FULL GRID FOR INAUGURAL MINI CHALLENGE UK OFFICIAL ESERIES

  • Full 35 driver entry list revealed for inaugural Spring / Summer 2020 MINI CHALLENGE UK Official eSeries season
  • 21 MINI CHALLENGE UK / Real World drivers to battle for MSL Motorsport Consultancy sponsored simulator
  • 14 sim racers to compete for MINI CHALLENGE UK drive
  • Full entry list revealed
  • Live streaming to MINI CHALLENGE YouTube and Facebook provided by Simply Race

The MINI CHALLENGE UK Official eSeries will launch with a full capacity grid of 35 drivers on the 23rd May at the virtual version of Donington Park.  See full entry list below.

Included in the driver line up is MINI CHALLENGE UK podium finisher Lewis Brown as well as rookie podium driver Max Bird.  Joining them are series regulars, James McIntyre, Callum Newsham and Ryan Dignan.  Max Coates and Ethan Hammerton have both won races in the Clio Cup and are joining the MINI CHALLENGE this year.  Alex Toth-Jones will drive the MSL Motorsport Consultancy car as part of their sponsorship of the series.

Within the sim class are some very notable drivers.  Dave Marshall was the only driver to finish on the podium in both Rally and RallyX disciplines in the 2019 Dirt 2.0 World Championships, Jack McIntyre recently won a round of the hotly contested PMR eSeries race and Damian Hall, from Barbados adds a international twist.

In total 21 real world drivers will take on 14 sim-racers to compete for an incredible £20,000+ prize pool.  The real world drivers racing for a £10,000 Sim Race Pro Virtual Reality Racing Club (VRRC) simulator sponsored by MSL Motorsport Consultancy and a race weekend in the MINI CHALLENGE UK Cooper Class for the top sim-racer.

In addition to the championship prizes stunning MINI CHALLENGE UK trophies and a Goodyear Podium cap will be sent to the 1st placed MINI CHALLENGE UK / Real World Driver and Sim-Racer for each round.  These are truly money can’t buy prizes.

Following the opening round at Donington Park the eSeries will then visit Brands Hatch Indy before a double header at Silverstone on both the National and International layouts.  The longest circuit is then up next, Snetterton, before heading North (virtually) to Croft and Knockhill.  The final event will take place at Brands Hatch on the GP variant of the iconic Kent venue.

Antony Williams, MINI CHALLENGE UK series director said “I am delighted the Rich Hayden and his team have helped us deliver a full grid that exceeds the 34 entrants we have for the real world MINI CHALLENGE. This is great result for our inaugural season of eRacing and sets the scene for many seasons to come. I’m really looking forward to seeing the racing when it starts. This is not a game.”

Rich Hayden, founder of Virtual Reality Racing Club (VRRC) “What a driver line-up! 35 confirmed drivers from Motorsport and Sim Racing for the first MINI CHALLENGE UK eSeries. Smashing our initial target for entries and further blurring the lines between reality and the virtual world of motorsport. Let’s do this!”

Each event will feature live streaming on the MINI CHALLENGE UK YouTube and Facebook pages as per the real-world competition.  Mike Yau of Simply Race will direct the stream with lead commentator from the real-world series, Richard John Neil, taking to the mic to commentate in the virtual world.

You can follow all the action and latest news on social media by the hashtag – #MINICHALLENGEUKeSeries

ENTRY LIST:

Real world drivers:

  • Theo Bridgeman
  • Ethan Hammerton
  • Scott Jeffs
  • Josh Hislop
  • Lewis Brown
  • Luke Kidsley
  • James MacIntrye
  • Callum Newsham
  • Max Bird
  • Max Coates
  • Alex Toth-Jones
  • Ryan Dignan
  • Will Fairclough
  • Kier McConomy
  • Billy Hardy
  • Josh Martin
  • Rob Butler
  • Isaac Smith
  • Frankie Taylor
  • Ru Clark
  • Brad Hutchinson

Sim-racers:

  • James Merrills
  • Dave Marshall
  • Jack McIntyre
  • Tobin Leigh
  • Tom Williams
  • Simon Reed
  • Jordan Brennan
  • Matt Richards
  • Ryan Elliot
  • Kenny Press
  • Thomas O’Farrell
  • Scott Thorne
  • Damian Hall
  • Craige Timmins

Calendar – MINI CHALLENGE Official eSeries:

 

  1. Donington Park National – Saturday 23rd May
  2. Brands Hatch Indy – Saturday 30th May
  3. Silverstone National – Saturday 6th June
  4. Silverstone International – Saturday 13th June
  5. Snetterton 300 – Saturday 20th June
  6. Croft – Saturday 27th June
  7. Knockhill – Saturday 4th July
  8. Brands Hatch GP – Saturday 11th July

 

Prizes:

MINI CHALLENGE / Real World category

  1. VRRC Sim Race Pro Simulator (Full specification below)
  2. 12 x 1 hour (1 a month) Simulator Sessions at Virtual Reality Racing Club
  3. 2 Goodyear Tyres
  4. 100 Litres of Sunoco Race Fuel
  5. obp Motorsport £200 voucher

 

Sim racer category:

  1. MINI CHALLENGE Cooper Class race weekend with driver coaching, HRX MINI CHALLENGE Boots and Gloves
  2. HTC VIVE Cosmos Elite VR Headset and Shared MINI CHALLENGE Cooper Test with driver coaching
  3. Shared MINI CHALLENGE Cooper Test with driver coaching
  4. Drive Silverstone Race Car Experience

 

Every driver entered that competes in all rounds will receive an NGK Spark Plugs UK remote control car.

In addition, the same MINI CHALLENGE trophies used by the real-world series will be given to the following:

Championship:

  • 1st overall
  • 1st Sim Racer and 1st MINI CHALLENGE / Real World Driver
  • 2nd Sim Racer and 2nd MINI CHALLENGE / Real World Driver
  • 3rd Sim Racer and 3rd MINI CHALLENGE / Real World Driver

Simulator specification:
Available to UK mainland only
VRRC Sim Race Pro £9,995 inc VAT

  • Sim Lab P1-X in Black with adjustable feet – supplied by Sim Lab
  • Sparco Grid Q race seat
  • Fanatec DD1 direct drive base
  • Fanatec Clubsport R300 rim
  • Fanatec SQ H-pattern shifter
  • Heusinkveld Sprint 3 Pedal system
  • 35” Agon curved 200mhz display – supplied by Agon by AOC
  • 24” Agon display for overhead mount
  • Alphasync Gaming PC – AMD Ryzen 9, NVIDIA RTX 2080 Super, 16GB RAM, 4TB HDD, 500GB SSD – supplied by Alphasync, available from eBuyer
  • 1 Speaker system
  • Assetto Corsa Ultimate Edition/Project Cars 2/RFactor 2/iRacing with 1 years subscription
  • Delivered and installed to UK mainland address by VRRC