Race details Date January 7, 2017 Official name 2017 Visa Vegas eRace Location The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada Course Virtual street circuit Distance Qualifying Race14 laps, Main Race20 laps, Qualifying Race Pole Driver Virgin Podium First Andretti Second Virgin Third Andretti Main Race Pole Driver Dragon Time 1:28.661 Fastest Lap Driver e.Dams-Renault Time 1:27.613 Podium First Dragon Second Mahindra Third Mahindra The 2017 Visa Vegas eRace was an eSports Formula E race held on January 7, 2017, at The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, as part of the Sports Business Innovation Summit at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show. This race, unlike others, did not count towards the 2016-17 season and was not held on a real track. Ten sim racers—competitors who typically enter simulation racing video games—raced against regular series drivers on a simulated course for a $1 million total prize fund, a record in eSports racing history. The race consisted of two races: a 14-lap qualifying race for the slowest 20 qualifiers to determine positions 11 to 20 for the 20-lap main race; and a 20-lap main race. An earlier qualifying session, divided into five groups of six cars, determined the first ten starting positions.
Bono Huis, a Dragon sim driver, led every session and won the event from pole position. António Félix da Costa, a professional driver, won the earlier qualifying race. Huis led for the majority of the race until the mandatory virtual pit stops to change into a second car, when Mahindra's Olli Pahkala took over. Pahkala finished first on the road after leading the final five laps, but he was penalised 12 seconds after it was discovered that a software bug allowed him to use FanBoost for longer than allowed. Felix Rosenqvist, the highest-placed professional driver for Mahindra, took second, while Pakhala's penalty dropped him to third.
The eRace received mixed reviews in the media. Those who criticised the race criticised its organisation because multiple technical issues caused a half-hour delay in the main event, and one driver was forced to withdraw from both races due to simulator issues. Positive reviewers expressed their belief that the event's consequences could lead to a professional eSports racing series and aid in the resolution of accessibility issues, as well as for others to use it as an alternative career to traditional motor racing. Following the eRace, some sim racers were adopted into the teams to which they were assigned, assisting their real-life development through car testing and advice.
Background and preparations
Luis Pachon, the founder of the Madrid-based start-up company Cloud Sport, proposed the idea for an in Las Vegas to Formula E (FE) CEO Alejandro Agag, who quickly understood Pachon's intention and began work soon after. iRacing was reportedly an early contender for an association with FE, but the costs of laser scanning the track, and the lack of a wider benefit of putting in the effort of constructing the circuit, meant it was not cost effective.
Agag revealed the eRace plans to Reuters in June 2016, and announced that it would take place during the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). FE had previously held eRaces at all championship rounds, in which spectators competed against professional racing drivers in the eVillage of the hosting race track. The was officially confirmed at the 2016 London ePrix the following month. It was held on January 7, 2017, as part of CES' Sport Business Innovation Summit at The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, but it did not count towards the 2016–17 championship and no points were awarded. For this event, FE partnered with ELEAGUE and featured commentary from Jack Nicholls and Dario Franchitti.
The eRace featured 20 FE competitors from the regular season grid and ten sim racing drivers who qualified for the event by competing in the Road to Vegas Challenge, a four-race elimination contest held between October 16 and December 4, 2016. Former Formula Ford 1600 driver Graham Carroll and iRacing world champion Greger Huttu qualified first and second for the eRace. Each of the ten sim drivers was assigned to one of the ten genuine FE teams at random. For realism, each participant wore a flame-proof race suit and drove identical virtual cars, with the only difference being team liveries and personal numbers for identification. Pit stops to virtually switch to a second car were mandatory. The race was regulated by FE's sporting director, and motorsport's world governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. The total prize fund was $1 million (the largest in eSports racing history), and was broadcast on the live streaming platform Twitch.
Cloud Sport designed the long anti-clockwise track, which was publicly unveiled on January 6. Drivers started on South Las Vegas Boulevard, passing hotels and casino resorts such as the Luxor and the MGM Grand. Cloud Sport supplied and regulated the Playseat simulation equipment which operated on the racing video game rFactor 2. Thrustmaster TS-PC steering wheels and T3PA pedals were fitted to the equipment. The stewards sealed and approved all computers to ensure parity. External ports were blocked to prevent anyone from connecting personal components. Drivers were unable to feel G-forces during the race, so Cloud Sport programmed the vehicles to respond to the inertia created by sudden acceleration. This created a realistic driving experience, as vehicles tilted onto three wheels during sharp cornering, and the cars' performance deteriorated when they were damaged.
The Vegas was heavily promoted beforehand. Nelson Piquet Jr. of NextEV NIO, FE's inaugural champion, expressed his excitement for the eRace and stated that FE combining the simulation and real-life racing worlds was a positive step: "I think this is going to be really fun with all the drivers together." Andretti driver Robin Frijns expressed interest in how he would fare against sim drivers: "I don't really know what to expect, maybe the sim drivers or the fans are really good, maybe not, we don't know. If all you do is race on simulators at home, then maybe they are pretty good!." According to Mahindra's Felix Rosenqvist, the sim racers would have an advantage due to their experience, but it would not be as significant after learning the circuit. Audi Sport ABT team principal Hans-Jürgen Abt thought the Vegas eRace was "a good example" of how the series more progressive than other racing championships: "For more than six decades, we have been racing in motorsport on all of the world's race tracks—but this event is a total first for us."
Practice and qualifying
Four practice sessions were held before the qualification race on January 7. The first session, held on January 6, lasted half an hour and was attended by sim drivers, followed by an identically timed session for professional racing drivers fifteen minutes later. On the morning of January 7, the final two sessions for sim and professional drivers each lasted fifteen minutes. Bono Huis set the fastest time for Dragon in the combined opening practice session, 1 minute, 28.456 seconds, half a second faster than anyone else. His closest rival was professional driver Rosenqvist, who finished second, ahead of third-placed Graham Carroll and Virgin's José María López in fourth. Piquet was fifth, ahead of sixth-placed António Félix da Costa. Sam Bird, Enzo Bonito, Olli Pahkala and Frijns rounded out the top ten fastest drivers in the session. Huis again led the combined time sheets in the second practice session, this time with a lap of 1 minute, 28.142 seconds, more than half a second faster than second-placed Frijns; Rosenqvist was third, Félix da Costa was fourth, Petar Brljak was fifth, and Graham Carroll was sixth. Pahkala was seventh, Bonito eighth, David Greco ninth and López tenth.
Saturday afternoon's 50 minute qualifying session was divided into five groups of six cars. The groups were determined by a lottery system and were permitted six minutes of on-track activity. The fastest five overall competitors in all five groups participated in a "Super Pole" session with one driver on the track at any time going out in reverse order from fifth to first. Each of the five drivers was limited to one timed lap and the starting order was determined by their' fastest times. (Super Pole from first to fifth, and group qualifying from sixth to tenth). Huis continued to top every session throughout the meeting and achieved pole position with a lap of 1 minute, 28.631 seconds. He received a $25,000 automatic award for his achievement. Rosenqvist, whose fastest lap was two-tenths of a second slower, joined Huis on the front row. Sim racers rounded out the top ten, with Aleksi Uusi-Jaakkola third and Graham Carroll fourth. Greco finished fifth out of five super pole competitors. Sixth to tenth place went to Pahkala, Patrik Holzmann, Huttu, Bonito, and Alkesi Elomaa. Lucas di Grassi, Ma Qinghua, Bird, Maro Engel, Jean-Éric Vergne, Jérôme d'Ambrosio, Daniel Abt, Sébastien Buemi, Mitch Evans, Stéphane Sarrazin, Loïc Duval, Nico Prost, Oliver Turvey, Adam Carroll, Petar Brjlak (who crashed during his run) and Nick Heidfeld completed the starting order.
Qualifying race
From 15:25 Pacific Standard Time (PST) (UTC+08:00), the slowest 20 drivers from group qualifying competed in a 14-lap qualifying race to determine positions 11 to 20 on the grid. D'Ambrosio failed to start due to technical problems with his racing pod. In a race marred by multiple crashes that resulted in several cars losing bodywork parts, López led from the start until Félix da Costa closed in on him and overtook him on the outside at turn five. Félix da Costa led the rest of the race to finish first and start 11th in the main race. López finished second and Frijns came third. Outside the top three, Piquet secured fourth and was followed closely behind by Evans and Bird in fifth and sixth. Defending series champion Buemi took seventh ahead of di Grassi in eighth. The final two qualifiers were Di Grassi's teammate Abt and Duval in ninth and tenth.
Qualifying classification Driver Team Time 1 67 Dragon 1:28.661 1 2 19 Mahindra 1:28.832 +0.201 3 26 Andretti 1:29.135 +0.474 4 44 Virgin 1:29.243 +0.582 5 42 e.Dams-Renault 1:29.378 +0.747 6 29 Mahindra 1:29.050 — 7 77 Audi Sport ABT 1:29.072 +0.022 8 18 Jaguar1:29.117 +0.068 9 38 Techeetah 1:29.223 +0.151 10 55 Venturi 1:29.448 +0.346 11 37 Virgin 1:29.490 +0.418 12 28 Andretti1:29.516 +0.444 13 27 Andretti1:29.517 +0.445 14 3 NextEV NIO 1:29.798 +0.726 15 11 Audi Sport ABT 1:30.267 +1.195 16 33 Techeetah1:30.548 +1.486 17 2 Virgin 1:30.620 +1.570 18 5 Venturi 1:30.647 +1.597 19 25 Techeetah 1:30.659 +1.609 20 7 Dragon1:30.660 +1.610 21 66 Audi Sport ABT 1:30.781 +1.731 22 9 e.Dams-Renault 1:30.905 +1.855 23 20 Jaguar1:30.913 +1.863 24 4 Venturi 1:30.954 +1.894 25 6 Dragon 1:30.996 +1.946 26 8 e.Dams-Renault 1:31.331 +2.281 27 88 NextEV NIO 1:31.533 +2.483 28 47 Jaguar 1:31.890 +2.840 29 68 NextEV NIO 1:32.400 +3.330 30 23 Mahindra 1:41.331 +12.781 Source: Notes: — Qualified for the main race by virtue of setting a top ten fastest qualification lap time. — Earned qualification into the main race by finishing within the top ten positions in the qualification race.
Main race