WRC hopefuls to battle it out in new WRC 8 Esports tournament
KT Racing and Nacon, in cooperation with WRC Promoter, have announced that a new virtual racing competition will take place April 21, 2020, through April 23, 2020, in a WRC 8 Esports tournament. In this event, players will compete against each other in a virtual rally from the safety of their homes.
Rally Argentina, which was scheduled to take place this week, has been postponed due to the current situation with COVID-19. Instead, 11 drivers who compete in WRC 2, WRC3, and FIA Junior WRC support series will race online in special stages from the rally. Drivers who compete in this event need to adjust their driving to the different terrains of the stages selected for the tournament. Their ability to adapt could mean the difference between gaining or losing precious seconds on their competitors.
Headliners for this new WRC 8 Esports tournament will include Pierre-Louis Loubet, the WRC 2 2019 champion, and 3 WRC 2 drivers from the current season, Ole Christian Veiby, Adrien Fourmaux, and Rhys Yates. Other competitors will include teenage star Oliver Solberg, WRC 3 leader Marco Bulacia and Junior WRC challenger Raul Badiu.
There will be a qualification phase, after which the best eight drivers will race head to head in the quarter-finals. The four races will be live-streamed via the WRC Facebook page on Tuesday, April 21, starting at 3 pm ET. The semi-finals will begin on Wednesday, April 22, at 3 pm ET, and the finals will take place on Thursday, April 23, at 3 pm ET.
Managing Director of WRC Promoter, Oliver Ciesla, said, “Our drivers are missing the competition, and we miss it too. But we are convinced that their competitive spirit and adrenaline will be just as strong in WRC 8 and the challenging tracks of Rally Argentina.”
WRC 8 is available on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, and Nintendo Switch. WRC 9 will be out on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on September 3, 2020, with the release dates for the Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch to come. This new WRC 8 Esports tournament starts on April 21, 2020, and runs through April 23, 2020. For more information about the competition, visit the official WRC Facebook page.