Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The Road to Indy’s official Esports series, launched during the global lockdown early this year, will return for a third season next month.
The iRacing-based Road to Indy eSeries used Indy Pro 2000’s previous generation car for the two seasons it ran from March to June, but a virtual version of the current Tatuus PM-18 chassis will be introduced for 2021.
The first round is set to take place on January 13, and the series will run on Wednesdays for six weeks in the lead up to the start of the real-world Road to Indy action in February when pre-season testing takes place at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“Enabling our competitors virtual track time together as we prepare for the opening of our 2021 season helps initiate and rekindle relationships while providing valuable training that transfers to real race tracks,” said Dan Andersen, CEO of Road to Indy promoter Andersen Promotions. “We are excited to launch the TireRack.com eSeries in a few short weeks.”
The circuits that will be used for the series are Road America, the Detroit street circuit, which appears in Indy Lights this year for the first time since 2012, Iowa, Laguna Seca, Mid-Ohio and the Gateway oval. All races will be streamed online for free.
Drivers from Indy Lights, IP2000 and USF2000 will be eligible to enter, with the top three in the standings recieving money prizes. The champion will also get a free hour of simulator time on every circuit on the 2021 schedule of their respective series provided by SimMetric Driver Performance Labs.