The ABB FIA Formula E Championship’s unique esports series, Race At Home Challenge, will be streamed across across the BBC iPlayer, red button and online from this weekend.
Round one will take place around a virtual Hong Kong Harbour front, with coverage starting at 1620 on Saturday April 25.
The Race At Home Challenge will take place across eight consecutive weekends and features a battle royale format. This means that after the first lap, the last-placed driver is eliminated until the final two laps of the race, where the top 12 have two laps to secure the best possible finishing position.
Current championship leader Antonio Felix Da Costa said: “We miss racing and I cannot wait to get back on track.”
“Motor racing is actually one of only a few sports with transferrable skills across both the real and gaming world. So it will be interesting to see how we get acclimatised to the conditions.”
The Race At Home Challenge will apdopt the same points system, with one point for pole position, one point for fastest lap with 25 for the race win down to a single point for tenth place, with double points for the final event.
It is made up of two seperate races; one for the regular drivers and teams from the Formula E season and another for gamers and influencers.
The winner of the championship for gamers and influencers will have the chance to test a Formula E car once real racing resumes.
Organisers for the event intend to use it to raise money for the UNICEF Coronavirus Fund which has so far raised £1500.
Last weekend saw both gamers and FE drivers test out the rFactor 2 software in a test event that was streamed on YouTube, Twitch, Twitter and Facebook around the streets of Monte Carlo.
BMW i-Andretti Motorsport driver Maxmillian Gunther won the race ahead of Mercedes-Benz EQ’s Stoffel Vandoorne.
Pop star Rita Ora will now join the usual team of lead commentator Jack Nicholls, Indy-500 winner Dario Franchitti and Nicki Shields to show her support for the cause.
