The six-race campaign gets underway from 7PM UTC on Thursday, broadcast live across Formula E’s digital platforms via Twitch, YouTube and Facebook, and will take in inch-perfect recreations of Formula E tracks from real-world locations like Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport, Hong Kong’s Harbourfront and Red Hook City in New York City.
Cream of the crop
During the qualifiers in early January, some 22,280 laps were set by 600 of the best pro sim racers around, as well as plenty of talented upstarts searching for that breakthrough opportunity.
Formula E: Accelerate: Everything you need to know
Dane Frederik Rasmussen came out on top and secured himself a virtual race seat with DRAGON / PENSKE AUTOSPORT, whilst second and third placed Erhan Jajovski and Manuel Biancolilla will line-up for ROKiT Venturi Racing and Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, respectively – the latter alongside pro racing driver Kelvin van der Linde.
Race at Home Challenge title contenders and podium finishers Peyo Peev, best remembered for his race-winning performance from Round 2 of the Challenge Grid competition, and Petar Brljak make their return to Formula E esports.
Peev will drive for DRAGON / PENSKE AUTOSPORT and Brljak takes a spot at BMW i Andretti Motorsport as teammate to the Race at Home Challenge winner - formidable Slovenian Kevin Siggy.
“It was a great experience to be involved in the ABB Formula E Race at Home Challenge in support of UNICEF," said Siggy. "The standard of driver on the grid was impressive, the racing was hard-fought, and it was a fun new challenge for me personally. I will be driving once again for the BMW i Andretti Motorsport team in Formula E Accelerate, hoping to be able to repeat my form from last year - bring it on!”
Formula E: Accelerate grid
| Car No. | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Graham Carroll | Envision Virgin Racing |
| 5 | Bono Huis | Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team |
| 6 | Peyo Peev | DRAGON / PENSKE AUTOSPORT |
| 7 | Frederik Rasmussen | DRAGON / PENSKE AUTOSPORT |
| 8 | Jiayu Zhang | NIO 333 FE Team |
| 10 | Martin Stefanko | Jaguar Racing |
| 11 | Kelvin van der Linde | Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler |
| 13 | Arthur Lehouck | DS TECHEETAH |
| 17 | Jarno Opmeer | Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team |
| 20 | Kuba Brzezinski | Jaguar Racing |
| 22 | Jan von der Heyde | Nissan e.dams |
| 23 | Marc Gassner | Nissan e.dams |
| 25 | Nikodem Wisniewski | DS TECHEETAH |
| 27 | Petar Brljak | BMW i Andretti Motorsport |
| 28 | Kevin Siggy | BMW i Andretti Motorsport |
| 29 | Olli Pahkala | Mahindra Racing |
| 33 | Manuel Biancolilla | Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler |
| 36 | Marius Golombeck | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team |
| 37 | Timea Bencsik | Envision Virgin Racing |
| 48 | Lorenz Hoerzing | ROKiT Venturi Racing |
| 71 | Erhan Jajovski | ROKiT Venturi Racing |
| 88 | Risto Kappet | NIO 333 FE Team |
| 94 | Lucas Mueller | Mahindra Racing |
| 99 | Jaroslav Honzik | TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team |
Among the rest of the field are any number of top-tier sim racing stars, with the best the discipline has to offer all pushing themselves into the reckoning in the qualifiers for a seat in the competition and a chance at earning a slice of that €100,000 and the unique opportunity of a real Gen2 test-drive.
‘Driving the car is the easy part…’
Like in the Race at Home Challenge, Formula E will once again dive into the virtual world in rFactor2. This time, the digital racers will face new challenging features introduced in Studio 397’s Season 7 content drop.
Alongside new liveries and circuits introduced ahead of Formula E’s first World Championship campaign, the sim stars will have to master energy management and ATTACK MODE for the first time, bringing the online competitors – and the fans – even closer to trials faced by their real-world Formula E counterparts.
IMAGE ID: /61a627bca1db4d7683de9057a9e5738c
"Energy management and ATTACK MODE are key ingredients in Formula E's recipe and really add to the mix and make races even more interesting," said TAG Heuer Porsche’s Andre Lotterer. "It’s all about achieving more with less and being more efficient. That means a lot for Formula E and it’s what we’re always pushing for.
"Driving the car is one thing but I’d say that it’s, almost, the easy part. Combining all the other factors in Formula E is where it gets tricky and it’s great to see this implemented into the rFactor 2 simulation now."
"I’m really interested to see how the guys will tackle it. There’s no doubt they’re extremely talented behind the wheel on the sim. There’s no way I can ever reach them – they’re on another level entirely.”
Tune in
You will be able to catch every second of Formula E: Accelerate live, with the whole esports series broadcast across Formula E’s digital channels and hosted by Formula E commentator Jack Nicholls and Formula E's Open Talent Call for Presenters winner Derin Adetosoye. Catch the sim racing action, with special guests, direct from Formula E HQ on Twitch, YouTube and Facebook.
Each of the six-round championship’s events will air live on Thursday evenings from 19:00 UTC with a 90-minute show, including every 25-minute Formula E: Accelerate race and all of the reaction from Team Principals, drivers, and more.
Welcome to Formula E: Accelerate 🏆
— ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (@FIAFormulaE) January 26, 2021
This Thursday, 24 sim-racers representing all 12 Formula E teams begin their battle for a prize pot of 100,000 EUR and the ultimate Formula E driving experience ⚡#FEAcceleratepic.twitter.com/ZlwAzPks59