championship)
Brendon Leigh (inaugural F1 eSports champion)
Rudy van Buren (eSports)
James Baldwin (eSports)
Jimmy Broadbent (eSports)
Commentary by Jack Nichols (Formula E, BBC Formula 1)
More info: The-Race’s website and Twitter account
“Not the AUS GP”
When: Sunday, March 15 at 5:45 pm UTC / 1:45 pm EDT / 10:45 am PDT (convert for your time zone)
Game: F1 2019 (presumably on the Albert Park circuit)
Watch: Veloce eSports’ YouTube channel and Twitch channel
Confirmed drivers
Lando Norris (Formula 1)
Stoffel Vandoorne (Formula E, ex-Formula 1)
Jean-Eric Vergne (Formula E, ex-Formula 1)
Sacha Fenestraz (Super Formula)
Thibaut Courtois (goalkeeper, Real Madrid)
Aarav “Aarava” Amin (eSports)
James Baldwin (eSports)
Dani Bereznay (eSports)
Steve Alvarez “Super GT” Brown (eSports)
James Doherty (eSports)
Will “WillNE'“ Lenney (eSports)
Jarno Opmeer (eSports)
More info: Veloce’s Twitter account
Not to be left out, NASCAR is getting in on the virtual racing too!
“The Replacements 100”
When: Sunday, March 15 at 7 pm UTC / 3 pm EDT / 12 pm PDT (convert for your time zone)
Game: iRacing (Atlanta Motor Speedway, presumably NASCAR Cup Series cars)
Watch: Podium eSports’ Twitch channel
Confirmed drivers
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (ex-NASCAR driver)
William Byron (NASCAR Cup Series)
Alex Bowman (NASCAR Cup Series)
Bubba Wallace (NASCAR Cup Series)
Justin Allgaier (NASCAR Xfinity Series)
Taylor Gray (NASCAR Late Model Series)
Ben Rhodes (NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoor Truck Series)
Harrison Burton (NASCAR Xfinity Series)
Justin Haley (NASCAR Xfinity Series)
TJ Majors (NASCAR spotter)
Kyle Long (retired NFL lineman)
Tim Dugger (musician)
Chad Knaus (NASCAR crew chief)
Kevin Hamlin (NASCAR spotter)
Jonathan Davis (NASCAR spotter)
Coleman Pressley (NASCAR spotter)
Kevin Iannarelli (track development, iRacing)
Steven Steffen (eSports)
More info: Podium eSports’ Twitter account