Hot on the heels of Formula 1’s eSports series with F1 2017, Australia’s Supercars (formerly V8 Supercars) series has just launched their own eSports challenge.
The Harvey Norman Supercars Forza Challenge kicks off this month, with gamers in Australia asked to put in their best lap around Bathurst in a Supercar, using Forza Motorsport 6. Ultimately this is a decent way to distract you, while we wait for Forza 7’s release on October 3rd which will have the 2017-spec cars.
You’ll compete to be Australia’s fastest drivers and win a spot at the Challenge Finals. The fastest eight drivers set by lap time will win an expenses-paid trip to compete in the finals at the famous Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 in October.
If you want in on the action, get started with the eSports challenge by firing up Forza 6’s RIVALS mode and set your fastest time. To be officially in the running you also need to Register here.
Now for the bad part. This competition is sponsored by Harvey Norman, which on the surface is fine, they sponsor a team in the series, so there’s a nice tie in. Here’s the bad part. At the bottom of the registration form, you have to agree to receive marketing materials from Harvey Norman and there’s no option to disagree. This sucks and should be changed immediately.
The Challenge Finals, will see the best compete in the brand-new Forza Motorsport 7 over four action-packed days to see who will be the first ever Harvey Norman Supercars Forza Challenge Champion. The challenge finals will not only see the drivers race head-to-head, but also in a special All-Stars race including defending Champion Shane van Gisbergen, current Championship leader Scott McLaughlin and former Bathurst winners Chaz Mostert and Nick Percat. David Reynolds, Lee Holdsworth, Simona De Silvestro and 17-year old Alex Rullo will also get a seat.
The All-Stars race and the Harvey Norman Supercars Forza Challenge grand final will be played across a series of Xbox consoles in front of a live audience set and streamed live on Supercars.com, foxsports.com.au in Australia, and across Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East with Supercars broadcast partners.
The challengers will then compete against each-other during a live finals event across a ten-race Championship to determine the ultimate winner. To register for the Harvey Norman Supercars Forza Challenge head to supercars.com/esports.
As a Forza and Supercars fan, I’m hoping this is just the beginning for Supercars and eSports and that Forza 7 will become the platform for a serious competition with big prize money on the line in 2018.
CEO of Supercars, James Warburton said the pilot is designed to extend to a global competition which would be staged in front of live audiences and streamed across multiple events through the course of the Supercars Championship.
“This e-sports initiative is an exciting opportunity to showcase Supercars and further our fan engagement, representing a significant growth market for our teams and partners. The synergy and popularity of racing games and the sport of Supercars means that a e-Sports Championship in 2018 will become a natural extension of our product offering.
Got what it takes? Qualify now for the @HarveyNormanAU Supercars Forza Challenge. #VASC 🎮 https://t.co/ulNkBibFP6 pic.twitter.com/AC6APfpYZy
— Supercars (@supercars) September 7, 2017
For those looking forward to Forza 7, you’ll be happy to know its now officially done. It’ll be available in true 4K exclusively on the upcoming Xbox One X. With more than 700 cars including the largest collection of Supercars and of course again include Mount Panorama track (Bathurst).
Turn 10 Studios have released a new trailer to support the release.