Broadcasters buy in to air Torque Esports virtual race series

We don’t know when we’ll see real life motorsport return to the track as the world works to control the coronavirus outbreak. Even though the hope is racers take to the grid sooner rather than later, plenty of organizations are starting to look at esports more seriously.

In the coming weeks, we’ll see one of the biggest pushes yet for virtual motorsports as the Torque Series virtual racing series heads to 60 broadcasters globally. The series said on Wednesday the group of broadcasters will show upcoming events and past highlight reels that it expects will find their way to 600 million homes.

Networks include CNBC here in the US and Eurosport across the pond. The latter will add the series to its broadcast schedule starting April 18. So what exactly will racing fans find in the Torque Series? Two championships.

The first is the longer-running of the two called the The Race All-Star Series. It pits the best Formula One, Formula E, IndyCar and other drivers against the world’s top sim racers. The organization reserves the second series, the Legends Trophy, for veterans of numerous real world race series, such as F1, IndyCar and more. They include some pretty big names, such as Jan Magnussen, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jenson Button.

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For the Race All-Star Series, real world drivers and sim racers will compete for points and a $30,000 prize to donate to the charity of their choice. The Legends Trophy winner will receive $10,000 for donation to their favorite charity.

The Torque Esports series hopes this won’t be a simple substitute for motorsport, but a legitimate form of entertainment for the years to come. Esports has long been a growing industry around the world, and with so many people staying home, I’d venture more than a few are looking to branch out and give esports a look. Look for Saturday’s races to start at noon eastern time in the US.