After a stunning drive in a global live-streamed event, Macedonian esports driver Erhan Jajovski is the latest racer with a chance to compete for a real-world drive worth more than US$1 million in 2020.
Jajovski started from pole in the World’s Fastest Gamer qualifying race and pulled out a stunning performance to take the 45-minute event on the virtual version of the historic Sebring International Raceway.
World’s Fastest Gamer is a global competition which aims to find an esports racer with the talent to make the transition from gamer to racer. The competition winner will race full-time in 2020 in GT competition racing at some of the world’s most famous tracks including Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps, and the Nurburgring.
Eight esports champions will be pre-selected by the judging panel headed by former Monaco Grand Prix, two-time Indy 500 and three-time Rolex 24 at Daytona winner, Juan Pablo Montoya.
Racers on the popular rFactor2 simulator software were given the chance to qualify for a top 20 race via a global time-trial competition. Over two weeks, rFactor gamers completed a total of 14,825 qualifying laps – that is nearly 90,000km or equivalent to 2.2 laps of the earth!
Twenty gamers from 12 countries competed in the final battle to earn a place in the World’s Fastest Gamer Grand Final. rFactor2 provides a real-world simulation with driver’s pace impacted by car damage, tyre wear, and weather conditions.
Jajovski won by 3.391 seconds from Estonian driver Risto Kappet and Dutch racer, Hany Alsabti. The Macedonian will now have the chance to follow his dream to become a real-life racing driver.
“In the first part of the race, I was trying to conserve my tyres and keep the car on the road. Later in the race, Kappet started to close, but I was able to hold on,” Jajovski said.
“I’m really looking forward to World’s Fastest Gamer because getting to race in real life is my dream – in fact, it is everybody’s dream that was in the race today.”
Drivers in the rFactor2 race were also competing for a slice of the US$10,000 prize fund on offer. Sim racing fans were also the big winner – World’s Fastest Gamer announced the winner of a social media competition which gave away a $30,000 Allinsports simulator rig.
Jajovski is looking to follow in the footsteps of World’s Fastest Gamer season one winner, Rudy van Buren who commentated on yesterday’s race and is a judge in season two.
“Erhan summed up the feelings of every esports racer that competed today. Every one of them loves sim racing, but they would love to do it for real,” van Buren said.
“The problem with real-world motorsport is that it is so expensive. If any of our rFactor2 drivers had the financial means, they would be doing it for already. We want to give gamers this opportunity and believe there is some fantastic talent out there that deserves the chance.”
World’s Fastest Gamer PR
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