Places one and two in the eRace of Champions meant participation in the ROC Nations Cup on the snow and ice track for sim racers Jarno Opmeer and Lukas Blakeley. Their opponents: Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher.
Since 1988, the Race of Champions (ROC) has been held as an invitational event to crown the previous motorsport year.
The best drivers and legends from various disciplines such as Formula 1, touring cars and rallying determine the Champion of Champions in the individual and Nations Cup via knock-out races. In the process, changing vehicles are to ensure equal opportunities.
In 2019, the sim racers not only got their own event with the eRace of Champions. The best were also allowed to prove themselves in teams of two as Sim-Racing Allstars on the real track against the champions of the various motorsport series in the Nations Cup.
This year, for the first time, the event took place on snow and ice in Pite Havsbad in Sweden, 60 km south of the Arctic Circle.
Opmeer snatch the next title
With F1 eSport Series Champion Jarno Opmeer, F1 eSport Series third Lucas Blakeley, eROC defending champion James Baldwin and former GRC rFactor Champion Martin Palm, top-class sim racers have made it through to the eRace of Champions finals.
The event was held both on the simulator inside a replica of the ROC snow track in Assetto Corsa, and on the real track outside. While the performance outside was judged by a jury, in front of the screen it was all-against-all mode to reach the final.
Lucas Blakeley in particular impressed the jury. As one of the most inexperienced in motorsport, he not only set the fastest time in the snow of Sweden, but was also unbeaten on the simulator in the preliminary round.
But in the final, which was now held exclusively in Assetto Corsa, Dutchman Jarno Opmeer found the better end. With two narrow victories, he claimed the eRace of Champion title on Friday. “Things didn’t go so well for me in practice. I have absolutely no experience with the cars used. I’m really surprised that I was able to get the win after all,” Opmeer said after the victory.
“What just happened? “
Places one and two for Jarno Opmeer and Lucas Blakeley in the eROC meant qualification to compete as Sim Racing Allstars in Saturday’s Nations Cup. On the course on the frozen Baltic Sea, which had been shortened by water ingress, none other than four-time Formula 1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel and F1 driver Mick Schumacher were waiting with Team Germany in the pre-qualifying round for the quarter-finals.
But it was the Scot Blakeley who put an unexpected exclamation mark. With a lead of eight hundredths of a second, he gave Vettel the cold shoulder and won his first heat. And he did so as the most inexperienced of the sim racers in the real car. Earlier in his career, according to commentators, he had only driven a Porsche around the Silverstone circuit for 20 minutes
The far more experienced Jarno Opmeer lost both duels against Vettel and the strongly charging Schumacher – against whom Blakeley also had nothing to oppose – but his performance was equally impressive.
So Saturday afternoon was quickly over for the two sim racers in the field – but they were still able to celebrate a remarkable success. “What just happened there?” tweeted the 20-year-old Scot after his win over Vettel.
What had just happened? The two sim racers proved that the two worlds in motorsport are now close. Precision, technique and basic speed mark the basic requirements for victory both on the track and on the simulator.