bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Reuters

Formula E, the world’s first fully electric car racing series, is planning a virtual race in Las Vegas in January with a likely US$1 million jackpot for the winner.
Series chief executive Alejandro Agag said on Tuesday the event, pitting regular race drivers against a handful of fans on simulators, could even become a round of the regular championship in future.
“We think e-sports [electronic sports] is a huge opportunity and we want to be the first ones fully immersed in that,” he said ahead of next week’s London finale to Formula E’s second season.
Hong Kong is to host a leg of the next series in Central in October.
Speaking about the Las Vegas virtual race, Agag said: “This will be the first virtual race with 20 professional drivers of a racing championship on a big stage and with a very large prize fund.”
The Spanish entrepreneur said the race would be part of the January 5-8 global Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
While insiders indicated US$1 million as the likely prize, Agag said only that the amount would be “significantly plus of six figures”.
“It will be a good jackpot for Vegas,” added Agag, agreeing that “people want to win a million in Vegas.”
To qualify, “Race to Vegas” competitions will be launched three months in advance for gamers to sign up and compete online. Five are likely to secure slots.
“The fun thing would be for a gamer to win it against the professional drivers. I think it’s going to be very tough,” said Agag of the race.
“We are only going to disclose and show the virtual track to all the players that morning. It’s going to be like the real Formula E. You come for the first time to a city and race in a city, you never practise before.
“Gamers ... are normally better at games than drivers. On the other hand, drivers are better than gamers at quickly getting the feel of a racetrack. It’s going to be an interesting competition.”
Many sports, including Formula One which raced in the past in Las Vegas and has been linked to a return to the famed strip, are experimenting with virtual reality (VR) technology to engage fans and attract new audiences.
Tech giants like Google, Facebook and Samsung are investing heavily in VR with some predicting the immersive technology will have the same effect on television as the internet on newspapers.
The concept of a virtual race, with gamers challenging drivers in an ePrix for points and prize money, was mooted by Agag even before the first Formula E season in 2014.
“I think this is probably an experiment,” he said of the Vegas race. “Depending on how it goes I could envisage that some of these virtual races could give points for a championship in the future, but not now.”
The Spaniard has talked also about fans one day being able to use VR to race against drivers competing on the physical racetrack but that day is still some way off.
“The problem of that, and we’ve been really looking into that a lot, is the lag between the real race and the virtual experience you can provide the gamers,” he said.
“It’s very difficult, because of the technology and the speed of the broadband, to have drivers racing at the same time in the race which is what we would have dreamt of when we started Formula E.
“On the other hand, there are many other things that are now becoming possible – like this e-race.”
Formula E cars make little noise, are far slower than Formula One and cannot yet complete a race without drivers changing cars due to the limitations of battery technology.
However, major manufacturers such as Audi, Renault and Citroen are involved.
British entrepreneur Richard Branson predicted a year ago that electric racing would overtake Formula One in popularity within five years.


Formula E boss Agag eyes F1-style growth in China, says US has left EV door open

Despite ‘winning’ bet, Formula E boss gives charity US$250k after Max Verstappen wins title

Formula E wants Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu to join them if he loses his Formula 1 seat

Saudi Arabia’s PIF owns €50 million stake in Hong Kong’s Extreme E, is key backer of world’s electric racing leagues

Formula E

Million-dollar matchup: fans to race against professional drivers in exciting virtual reality offshoot of Formula E series

The virtual reality race is the brainchild of Alejandro Agag, chief executive of Formula E. Photo: SCMP Pictures

France's Nicolas Prost of Team Renault e dams competes during the 2016 FIA Formula E auto race in Berlin on May 21, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / dpa / Jens Büttner / Germany OUT

Alejandro Agag, chief executive of Formula E; attends a press conference of HKT Hong Kong ePrix in Admiralty. 31MAY16 SCMP/Dickson Lee

Sport

Other Sport

Motorsport