SMRC Esports Semi-Final Preview

Semi-Final Preview

Knockhill Racing Circuit will play host to the semi-final of the inaugural SMRC esports racing Championship, this coming Saturday, 2^nd November. 12 participants will battle it out for the all-important slots in the Final and the chance to win a drive in the opening round of the 2020 Scottish Legends Championship.

The virtual to reality contest, has so far seen participants compete against each other in solely online qualifying rounds; the drivers have raced in 4 SMRC organised iRacing events at Snetterton, Oulton Park, Silverstone and Brands Hatch.

Kevin Ellis has dominated these races with an impressive clean sweep of wins; he’s the only pro-rated iRacing driver in the competition so this was perhaps to be expected. Runner up was Ronald Grossman – of Germany – who took three podiums on route to 2^nd in the points. Unfortunately Ronald will not be able to make the trip over for the semi-final, however. There were also strong performances from Jack Eyre and Peter Butcher, who bagged 3^rd and 4^th in the standings thanks to consistent points finishes and a couple of podiums. Elsewhere, we have wild card entries from Callum Kirkpatrick (in recognition for his efforts taking part with a keypad controller!) and late bloomer David Christie, who drove a couple of spirited races to bag some strong points in the latter rounds.

However, the semi-final will test the drivers far beyond their skills in the virtual world as the judges seek to evaluate which of the contestants have the potential to succeed in real motorsport. Drivers will go through an interview assessment to give judges an insight into their attitude and mindset. Their raw speed will also be evaluated on the Knockhill kart track and they will also go through an assessment on the new SMRC simulator to test their ability to adapt to new and changing situations.

The drivers will be assessed throughout the day by an expert judging panel consisting of: Graham Carroll (Red Bull Esports driver), Robert Reid (2001 World Rally Champion), Malcolm McNab (SMRC Coach) and Rory Bryant (SMRC Business Development Manager).

The judges will select two drivers to go onto the final, which will take place in the form of a simulator race on stage at the annual SMRC awards dinner in Glasgow, on 23 November (tickets and info: https://www.smrc.co.uk/calendar/awards-dinner/). The winner on the night will take the spoils and earn the prize drive in the Legend next year.

The following drivers have made it through to the semi final:

Thanks to our partners for making this competition happen: