Formula E announces 'Road to Las Vegas' eSports race with $1m prize fund - MotorSportsTalk

Formula E has confirmed more details for its upcoming eSports race in Las Vegas that will see drivers battle for a prize fund of $1 million.

Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag announced over the London ePrix weekend at the beginning of July that Las Vegas would play host to an e-race in January, acting as a non-championship round for season three.

ESports has been a key area of focus for Formula E since its inception, with a handful of drivers going head-to-head at each race weekend in a virtual race.

As part of the Sports Business Innovation Summit (January 5-7) at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the 20 drivers racing in Formula E this season will be pitted against each other on the rFactor 2 game, as confirmed in a statement on Thursday.

The drivers will be joined by 10 fans who can win a place on the grid via the ‘Road to Las Vegas Challenge’ scheme, more details about which can be found by clicking here.

“Formula E takes one more giant step in engaging with our fans,” Agag said upon the announcement.

“Gamers from all over the world will be able to participate in the ‘Road to Vegas Challenge’ and earn themselves the opportunity to race against the Formula E drivers in a unique eRace.

“All this will take place within CES, the world’s largest technology show, highlighting our commitment to fan engagement through innovation and technology.

“We believe eSports offers a new level of fan interaction and participation in sport, and we want to be at the forefront of this gaming revolution.

“Gamers, welcome to Formula E – let’s race!”

Formula E previously made an appearance in Las Vegas when its demo car ventured down The Strip in 2014.

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In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

Formula E announces ‘Road to Las Vegas’ eSports race with $1m prize fund

SuperMotocross set to introduce Leader Lights beginning with the World Championship finals

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