Kelly tips ‘hilarious’ Eseries challenge

A large disparity in virtual racing experience among the current Supercars drivers is expected to add to the spectacle in the all-star Eseries.

Supercars is currently working to finalise plans for a 10-round competition featuring the real-life drivers on the iRacing simulation platform.

The initiative was announced Wednesday in conjunction with news that the category has postponed its next three events due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Several Supercars drivers are known iRacers, including Scott McLaughlin, Shane van Gisbergen and Anton De Pasquale.

Others, including 2006 Supercars champion Rick Kelly, are far less experienced at racing in the virtual world.

“There’s a lot of drivers who live on their simulators away from the actual race meetings,” explained Kelly Racing owner Todd Kelly.

“Then there’s a small group of drivers, which I was one of and Rick is also one of, that have barely sat in a simulator.

“I’m quite excited to watch that, I think it’ll be quite hilarious to see the spread in competition on the iRacing side.

“We’ve built Mustangs now and it looks like we’re about to start building simulators, so we're doing lots of homework on that. It’s an exciting time for everyone.”

On Thursday, Supercars CEO Sean Seamer outlined that all main game drivers are expected to take part in the series.

“We’re currently planning to conduct 10 rounds utilising our existing drivers from the comfort of their homes,” he said in a Supercars.com fan Q&A.

“We’re going through a process right now of making sure that all the drivers have all the hardware and connectivity to be able to participate.

“But all of the feedback that we’ve had from the teams to date and over the past 48 hours is that the drivers are keen to participate, so we expect a full grid.”

The all-star Supercars Eseries is set to be broadcast on Fox Sports and Kayo, as well as being streamed on Twitch, Supercars.com and social media channels.