Lockdown may be far from over, but some racing drivers are already getting back behind the wheel – including 2009 Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button. The former McLaren driver will join real-life and online racers to jump in a virtual McLaren 720S GT3 in a new race series.
Button returns to race for McLaren in new esport series – FOS Future Lab
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Named the 2020 SRO E-Sport GT Series and based on the Assetto Corsa Competizione platform, the five round (plus finale) series aims to fill-in for the SRO GT World Challenge, which has been postponed by Covid-19. Eleven manufacturers are confirmed to take part, entering professional drivers in the Pro Class and established sim racers in the Silver Series. Meanwhile, a third class will also race, comprising amateurs who earn their place in a public hot lap competition.
After making his e-sport debut in the Formula 1 virtual Grand Prix earlier this month, Button will headline the Pro Class for McLaren, virtually driving his Jenson Team Rocket RJN 720S GT3, marking his first drive for McLaren since his call up for the Monaco Grand Prix in 2017, standing in for Fernando Alonso whilst he tackled the Indy 500. Button collected eight wins and 26 podiums for McLaren in Formula 1 from 2010 to 2016, finishing in second position in the Drivers’ Championship to Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel in 2011.
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Button will be joined by five fellow professional drivers, including 2020 Bathurst 12 Hour runner-up and McLaren Customer Racing Factory driver Ben Barnicoat for the 2Seas Motorsport team, Bathurst class winner Martin Kodrić with the Customer Racing Team 59Racing and Michael O’Brien who drove in the McLaren Automotive Driver Development Programme in 2018.
Experienced GT racer Fabrizio Crestani will also contest the series for the Teo Martin Motorsport, while historic racer Benjamin Tusting will compete for British GT’s Balfe Motorsport. Four sim racers will join McLaren in the Silver Series.
The first round of the 2020 SRO E-Sport GT Series will begin at 1.35pm CET on Sunday, and streamed on the GT World YouTube and Dailymotion, plus the SRO Motorsports Twitch and Facebook pages.
Welcome to FOS Future Lab where we report on the latest visions of future technology. We'll be boldly covering flying cars, hoverboards, jetpacks and spaceships with plenty of down to earth topics in between.
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