Lotterer: 'Formula E: Accelerate prize pushes sim racing to next level'

Formula E: Accelerate - the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship's new esports competition - gets underway this Thursday from 7PM UTC, streaming live across our digital channels, with a grid full of sim racing's biggest stars competing for a prize pot of €100,000 and the opportunity of a Gen2 test-drive. 

DON'T MISS A MINUTE: Sync your calendar for Formula E: Accelerate

The series will see competitors striving to make the best of the new energy management and ATTACK MODE features newly brought into the latest iteration of rFactor 2's ultra-accurate Formula E DLC - which bring the sim in-line with what Formula E's drivers contend with in every E-Prix, and give the sim racers something entirely new to think about.

Next level

TAG Heuer Porsche's Andre Lotterer believes the prize on offer is just rewards for a group of top-tier sim racers that are every bit as professional in their own right as anyone lining up in a real E-Prix.

With the addition of energy management to the fold, and that sim racers like Arthur Lehouck at champion outfit DS TECHEETAH already contribute to the team's on-track efforts, Lotterer suggests there's the potential for even more to be learned from a sim racer's approach to Gen2.

"The prize is great news," said the German. "These guys really dedicate a lot of time and they take their work in a very professional manner and the prize pool is a great initiative that will bring sim racing to another level. 

"Back at base we simulate every scenario and better ways of driving in the most efficient, and fastest manner. With the prize on offer, some sim racers might decide to put added resource into calculating on-track efficiency.

"That’s how we prepare for races and maybe this will lead to further tools being developed that could be relevant back into motorsport. If the incentive is there, a solution will be found and it'll make the whole ecosystem grow."

Less is more

Up until now, the sim racing stars will perhaps have been used to managing long race stints in endurance series, looking after tyres and fuel loads but the experience of regen, ATTACK MODE and mastering the trade-off between raw pace and usable energy will all be new to them - a real leveller.

As Lotterer puts it: "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." And the guys behind the wheel here don't have the backup of banks of data and world-class engineers as the Porsche man has.

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"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," continues the multiple Le Mans winner. "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.

"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. In the Race at Home Challenge, I was learning a lot from our sim racer. He was teaching me how to brake and how to extract the maximum out of the game.

"It’ll be interesting as these guys are on their own here though, they don’t have a whole team calculating efficiency with a lot of computers behind them, so I don’t know how they’ll try to be on top of that game. Every corner, every part of the track has an optimum efficiency – a lift point, a recuperation point. So, I think you’ll see more differences between them than you’d see in a normal flat out sim race. There is far more to think about."