Over the past months there has been a huge focus on sim racing, with real-world competition only just resuming. Sim racing tends to feature either Formula type cars or sportscars, but Praga, which manufactures the R1 sportscar and racing karts, has launched an initiative aimed at kart racers.
It has joined forces with 27Racers – a new sim racing club – to start a global e-sports initiative to keep drivers and enthusiasts entertained at home. The initial focus will be on console-based games, with races held every Tuesday evening (at 8:00pm BST). The series will follow a championship structure, with the overall winner given the chance to test one of Praga’s R1 cars.
“As with most motorsport this season, our plans to go racing with the R1 had to move online during lockdown. But, with go-kart production at the heart of Praga’s business, we also spotted an opportunity to enter the world of sim racing with karting challenges,” explains Mark Harrison, head of commercial operations at Praga Cars. “We developed this idea hand-in-hand with 27Racers, one of the most influential online racing communities at the moment, to be a safe and fun community for kart racing on the web, regardless of skill level, budget or location.”
Nick Trott, co-founder of 27Racers, feels that karting is an untapped area of the sim-racing universe. “A number of games feature go-karts, but for some reason the racing doesn’t get the attention it deserves. We’ve decided to change that, with the support of Praga, and aim to bring a sim racing community together around karting across as many games, consoles and PC-based events as possible.”
