Motorsport UK have announced a four round eSports British Rally Championship using DiRT Rally 2.0.
The inaugural series is open to anyone with a Motorsport UK Licence or Trackside Membership on all platforms (XBOX One, PlayStation 4 and PC) and the champion of the eBRC will win a real-life test in a Ford Fiesta R2T with EDSL Sport.
Prizes are up for grabs for finishers in the top 10 of the championship which also includes a behind the scenes tour of the M-Sport Ford factory in Cumbria and social media clips used by the BRC during the campaign will also win official championship merchandise.
Beginning in Wales on the game on the week commencing May 4, the series moves to the asphalt of Spain a fortnight later for round two, before another tarmac event, this time in Germany takes place in the week beginning June 15.
The season is then completed with a trip to the Perth and Kinross in Scotland at the end of June (week commencing 29th) where the first virtual British champion will be crowned.
Iain Campbell, British Rally Championship Manager said on the new virtual series: “We are delighted to launch the eBRC and the exciting opportunity to bring someone from the virtual world into real rallying.”
“We have four rounds with tricky gravel stages in Wales and Scotland bookending the smooth, yet challenging Tarmac of Spain and Germany – the eBRC equivalent to Clacton and Ypres!.”
“The action in the British Championship is always intense and very close between our competitors and I expect it to be even closer on Dirt 2.0 in the eBRC and by opening it up to all Motorsport UK members, it will produce even more competition.”
Entrants in the series will use the same Fiesta R2T that is offered in the prize-win on the game and EDSL Sport Team Principal Alex Waterman added on the news: “The eBRC sounds an incredibly exciting prospect and you only have to look at how many people play Dirt 2.0 to see how popular the game is.“
“We are truly thrilled to be able to offer a prize drive in one of our M-Sport Fiesta R2T’s as the overall award to hopefully breach the gap between ‘virtual’ and ‘real life’. We have seen that Esport drivers really can replicate their pace from the virtual world into real life so who knows maybe we will find the next Colin McRae. We urge everyone to get on board with this championship as its shaping up to be a great series.”
As well as the eBRC being open to members of Motorsport UK, the championship will also launch the eBRC Invitational series, where real life BRC drivers such as defending champion Matt Edwards, series returnee Rhys Yates, Josh McErlean and James Williams are all set to compete against each other and continue their battle from the real-life series.
The invitational championship will be live streamed on the social media channels of both Motorsport UK and the BRC, with presenter Ben Buesnel being joined by 2018 Virtual World Rally Champion Jon Armstrong for live commentary.
The eSports British Rally Championship begins the week commencing May 4.
To become a member of Motorsport UK Trackside for a discounted price of £19.99 using the promotional code EBRC20, go to: trackside.motorsporuk.org.
The membership includes access to this virtual championship as well as content from both WRC+ and F1TV and features from magazines including Autosport and Motor Sport. More information can be found at: https://www.motorsportuk.org/news-publications/stay-on-track-motorsport-uk/
eSports British Rally Championship calendar:
| Round 1 – Wales | Week Commencing – 4 May |
| Round 2 – Spain | Week Commencing – 25 May |
| Round 3 – Germany | Week Commencing – 15 June |
| Round 4 – Scotland | Week Commencing – 29 June |
