The first two races of the season have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic
FIA World Rallycross Championship and IMG have launched the World RX Esports Invitational Championship series, after the first two races of the season were postponed.
The first two races of the new campaign were due to be held in Spain and Portugal, but have been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, IMG have partnered with Motorsport Games, the racing game developer and Esports specialist, and Codemasters to launch the esports series.
The competition will take place on the weekends that would have originally held races – starting with the Barcelona World RX Esports Invitational on Sunday 19 April. It will be streamed live on the World RX YouTube and Facebook channels.
The series is to be played using DiRT 2.0 on PC via Steam. A number of World RX drivers will be taking part, along with some guest entries from other motorsport categories that are to be announced. In addition, fans will be able to win a place in the races.
To get involved, PC Steam players had to go to the ‘My Teams’ section of DiRT Rally 2.0 on Saturday, March 28 March from 10am and select the specially-marked promotional FIA World Rallycross tile from the Events screen. The top non-professional drivers who complete the six-lap race around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will be asked to take part in the showcased event.
Paul Bellamy, senior vice president of motorsports events at IMG, said: “We hope that by offering fans around the world the chance to engage with World RX via an alternative Esports championship, we are providing a small level of enjoyment in these difficult times.”
World RX is just the latest motorsport to turn to esports during the covid-19 crisis. Formula One has also started an esports series, and the Nascar esports races are being broadcast on Fox Sports after breaking the record for the highest rated esports TV programme in history.