The opening round of the ETRC Digital Racing Challenge has seen a shake up in the order, with newcomers from other European racing series turning up the heat on the ETRC racers.
Whilst Norbi Kiss took a dominant win in the first race on his virtual home circuit, the Hungarian hinted that it won’t all be plain sailing in the second edition of the digital championship. “The field is much bigger, we have more competitors and some guys are really fast,” said Kiss.
Two of those fast guys are Spanish racers Josy Vila and Manuel Alvarez, who have both showed off their sim racing skills at the virtual Hungaroring. Alvarez finished on the podium in both races, and Vila took victory in the reversed grid race, leaving many of the ETRC racers behind him.
Lukas Hahn showed great form with a second place in the opening race and had some great battles in the second race with Norbi Kiss.
German racer Sascha Lenz was in the mix of the front-running group, however he seemed to not quite have had the pace to really challenge for a top spot.
French driver Téo Calvet didn’t have the best start to the digital championship with a retirement after only three laps in the first race. He joined the field for race two at the back of the grid and worked his way up the field to finish eighth.
This weekend a new truck racer will join the grid at the Nürburgring: German racer Stefan Kursch, who contested races in the DTR last year will show his off his sim racing skills in a bit for a top position.
Additionally this year new aspects have been brought into the competition, as the drivers also need to manage their fuel consumption and tyres, which spices up the racing action.
The Sim racer grid has seen some great racing action in the opening round of the ETRC Digital Racing Challenge. Nearly 50 sim pros have battled in their virtual 5-ton racing giants and the legendary track at the Nürburgring will see a similar-sized starting line-up for the race on Sunday.