What you need to know: Supercars Eseries Round 1

This year’s Cash Converters Supercars Eseries will feature a hybrid format of the competition, with two championships within the series.

The All Stars consists of main game Supercars and Dunlop Super2 drivers.

The Pro Series features elite gamers representing Supercars teams.

EARLY FAVOURITES

Brodie Kostecki, the Repco Supercars Championship rookie who steers the Erebus Boost Mobile Commodore is a favourite for most given his form as a wildcard in the 2020 Eseries.

Shell V-Power Racing Team’s Anton De Pasquale was a favourite in 2020 but fell short of the mark, so is out to prove himself as one of the best online racers in the field this time around. C

Cam Waters and Chaz Mostert were surprise packets in 2020, especially on oval circuits, and the pair return as marked men tonight.

Defending Pro Series champion Dayne Warren returns for Walkinshaw Andretti United, after an astounding 2020 campaign.

First draft pick Emily Jones returns for her third season, this time with Cash Converters Racing.

Other familiar names include Jordan Caruso, Sam Blacklock, Brady Meyers and Richard Hamstead.

THE WILDCARDS

He’s been dubbed the most technically gifted driver to come through F1 ranks in over 50 years, and tonight Melbourne’s Oscar Piastri will get his first taste of Supercars in the BP Ultimate Mustang Wildcard.

The 20-year-old has a strong track record in iRacing and is expected to feature near the front in qualifying and the race.

The Alpine F1 Academy driver has made it clear he isn’t joining from his base in the UK just to make up numbers against Supercars’ best, which includes a number of drivers Piastri raced against in his karting days.

Showcasing the best motorsport talent New Zealand has to offer, Team Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland will incorporate a new All Stars driver each week for the six-round online competition, tonight it will be Repco Bathurst 1000 Erebus Boost Mobile Wildcard, Richie Stanaway.

A talented online racer before his debut in a Supercar, Stanaway won the coveted iRacing Pro Race of Champions title in 2015. Expect to see the #62 Team Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland (Auckland Unlimited) Mustang at the front.

THE FORM SEEKERS

Kelly Racing’s Andre Heimgartner in the Ned Whiskey Mustang was one of the most consistent performers of the Eseries and even got a crack at the F1 Eseries in 2020.

Brad Jones Racing’s Todd Hazelwood went from a novice to a pro quickly and could be an outside chance in the Dunlop Super Dealer Commodore, while Jack Le Brocq excelled in reverse grid races in 2020 so could be amongst the winners again in his Truck Assist Mustang.

THE ROUGHIES

The twelve non-Repco Championship drivers starting tonight’s race Dylan O’Keefe, Matthew Payne, Thomas Randle, Sam Brabham, Justin Ruggier, Matt McLean, James Golding, Jayden Ojeda, Tony D’Alberto, Richie Stanaway, Matt Chahda and Oscar Piastri have a vast array of experiences in Supercars and the Dunlop Super2 Series and will be pushing to upstage the Repco Championship drivers tonight.

THE CIRCUIT

The Charlotte Oval circuit should be fun for Supercars with an average speed of 258km/h. It was one of the highlights of the 2020 Eseries with drivers combining strategy with gutsy overtaking moves to make their way to the front OR create chaos in the pack.

THE FORMAT

Round 1 sees the All Stars tackle Charlotte Motor Speedway with the Pro Series heading to the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

Both series will complete one 10-minute qualifying session that will set the grid for their races.

TRACK CONDITIONS

Track state for both races will be set to 100 percent for each race.

Weather conditions will be 65°F (18°c), Partly cloudy, humidity 55, wind 2mph.

No dynamic sky or weather.

Time of Day:

COMPULSORY PIT STOPS 

THE SAFETY CAR

For the first time in the Cash Converters Supercars Eseries, there will be an official BP Ultimate Safety Car and driver.

The 2021 Supercars Eseries BP Ultimate Safety Car is a Ford GTE.

The Ford is set to feature in both the All Star and Pro Series competitions throughout the six-event series.

The All Stars races will see the BP Ultimate Safety Car complete one mandatory competition caution in each race.

The Pro Series will see the Safety Car deployed at race control’s discretion following on-track incidents, similar to how it operates in real life Supercars events.

WHERE TO WATCH

The Cash Converters Supercars Eseries will take place on the iRacing platform, running over six weekly rounds from August 25th to September 29th and will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 506, Kayo, 7Plus, and Supercars’ Twitch, Facebook and YouTube channels.

Supercars Hall of Fame inductee Neil Crompton will return to the Supercars broadcast panel to host the Eseries.

Regular Eseries commentators Chad Neylon and Johnathon Simon will call the qualifying sessions and races from Melbourne. 

Qualifying coverage for Round 1 begins at 7pm AEST and will be broadcast live on Facebook, YouTube and Twitch.

From 7:30pm AEST, racing will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 506, Kayo, 7Plus and Sky NZ.

Online fans from around the globe can watch races via the Supercars’ Facebook page, Supercars teams' Facebook pages, Twitch and YouTube.

2021 All Star Series calendar

2021 Pro Series calendar