- Inaugural F1 esports champion Brendon Leigh to compete in eRace of Champions
- ROC star-studded line up includes ex F1 drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and David Coulthard
Newly-crowned Formula 1 esports Champion Brendon Leigh will swap virtual for reality at the prestigious Race of Champions event, when he’ll go bumper to bumper with F1 legends in Saudi Arabia.
First held in 1988, the Race of Champions brings together drivers from different championships around the world, including Formula 1, Sportscars, IndyCar, NASCAR and rallying, to compete to find the “best of the best.”
Last year’s event in Miami featured stars including F1’s Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa, former F1 aces David Coulthard and Jenson Button, Indy 500 winners Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya and Le Mans legend, Tom Kristensen. The Race of Champions event for 2018 will be held in at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
Esports champion Leigh will return to the Middle East for the first time since his F1 esports win in Abu Dhabi, securing his first chance to experience driving in real-world race cars on the famous Race of Champions parallel circuit.
The winner of the “eRace of Champions” will progress to the main event. The winner will be decided by combined times in the real and virtual worlds. The winner of eROC will join the ‘Worlds Fastest Gamer’ Rudy van Buren, who has already qualified for the main event as the ‘virtual world champion’.
“It was one of my first objectives I discussed with (ESPORTS+CARS boss) Darren Cox – to get into real racing cars,” said Leigh.
“I could never have imagined it would be an an event like this. I am excited but also nervous as it will be my first ever time in a real racing car. As F1 esports champion, I’m aware that the spotlight will be on me.”
ESPORTS+CARS team boss Darren Cox added “ESPORTS+CARS is all about maximising the opportunities for our drivers.”
“This type of crossover has been done before but when the opportunity arrived to do it at the Race of Champions I asked Brendon if he fancied giving it a shot. His answer was an instantaneous yes, although I have told him to treat this as a fun event while we finalise his significant esports plan for 2018.”
The Race of Champions is held on 2nd / 3rd February 2018 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia within Riyadh’s King Fahad International Stadium, and will be broadcast to an international TV audience. Tickets for ROC Riyadh are available via www.raceofchampions.com.
