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EROC LAUNCHES WITH INVITATIONAL LIVE STREAM AHEAD OF GLOBAL SEARCH FOR ROC MEXICO GAMERS Many of the world’s best simracers will take part in an eROC Invitational Live Stream on Wednesday 5 December at 2200 UTC, with a place at January’s ROC Mexico up for grabs The winner will fly to Mexico to race in the eROC Final, competing for a rare chance to take part in the ROC Nations Cup for Team Sim Racing All Stars The victorious simracers will then get to race in identical supercars on a real track against drivers from F1, NASCAR, IndyCar, Le Mans and Rally X, with the winner decided by driver skill alone Even better, you could join them at ROC Mexico – as the competition will be thrown open to the whole world in December, with entries invited from any gamer ready to show the rest of the planet what they can do ROC Mexico will be held on January 19-20, 2019 at the Foro Sol, the iconic amphitheatre forming part of Mexico City’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez Formula 1 circuit, where race fans will have a perfect view from every seat Following the huge success of the inaugural eROC Final earlier this year in Riyadh, the race is on to find the latest simracing stars ready to show their skills on a real track against some of the world’s greatest drivers. Click here to see a video showing what eROC is all about… On Wednesday 5 December at 2200 UTC many of the best simracers on the planet will do battle in the eROC Invitational Live Stream. This online tournament, which will be streamed live on the Race Of Champions Facebook and YouTube pages, has an incredible prize on offer: a ticket to the eROC Final on January 19-20 at the Foro Sol, the iconic stadium section of Mexico City’s Formula 1 track. The eROC Champion will then earn the unique chance to race in real cars against many of the world’s greatest drivers in the ROC Nations Cup. There will be 16 drivers in action on Wednesday, specially invited by ROC and drawn from the cream of the world’s simracers – including iRacing RallyX and GRC driver Mitchell deJong, Forza World Champion Aurélien ‘G2_Laige’ Mallet, WRC eSports Champion Jon Armstrong and the rFactor Formula Sim Racing Champion Michele D’Alessandro plus drivers from Sauber Esports, Williams and McLaren Shadow. The gamers will compete online from the comfort of their own homes, everywhere from Brazil to Bahrain to Singapore. The format will mirror the Race Of Champions with a knockout system leading to a Grand Final. The winner will fly to Mexico to be one of four competitors in January’s eROC Final – and earn the chance to seal their place on Team Sim Racing All Stars in the ROC Nations Cup. The victorious simracers will then race a ROC Mexico field that already features F1 legends Sebastian Vettel and David Coulthard, ‘Mr Le Mans’ Tom Kristensen, World Rally X Champion Johan Kristoffersson, Mexican racers Memo Rojas, Daniel Suárez, Benito Guerra and Patricio O’Ward plus F3 European Champion Mick Schumacher. But there is another place at ROC Mexico up for grabs, and the winner could be you! After Wednesday’s event, eROC is launching a worldwide search to find another ace simracer to join the legends in Mexico. If you think you have what it takes to compete against the world’s best simracers – not to mention the world’s greatest drivers – this is your chance to prove it. Sign up at www.raceofchampions.com to join a qualifying event that will take place throughout December, with the top 32 going head-to-head in an online final a week before ROC Mexico itself. The winner will earn themselves a ticket to Mexico with a chance to become the next eROC Champion… Regardless of skill level, everyone who enters eROC has a chance of winning unique driving experiences at the ROC Academy and the Race Of Champions, including co-drives with some of the world’s best drivers as they race in the actual competition. Italy’s Enzo Bonito (pictured below) won the first ever eROC competition earlier this year in Riyadh after seeing off some of the world’s fastest gamers. The action took place both in the virtual world of Assetto Corsa and in real-life ROC Cars on the track – after ROC Academy training by stunt legend Terry Grant. Part of the challenge involved setting a lap with some of the world’s best drivers judging them on a range of criteria including track awareness and positioning, car control and outright pace. In the end, Team Sim Racing All Stars were the revelations of the ROC Nations Cup, as Bonito’s partner Rudy van Buren won two of his heats, seeing off 2019 McLaren driver Lando Norris and F3 ace Joel Eriksson along the way. ROC President Fredrik Johnsson said: “We were thrilled with how well the first ever eROC went earlier this year in Riyadh – and how amazingly well the simracers could transfer their skills from the simulator to the real track. Now we know it can be done, we want to find the next big star, starting with Wednesday’s eROC Invitational Live Stream featuring many of the world’s best simracers. “We hope you enjoy watching the action, wherever you live. Then we are opening up eROC to everyone anywhere in the world in December. Everyone on Earth will have the chance to compete – and if you’re good enough, you could find yourself racing at ROC Mexico against some of the world’s best drivers in identical cars…” The Race Of Champions is an annual contest which has a history dating back over 30 years. It brings together many of the world’s greatest drivers from motorsport’s major disciplines – including Formula 1, NASCAR, IndyCar, Le Mans and RallyX – and sets them free to battle head-to-head in identical machinery. The Foro Sol will join a list of prestigious venues to have hosted ROC since 1988 – including Beijing’s Bird’s Nest and London’s Olympic stadiums, Stade de France in Paris, Wembley Stadium in London, Miami’s Marlins Park plus a wide range of exotic locations all over the world from Bangkok to Barbados to Riyadh. The event enjoys a rich record of attracting global superstars from every corner of motorsport. Formula 1 World Champions Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button have raced against NASCAR stars Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Busch brothers Kyle and Kurt, IndyCar’s Juan Pablo Montoya and Ryan Hunter-Reay, World Rally greats Sébastien Loeb, Sébastien Ogier and Colin McRae, as well as prominent figures from other classes including record Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, X Games legend Travis Pastrana plus MotoGP icons Mick Doohan, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi. Now the greats of Mexican motorsport have the chance to race some of the world’s best drivers – all in ROC’s identical machinery. The competitors will take to the track in a stunning range of supercars that have been specially prepared for ROC to push them to the absolute limit. To prevail, they will have to master this mix of machines, forcing them to adapt their driving style as they make regular switches between cars and putting all their hard-earned skills to the test. It makes for a thrilling spectacle, with head-to-head races often decided by fractions of a second – as the screams of the crowd compete for supremacy with the screams of the engines… The Race Of Champions is run over two days: first comes the ROC Nations Cup (on Saturday January 19) when drivers pair up in teams based on nationality – including the hosts Mexico – to bid for the title of ‘World’s Fastest Nation’. Then on Sunday January 20 it’s time for the Race Of Champions itself, when teamwork goes out of the window and it’s a flat-out battle for individual glory. But that’s not all. The Race Of Champions is a non-stop show from start to finish and also features stunt shows on four wheels and two plus DJs, cheerleaders and plenty of other entertainment to keep the race fans on the edge of their seats. Ticket prices start at just $1,450 pesos for two days of non-stop action. Further details about the field of drivers will be announced in the run-up to January’s event.