Compete against India’s best racers from the comfort of your couch!

Let me get some facts out of the way first, we are all bored and we are all locked in. The latter is necessary but the former, that can be changed. Formula 1 has switched to hosting a virtual grand prix for every cancelled race, populated by current and former racers, esports champions and even random celebrities. This does make for some properly fun stuff to watch but what if you could join into the action? Well closer to home, Ultimate E is bringing the opportunity for you to go up against the country’s best real and virtual racing drivers!

What is it?

Ultimate E has been formed by a group of enthusiasts, spearheaded by Aditya Patel who also co-organised the X1 Racing League. Ultimate E is an esports racing series, held over a variety of different games — Assetto Corsa, Gran Turismo, F1 2019 and rFactor — to make it easier for more people to be able to play. The races are held every weekend and involve a grid filled by real world racers like Arjun Maini and Karthik Tharani, India’s top virtual racers, some of whom have even taken part in Nissan’s GT Academy and of course, you guys!

We're talking to Aditya Patel, the man behind Ultimate E, on April 24 at 12:30 PM live on our Instagram handle. Make sure you're there!

How can you join?

Stay tuned to Ultimate E’s social media handles, but the basic format is simple — Ultimate E will host an open lobby and anyone can come and set lap times, the five fastest lap times get to occupy the grid. The number of enthusiasts who are able to enter the race might differ from one race to the other, but with plenty of races being held over the weekend and a lot of different games to choose from and the ability to participate without the need for a sim racing wheel (controller is just fine), it really is the easiest way to pit yourself against some top racing talent.

Initiatives like this are exactly what our country needs. Ultimate E will nurture and hone the talent they find through these races not only virtually, but give them a shot in an actual racing car to see where it goes. Nissan has done a similar thing famously, allowing drivers from their GT Academy to actually race at Le Mans. Sure, Ultimate E might not take you to France just yet, but if you’re good enough it might get your racing career rolling. After all, racing games do help in the real world. So get your gaming consoles ready, brush up your racing lines and set the track alight!