Formula V: Championship on the simulator
START AND WIN The first Formula V-Lounge has opened in Cham. Anyone and everyone can feel like a Formula 1 driver. Seating position, steering wheel and the feeling come from a Ferrari or a Lotus Exos. At the same time a Swiss championship was started, on every race Saturday prize money cash is waiting for the winner. To be able to start, you can either [...]
At the same time a Swiss championship was started, on every race Saturday prize money cash is waiting for the winner. To start, you can either buy a subscription (1200 francs a year, unlimited access) or pay per time (from 30 minutes for 40 francs). Then simply sit in one of the four cockpits, each equipped with three screens, choose your car, select from ten Formula 1 tracks and off you go.
5000 Swiss francs prize money per race Saturday
Or: You can come to one of the seven race Saturdays currently set (you have to qualify in advance in each case, entry fee is 40 francs) and take part in the championship, which is currently only run on the Ferrari cockpit and only on the virtual circuits of Spa, Monza or Silverstone. The best lap time wins, on each race Saturday 5000 francs prize money for the winner, a total of 100 000 francs are in the pot for this season.
Via screen to a Formula 1 track
Insurance expert and Ferrari driver Marco Lauber came up with the idea; he was able to win over investor and software entrepreneur Francisco Fernandez (Avaloq) for what they call the "democratization of racing."
Because that should be the driving force: JeKaMi, anyone can join in; hopeful formula drivers have already quickly discovered the new dimension of e-sports and are hoping for laurels here that might then lead to a jump into real cockpits after all. Incidentally, the first race was won by 21-year-old Felix Hirsiger from Erlenbach (who has already made it from kart to Formula 4 in real racing life).
Autop car wash becomes racing mecca
The hardware is from Evotek by Lusso Reale F1 (Fernandez took over the simulator manufacturer for simplicity's sake, but Lusso Reale's owner is Lauber), the software comes from Assetto Corsa, a subsidiary of Ferrari, which already supplies realistic racing simulations for the PC.
The business model is expected to spread quickly, Formula-V is expected to inspire racing fans all over the world, already at the end of August a second lounge will open in Zurich in Tiefenbrunnen above Beat Meyerstein's Autop car wash.
The former Meylenstein, where events used to be held, is to mutate into Zurich's racing mecca. According to the Formula V operator, there has already been an inquiry from a potential interested party from Germany, who would like to operate Formula V lounges at several locations. Exciting stuff, they say, the FIA has already taken notice.
