(Un)real #28: Be a lap ahead.
August has been (and still is) a busy month in our little Metaverse. The first World eX Summit at BILSTER BERG is in the books including a surprise appearance of Sebastian Vettel. Slot racing finally returned with the debut of our 1/24 scale eX ZERO in the #RCCO24 24-hour race. And the next rounds of the World eX Championship and World eX Bizz are already around the corner.
Enjoy reading (Un)real #28!
Thomas
We‘ve been hosting our first real-world event since the COVID-19 outbreak with the inaugural World eX Summit last weekend at BILSTER BERG and it was fantastic to meet so many great people for the first time in person. We learned a lot about electric racing, esports racing, clean energy and digitalization. Four-time Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel made a surprise appearance, saying motorsport needs to “be a lap ahead and not get lapped” when it wants to stay relevant – a sentence which could become a nice claim. Full report
Our all-electric eX ZERO from the World eX Championship has finally made its debut as a 1/24 scale slot car. Six teams competed in the #RCCO24 at BILSTER BERG with six brand-new eX ZERO models developed by Michael Niemas and Fola Osu. The crazy 24-hour race has always attracted racing drivers from real motorsport in the last three decades including 5-time Le Mans winner and DTM Champion Frank Biela. This time, esports racers took part in the race for the first time including World eX Championship regulars Devin Braune and Nicolas Hillebrand. Lasse S?rensen was also supposed to take part but was tested positive with COVID-19 just before the event.?Race report
Round 5 of the World eX Championship has been switched from China to Malaysia as plans from Absolute Racing to host the race on a new Chinese track had to be postponed. The #malaysianeyprix presented by Absolute Racing promoting LAMAVE will now take place at Sepang on August 30. Last year, the Chinese team just missed its first win in the World eX Championship when Michi Hoyer finished second behind Philippe Denes. After four rounds of Season 4 ACER VERO R8G, TK9 E-SPEED, BS+COMPETITION and Esports Team WRT have each qualified one of their cars for the Super Final on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife on December 13.
The electric version of the World Rallycross Championship got finally underway at Hell in Norway with Johan Kristoffersson taking a historic first (electrifying) win. Nitro RX, the other big rallycross championship, is also fully electric since this year.
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World eX Co-Founder Mike Rockenfeller missed the inaugural World eX Summit at BILSTER BERG in order to prepare for his surprise debut in the NASCAR series. The Le Mans winner and DTM Champion is currently exploring various options for his career in real racing.
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There has been a lot of movement in the driver market of Formula E following the conclusion of the Gen 2 era. Lucas di Grassi will switch to Mahindra while Antonio Felix da Costa, who was a wild card driver in the first ever World eX Championship race last year at Silverstone, has signed for Porsche.
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The keynote of Dr. Wolfgang Warnecke about a sustainable future of motorsport was definitely one of the most interesting ones at the inaugural World eX Summit. The advisor to Shell pledged to stay open for every kind of technology which helps to reduce emissions.
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Porsche is exactly doing what Warnecke says, also looking into e-fuels and other ways to reduce carbon emissions. Porsche recently simulated a lap on the famous Nordschleife with a hydrogen combustion engine.
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Toyota seems to be a step ahead with this technology as former World Champion Juha Kankkunen drove a hydrogen-powered Yaris in selected stages of the Ypres Rally. The experimental concept uses hydrogen to fuel a combustion engine based on the same turbo-charged block found in the regular production car.
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Markus Michelberger, Lucas di Grassi’s race engineer at Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler in Formula E, has developed an electric 1/5 scale RC car which matches or even outperforms competitors with internal combustion engines in this category. The electric racer was showcased with the bodywork of our eX ZERO at the World eX Summit at BILSTER BERG and is available at SCS M2.
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J?rn Nitschmann, Head of the Digital Transformation Unit Central Europe at Fujitsu, explained in a keynote at the World eX Summit how Fujitsu uses AI to improve the safety of racetracks. Definitely a very interesting project which is currently being tested at the Nordschleife.
I guess we are all enjoying the hot summer in Europe and we had beautiful sunshine at our first World eX Summit. The downside is a draught which continues to heavily affect water levels of rivers and seas all over Europe. The sinking levels are definitely a reminder we need to act to stop the heating.
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The upcoming #malysianexprix is hosted by Absolute Racing. The Chinese team is promoting the Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippine by competing in the World eX Championship. LAMAVE focuses on the research and conservation of large marine animals.
Racing action in World eX Bizz will start again in September 6 following the summer break. The little sister of the World eX Championship is reserved for people working in motor racing, mobility, technology, climate protection and esports racing and has attracted some new entrants for Season 5. Suzuka, Melbourne, Mosport, Kyalami and Sebring have been selected as race tracks while the Super Final will take place at Road America. If you are interested to take part write an email to [email protected] or visit our Discord.
?All the best! Stay safe and don’t waste energy!