Six wins in six races and pole position in every virtual qualifying so far - Norbert Kiss has set the bar high in the ETRC Digital Racing Challenge for his competitors. However his opponents are working hard to close the gap to Kiss, who is currently 36 points clear in the standings. “Everybody is getting quicker and they are getting closer,” said Kiss after the Slovakia Ring race.
The only driver who has been able to stay close and stop the Hungarian from pulling away completely in the standings is Sascha Lenz who’s put in a great effort in the first three races to keep the pressure on Kiss. The German’s form on the sim has been impressive and he’s been the only driver, other than Kiss, to have been on the podium in all six races so far.
The races at the Slovakia Ring last week were a bit of a mixed bag for Buggyra driver Téo Calvet, He struggled with the set up in race one but recovered well for the second race where he missed out on the podium by a narrow margin. He’s shown a good pace so far and will be hungry for a top place at the Nürburgring races.
Antonio Albacete has show some great improvement in his sim skills leading the second race at the Slovakia Ring for most of the laps. The multiple ETRC Champion admits though he’s finding the virtual racing challenging. “I enjoy it, but it’s difficult. I’m sweating like I was in the real truck.
Sometimes I manage to do a good lap, but I have to be careful as it’s easy to go off the track. It also depends on the equipment you have. Sometimes when I change something in the set up, I don’t feel any changes. I prefer real racing and hope we start real racing soon.”
Like the Spaniard, many drivers have taken advantage of a practice server where they can practice in between races and refine their simulator driving skills, which has certainly been noticed by Norbert Kiss.
“Everybody is improving. The drivers make use of the practice server where you can see each others lap times and even a few telemetry data which helps a bit. People have a good awareness of what’s going on around them. Some of the drivers are defending like they are in real racing. You can recognise their driving styles even in the virtual world.”
The racing action will get underway this Sunday 28 June, with qualifying at 17:30, followed by Race 1 at 18:00 and Race 2 at 19:00 (all times CET).