Neel Jani: Unfortunately only virtually good at it 🎥

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The highlights of the first virtual Formula E championship race.

It was almost like a real race weekend. 24 drivers lined up in front of packed grandstands for the first championship race in Hong Kong - unfortunately only virtually. The live broadcast from MySports Switzerland was real and technically flawless.

Lots of action as usual
In times without real motorsport, you have to be modest and enjoy races in other ways without knowing the winner beforehand. In the ABB Formula E Race at Home Challenge, there is even excitement, as all the current regular drivers drive the authentically colored Formula E racing cars of the twelve teams in their home simulators with identical software.

They did this with astonishing precision and professionalism at the premiere. And they made a mess of things in the very first hairpin bend.

As everything is just a simulation, at least there was no damage or consequential costs. However, the various incidents still had an impact on the course of the race - only those who drove a clean line, never hit the track roughly and stayed out of the technicalities were successful. After all, this is no different in reality and will also be the case in the next sim races.

BMW ahead of Mercedes and Mahindra
As in the test race a week earlier in Monaco, Maximilian Günther from BMW i Andretti Motorsport was the best simracer from Formula E. However, the German only took the lead after a mistake by the Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne in the virtual Mercedes, who led from the start.

Second place went to Nick Cassidy, who replaced regular driver Sam Bird at Envision Virgin Racing. Third place on the virtual podium went to German Pascal Wehrlein (Mahindra Racing), who is based in Landschlacht.

Neel Jani narrowly misses out on first points
Unlike in real racing life in Formula E, Neel Jani was the best of the four Swiss drivers for the first time. Although the Biel native is not a fan of sim racing, he qualified a good eleventh in the virtual Porsche 99X.

In the 15-lap race, Jani lost one position and thus the first possible championship points (as in real Formula E).

Neel Jani: "I actually had a good lap in qualifying before António Félix da Costa spun in front of me and I had to take evasive action. That was a bit of a shame as I lost a lot of time as a result. Unfortunately, I was hit several times in the first corner of the race. Not only was my car damaged, but I also lost a few places. After that, I was able to make up a few positions. However, my damaged steering in particular caused me problems. So I can almost be satisfied with twelfth place. It's a shame in the end though, because I think a much better position would have been possible with the pace."

First "victory" for Porsche
In the opening race of the "Challenge Grid" - a parallel event consisting of the best e-gamers - Australian Joshua Rogers gave the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team its first victory. Jani's team-mate André Lotterer started ninth but had to retire early due to problems with his internet connection.

Nico Müller (13th), Edoardo Mortara (14th) and Sébastien Buemi (18th) had to leave the field early because the last-placed driver is eliminated after each race lap. Of the four Swiss drivers, only Neel Jani made it into the final sprint of the top twelve.

The sim racing series with points scoring as in real Formula E will continue on the next Saturdays up to and including the first weekend in June.

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