Corona Daily 399: The Formula E Race

Daniel Abt’s Audi was moving fast and dangerously. Leading most of the way, it was expected to win the race. But the car came in contact with Stoffel Vandoorne’s Mercedes-Benz. The hundreds of thousands of fans watching the race on their screens screamed, though it was obvious drivers won’t get a scratch even in a serious crash. Taking advantage of the swerving of the other two cars, Oliver Rowland accelerated his Nissan to win the virtual race. Daniel Abt came third.

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Sport lovers the world over are missing their action for over three months. Djokovich tried to organize a real tennis tournament, the only positive part of which was the corona test results. Football and cricket are difficult to translate to video games, but not car racing. In fact, there are sim racing competitions, and professional sim racers who drive skillfully on screen.

Formula E is a real-world competition for electric-powered racing vehicles. In May, it organized a virtual “Race at Home” challenge. The virtual series imitated a real season. On screens, races looked almost real, if you ignored the dummy unmoving spectators. The beauty of the concept was that the real Formula E drivers competed, sitting in their respective homes. The race series happened on “rFactor2”, a video game. Fans watched it live on TV, YouTube and Twitch (Amazon). The revenue was donated to UNESCO.

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Daniel Abt, 27, is a German racing driver, part of the Audi team since 2014. He has taken part in every Formula E race for the past six years. He comes from a family of race drivers. His father Hans-Jurgen Abt, runs the company that oversees the Audi Formula E team.

Being an experienced race driver doesn’t guarantee success in a virtual race. Daniel took time to adapt. In the first four rounds, he couldn’t score a single point. But in the fifth round, he seemed to have regained his form. Except for a small mishap, his car should have won the race.

On finishing the race, Vandoone, the Mercedes driver called Daniel. The call wasn’t answered. Vandoone then shared his suspicions with the organizers. Someone who hadn’t scored a single point in four rounds was suddenly driving like a pro. And during the race, Daniel’s face couldn’t be seen. It was hidden behind a microphone.

Organisers checked the IP addresses of the competitors. Lorenz Horezing, a teenager, was actually behind the wheel Daniel was pretending to be behind. Hoerzing is a pro-sim racer. The impersonator (technically called Ringer) was the reason for Daniel’s suddenly improved performance.

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Audi sacked Daniel Abt. He is disqualified from ever racing in an Audi. Integrity, transparency and consistent compliance with applicable rules were top priorities, said Audi. Daniel was fined 10,000 Euros and not allowed to take further part in the season. His ringer, Horezing, was also disqualified from all future rounds of a separate Challenge Grid competition.

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Daniel Abt’s story shows that small-time cheating in the virtual world can have grave consequences in the real world.

Ravi