eRace of Champions 2022
The eRoc 2022 took place in February 2022, bringing together the world’s best simracers. The events consisted of several virtual races on an ice racing simulator, but also real races on ice!
Jarno Opmeer and Lucas Blakeley made it to the final. Jarno Opmeer is the current F1 esport series world champion, while Lucas Blakeley finished third in this esport championship. After a bitter fight in virtual racing as in real racing, Jarno Opmeer triumphs over Blakeley and wins the eRoc 2022.
The eRoc 2022 finalists have won the right to participate in the Roc 2022 alongside the world’s greatest drivers, such as Sebastian Vettel and Sébastien Loeb.
The performance of the young esports prodigies was exceptional. Blakeley managed to beat Sebastian Vettel (!). Unfortunately, Opmeer lost his race to Mick Schumacher, allowing the German team to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Another step further
This kind of exploit demonstrates the quality and accuracy of current simulations and their role in driver’s training. Who would have thought, a few years ago, that a sim racer could beat a four-time Formula 1 world champion during a real ice race?
We can only salute the effort of the organizers to have created such a bridge between simracing and real car racing.
Who knows, maybe we will see the next F1 esport series winner win a test in Formula 1?
Source : eRoc 2022