The eSports athlete Enzo Bonito has beaten the racer Lucas di Grassi in a real race. A big victory for the sim racer and an even bigger win for eSports, which is making waves.
At the ROC Nations Cup in Mexico, a showdown between two sports legends took place. The well-known sim racer Enzo Bonito and the racer Lucas di Grassi raced against each other in a time trial. The result: Bonito was over half a second faster than the “real” pro, with a time of 52.3885 seconds.
Di Grassi is a former Formula 1 driver and is currently active in Formula E (for electric cars). Hardly anyone expected a victory from Bonito.
eSport outpaces real sports
Commentators speechless, community delighted: The commentators of the event are speechless in the video excerpt. Apparently, they did not expect this outcome.
Right after Bonito crosses the finish line, there is a long pause, until a commentator just notes: “Di Grassi loses …”
The reactions from the community are correspondingly positive. Under the tweet many discuss that nobody expected Bonito’s victory, and that even the camera focuses on di Grassi. The result, however, gives many fans hope that eSports will receive more respect now.
The German sim racer Marcel Kiefer writes: “Well done, Enzo! You represent us F1 eSports drivers at such a high level.”
What is sim racing? Bonito is a sim racer. Sim racing is the virtual simulation of real races under realistic conditions and has little to do with a video game anymore. Drivers have setups like wheels, pedals, and even actual racing seats that simulate the seat in a race car.
The tracks that the athletes drive on are mostly real-life tracks. Their simulated cars behave as realistically as possible physically. This way, drivers experience the racetracks in a realistic manner.
Sim racing is even used in motorsport for training, allowing drivers to get to know new tracks or to test new rules. Since October 2018, sim racing is even an acknowledged motorsport in Germany.
The state of eSport and eRacing: eSports still has a tough standing in Germany, and also in Europe and around the world. Sports figures like Uli Hoeneß vehemently oppose the recognition of digital sports and games as sports.
Politician Peter Beuth (CDU) also speaks out against eSports and even wants to “eradicate” the term. Lately, the Olympics has also opposed the recognition of eSports, even though the arguments for it are rather weak.
With Bonito’s victory over di Grassi, the debate about eSports could enter a new round. Fans are pleased that a driver who “only does eSports” was able to beat a “real athlete.”
Image source of the title image: Race of Champions on Youtube
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