This new competition will offer participants the opportunity to experience the thrill of virtual motorsport, gaining valuable skills whether at grassroots level or higher.

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The Emirates Motorsports Organisation (EMSO) is proud to introduce the EMSO E-Racing initiative. Encompassing the whole of the UAE, the new series promises high-adrenaline virtual racing during the action-packed months of July and August 2024.

As the sole representative of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA/CIK-FIA) and Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) in the UAE, EMSO will organize the digital motorsport tournaments this summer.

In line with the FIA’s strategy for E-Sports, the EMSO E-Racing Series has been created to encourage and develop motorsport talent in the UAE, while supporting and regulating digital motorsport in the country.

This new competition will offer participants the opportunity to experience the thrill of virtual motorsport, gaining valuable skills whether at grassroots level or higher. EMSO’s 2024 e-Racing efforts will feature multiple competitive stages in collaboration with the FIA, commencing with a Formula 4 Tournament on the popular iRacing platform, the world’s premier motorsport simulation and eSports specialist boasting a global community of hundreds of thousands racers.

The competition will kick off with an online Time Trial from July 5th to 21, giving all who enter the chance to qualify for one of the 12 spots available in the Grand Final of Sunday, July 28, to be held at a state-of-the-art gaming room in Dubai.

The second tournament under EMSO’s E-Racing programme this summer will run on the hyper-realistic Assetto Corsa Competizione platform, featuring an exhilarating competition on GT3 cars. Both tournaments will run under similar conditions, with the GT event scheduled for August 2024.

Open to all Emirates ID holders (UAE residents and citizens); competitors in both tournaments will be playing from the comfort of their own simulator, PC, or PlayStation set-ups.

Those without access to the games at home will be able to avail a free on-simulator time trial at one of the partnering gaming rooms in the UAE. This, alongside free EMSO licenses to compete, will make the competition more easily accessible to all and allow players of all levels to put themselves to the test. While the top step of the EMSO E-Racing podium brings exciting prize money, the top over-16-year-old Emirati participant will also earn the opportunity to represent the UAE in the highly sought-after 2024 FIA Motorsport Games in Spain later this year (23-27 October).

The Emirates Motorsports Organization constantly spearheads the implementation of new technologies and best practices in the Sport across the Region and has been the engine behind several motorsports breakthroughs. With a successful initial trial in the universe of E-gaming back in 2020, the EMSO is now doubling down on its efforts for grassroots development, taking the search for the UAE’s future champions behind the screen.

EMSO Chief Executive, Mahir Badri, reflected: “Sport is a synonym of constant evolution, and as the UAE’s National Sporting Authority for motorsport, we constantly work to secure a healthy future for the sport.

“We understand that the future stars of our sport could be some of the children or teenagers discovering now their passion for motorsports and perhaps racing from their desks at their very homes. The new technologies give simulator users close to real-life experiences, enabling them to experience lifelike physics and get a first taste of the thrills racing offers in ways that, some time ago, were only reserved for just a few.

“Top drivers worldwide also use simulators to train, replicating track and racing situations, and with our new E-Racing initiative, we aim at opening pathways for youngsters to discover the sport, develop their natural skills, and enter the world of competitive e-sport”.

Registration for the EMSO’s first iRacing Tournament is now live, and it is open to all UAE citizens and individuals holding a UAE resident visa over the age of 13-years-old.