digital motorsports Archives

AMR-C01 – the ultimate racing simulator from Aston Martin

Simulator racing has been growing over the years, both in terms of technological advances that increase realism as well as popularity globally. Companies making the hardware and software for simulators are pushing the envelope further and further, and with the AMR-C01 Racing Simulator, those who want to compete in the virtual or the real world can have the ultimate luxury home simulator.

Designed by Aston Martin and engineered by Curv, the AMR-C01 has a lightweight carbonfibre monocoque structure and utilises the latest technology to provide a fully immersive driving experience for the home user. The seating position mirrors that of the Aston Martin Valkyrie, adding a futuristic hypercar feel to the simulator.

Carbonfibre bodywork
Hand-assembled by Curv Racing Simulators, using the highest quality components and latest Assetto Corsa software, the AMR-C01 has a unique look, thanks to the work of the Aston Martin Design team. Crafted in carbonfibre, the front of bodywork is shaped to invoke the signature Aston Martin Racing grille.

The all-carbonfibre monocoque provides a rigid structure, the design of which also adds to the sporting look of the simulator. As what customers would expect of any Aston Martin car, there is a high level of refinement and surface quality as well as finish.

“This was a challenge for the design team as, although the simulator isn’t a car, it is inspired by our racing cars. It needed to exude the same elegance, boasting the same dynamic lines and balance of proportions as any Aston Martin with a racing lineage. I can picture the AMR-C01 in the most beautiful of residences as a sculptural work of art in its own right,” said Aston Martin’s Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichman.

For the love of racing
Curv Racing Simulators is led by Aston Martin works driver, Darren Turner, who is a simulator specialist with over 20 years’ experience in cutting edge Formula 1 simulation. “The AMR-C01 is all about the love of racing. We’ve created a home simulator with incredible immersion that offers users the opportunity to have a great time racing in the virtual world, from the comfort of their own home,” said Turner.

Hypercar experience
“We modelled the driving position on the Aston Martin Valkyrie so users of AMR-C01 can get the full hypercar experience. I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to achieve, with design and engineering creating what I believe to be the most beautiful home simulator available,” he added.

Only 150 of these state-of-the-art simulators will be available, each priced from £57,500 (about RM304,000) in the UK. The first units can be delivered during the fourth quarter of this year.

James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 in ‘Goldfinger’ reborn – complete with the gadgets!

Team Fordzilla reveals ultimate virtual racing car (w/VIDEO)

Ford and its Team Fordzilla esports team have unveiled a world-first at this year’s gamescom event which is described as ‘the ultimate virtual racing car’. Designed with collaboration between Ford designers and the gaming community, the car was developed under the codename ‘Project P1’.

It was then created with fan votes on Twitter at different design stages. Gamers decided on elements including seating position, cockpit style and drivetrain before Ford designers worked up their interpretations of the brief.

Two designs were put forward for the final poll, with the car by Ford exterior designer Arturo Arino emerging victorious, gaining 83.8% of the votes. Close to 225,000 fans let their preferences be known throughout the polling process.

Inspired by the Ford GT
With inspiration from the Ford GT, Arino’s design employs unique touches like morphing technology on the body to offer the stability of a longtail racer on the high-speed straights of Le Mans, or a shorter body for tighter circuits like Monaco. For fans wondering when they may get to drive the vehicle in-game, Ford hinted that it is in advanced discussions with a major games developer to introduce it into a popular racing game in 2021.

“Project P1 took me to the beginning of it all. The reason why I became a car designer in the first place was to design something never seen before and something that pushes the boundaries. This vehicle will be visually stunning, and while it will push the gamer to the limits of focus and reflexes, it will also be hugely rewarding to drive,” explained Arino.

Ford also announced that it will build a scale model of the Team Fordzilla P1 concept before the end of the year, something it has already started to create at its design studios in Cologne, Germany. This is part of its continuing theme of exploring the parallels between the real-world and the virtual one, with learnings from design in the digital world being applied to concepts for reality.

Fordzilla Cup
The final of the inaugural Fordzilla Cup will take place at gamescom this year. Qualifiers and heats have been taking place all week and will culminate with the first-ever champion crowned this weekend. The winner will get a professional contract with Team Fordzilla and have the chance to compete on some of the largest stages in gaming.

The launch of www.teamfordzilla.com during gamescom will provide a permanent home for Ford’s official eSports team. Fans will be able to follow live feeds of races, download vehicle graphics for use in-game and keep up-to-date with the latest news.

Team Fordzilla
Team Fordzilla is Ford’s first ever esports team, inaugurated in 2019 with individual teams in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, consisting of hand-picked racers. Each team competes in national competitions with dedicated team captains, with the best drivers representing Team Fordzilla at a European level. Currently, over 40 drivers race under the Team Fordzilla banner.

“We showed again at gamescom this year that we’re serious about gaming, but what was really great is the continuing support we’re receiving from that gaming community. This really pushes us to keep innovating with projects like the Team Fordzilla P1 concept,” said Emmanuel Lubrani, Senior Manager Communications for Team Fordzilla at Ford Europe.

Visit www.sdacford.com.my to know more about Ford models you can buy and drive.

Ford forming racing teams in Europe to compete in esports competition [w/VIDEO]

Season 3 of Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship to run throughout September

Although this year has seen virtual racing or digital motorsports take a big leap in popularity due to the lockdowns that prevented real-world racing to take place, the Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship has actually been running earlier. In fact, two seasons have been run and next month will see the third season.

Racing events throughout September
The 2020 championship will start off with a series of qualifying rounds, followed by a semi-final and finally, a 4-race format Grand Final. There will be 4 online qualifying rounds (limited to 180 participants per round) which will be run over two consecutive weekends from September 3 and 4 and September 12 and 13.

The virtual track for qualifying will be the 4.5-km Fuji International Speedway in Japan with racers using a GR Supra RZ. UMW Toyota Motor (UMWT), the organisers, expect up to 720 participants this year.

Simulator racing — *The racers use Thrustmaster T-GT hardware and race on Playstation’s Gran Turismo platform.*

The top 20 fastest drivers will then advance to the semi-final to be held on September 26. This will be held at UMWT’s headquarters complex in Shah Alam, Selangor. The semi-final will involve two individual races held in Japan. The first is a 22-lap race at the Kyoto Driving Park behind the wheel of a TS050 Hybrid prototype sportscar and later, a Dallara Super Formula SF19 around the 5.8-km Suzuka Circuit in an 18-lap battle.

The 10 fastest drivers will enter the final challenge Grand Final on September 27 at the same venue. Besides the Grand Prize of RM20,000, there are cash prizes of RM10,000, RM7,000, RM5,500, RM4,500 for the other 4 overall winners. Cash prizes of between RM4,000 and RM2,000 also await those who finish in 6^th to 10th positions. RM500 each will also be given out to those who finish in 11th to 20th positions.

The most lucrative online racing series
Racers will also stand a chance to win additional cash prizes in the form of RM450, RM200 and RM100 awarded to the first, second and third place winners at each of the 4 Grand Final races. This makes the Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship one of the most lucrative and rewarding online racing series locally.

2018 Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship — *The Grand Final of the first Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship in 2018.*

The Grand Final will have 4 gruelling races with points awarded for every round. Race 1 will see drivers competing in a GR Supra RZ at the Autodrome Lago Maggiore circuit in Italy (15 laps). Race 2 will be at the Autopolis Racing Course Japan in a FT-1 Vision Gran Turismo (18 laps). Race 3 will put the driver behind the wheel of a TS050 Hybrid sportscar at Circuit de la Sarthe in France (10 laps). The fourth and final race will take place at the 13.6-km Belgium Spa- Francorchamps circuit with a Toyota-powered Dallara Super Formula SF19 (18 laps).

Season 3 of the Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship will also feature a special 10-lap exhibition race involving racers and celebrities who competed in the Toyota Vios Challenge and Toyota GAZOO Racing Festival. The racing drivers will go participate in a 10-lap race behind the wheel of a GR Supra Racing Concept racing car at the 4.5-km Fuji International Speedway while celebrities will drive a TS050 Hybrid sportscar in a 17-lap race at the Tokyo Expressway.

First ever regional championship
The top three racers will also earn the honour of representing Malaysia in the first ever GR Supra GT Cup Asia 2020 regional e-motorsports competition organized by Toyota Motor Asia Pacific in October 2020. The GR Supra GT Cup Asia 2020 will see competitors from Malaysia competing against the best from Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines and India.

“The race must go on, amidst a post-pandemic era and in the new norm. While physical motor racing involving Toyota is not expected to return until the first quarter of 2021, the past 5 months presented UMWT with the perfect opportunity to advance our virtual racing activities and to bring the GAZOO racing spirit and motorsports to the masses,” said Toyota GAZOO Racing Malaysia’s Chief Motorsports Officer, Akio Takeyama.

Interest keeps growing in Malaysia
UMWT is the first and still the only Malaysian car company to be associated with the fast-growing e-sports activities, contributing to the growing interest in online simulator racing in the country. According to Ravindran K., President of UMWT, the number of participants who competed in the Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship grew to 657 in 2019 from 400 when the series was first introduced in 2018.

2019 Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship — *Grand Final of the second season in 2019 at the Pavilion KL.*

Incidentally, 2018 was also the year when the FIA (the world motorsport governing body) recognised simulator racing and certified it as Digital Motor Sport.

“Online racing, particularly the growing interest in Simulator Racing, has exponentially grown, more evidently over the last 5 months, and it has successfully attracted both real-world racers and virtual racers,” Mr. Ravindran said, adding that some 300,000 viewers are expected to tune in to the Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship live streamed online races this year.

For more information on the Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship and to register to compete, visit www.toyota.com.my.

More online racing events coming from UMW Toyota Motor

More online racing events coming from UMW Toyota Motor

During the period of the Movement Control Order when all public activities in Malaysia came to a standstill, motorsports enthusiasts were saddened that not only could they not attend their favourite events but there was also nothing to watch. However, a number of carmakers decided to go racing online and even sent their professional racing drivers to compete in events that were watched globally.

In Malaysia, UMW Toyota Motor (UMWT) held the Toyota GAZOO Racing Online Challenge between April 23 April and May 21, bringing racing excitement to everyone who had to stay at home around the country. The company was the first and is still the only auto brand in Malaysia to become involved in esports, as it is known. In total, the Toyota GAZOO Racing Online Challenge offered prize monies amounting to RM7,500 over the 5 rounds.

Following that successful event, which attracted gamers as young as 6 years old, a second phase will be held on July 12 which will see the top challengers in the first phase compete in a final showdown of the fastest sim-racers in the country.

The Online Challenge Finals will be a mini-championship of 4 rounds, each featuring iconic racing cars – including the Playstation Gran Turismo-exclusive Toyota GT86 Group B Rally Car. The sim-racers will challenge each other around some of the world’s iconic circuits, including the Red Bull Ring and Autodromo De Interlagos.

“The COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted the physical aspect of motor racing but there is no reason why the spirit of competition cannot continue virtually. GAZOO Racing is a philosophy that extends beyond the racing track and that was precisely why we pursued an online presence,” said Toyota GAZOO Racing Malaysia’s Chief Motorsports Officer, Akio Takeyama.

Mr. Takeyama, who is also Deputy Chairman of UMWT, said that the Toyota GAZOO Racing Online Challenge is also a natural extension to the company’s existing Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship. “It underlines the company’s commitment to not only bring motorsports to the masses but to make it more accessible and affordable,” he explained.

The third edition of the Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship will be held between August and September this year (dates and race formats to be announced soon).

In addition, Toyota Motor Asia Pacific (TMAP) will also be organizing the first-ever GR Supra GT Cup Asia 2020 regional esports competition in October 2020. This event will see qualifying rounds being held in Malaysia (through the Toyota GR Velocity Esports Championship), Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines and India from July to September to select the top three virtual racers who will represent their respective nations at the regional finale.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has presented both challenges and opportunities, the result of which has seen esports and virtual racing propelled to the forefront at an unprecedented scale. The timely introduction of a regional event will certainly fuel Toyota’s momentum of pursuing an aggressive esports agenda in Malaysia,” said Ravindran K., President of UMW Toyota Motor.

“Simulator racing has had a profound impact on Malaysian esports, appealing to both gamers and racing drivers proving that it is an excellent conduit between the virtual and physical realms in motor racing,” he added. “As an automotive brand, Toyota in Malaysia is today in a position of strength being in the forefront of both spectra – with a strong virtual racing presence.”

Mr. Ravindran said that these initiatives solidified Toyota’s commitment to bring motorsports to the masses, promoting the GAZOO Racing philosophy that embodies performance and excellence, besides introducing to the market its new range of specialty models that wear the GR badge.

Toyota Vios Challenge — *Toyota’s esports activities complement the real-life one-make Vios Challenge which has been successfully run for three seasons.*

Click here for other news and articles about Toyota.

The Real Race – Lamborghini enters eSports arena for the first time

‘The Real Race’ is Lamborghini’s first official entry into eSports, delivering a new sim racing championship blending the real and virtual worlds of racing. In partnership with Assetto Corsa Competizione by Kunos Simulazioni, its inaugural virtual one-make series started at the end of May and will have 5 qualifier weekends till August 2, 2020. After that, a live final will be run at Lamborghini’s headquarters in Sant’Agata Bolognese, Italy on September 18, 2020.

Assetto Corsa Competizione was developed alongside car manufacturers and provides a dynamic platform for Lamborghini’s latest racing series. The game is also used by official Lamborghini Squadra Corse test and race drivers in their real-world preparations.

The immersive eSports competition will have the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO for participants. Its exclusive race livery is the work of Centro Stile, Lamborghini’s in-house design department. Participants can customize the looks in 12 different versions, with each car displaying the trademark logos of long-standing Lamborghini Squadra Corse’s partners – Pertamina, Pirelli and Roger Dubuis.

The top three players from the tournament’s live finals will enjoy a 3-day experience in Italy. They will have a chance to train alongside Lamborghini Squadra Corse drivers and to drive a real Lamborghini race car at a racetrack.

“Sim racing is one of the fastest growing sectors in eSports, with eSports increasingly important to younger generations. I also follow it closely! This is an opportunity for us to combine the excitement of virtual racing with the appeal of Lamborghini cars and our motorsports program,” said Stefano Domenicali, Chairman & CEO of Automobili Lamborghini.

“ESports creates an environment where race heroes and top drivers can be challenged by anyone. This encourages wider engagement with real-life racing, reflected by Lamborghini’s investment in this new sports platform,” he added.

David Coulthard, the former Formula 1 racing driver who will be the studio-based commentator for the live event, had this to say: “I’ve paid close attention to the rise of eSports. Seeing the realism of racing games and how drivers are using racing simulators to practice, or professional eSports players going from simulation to the real thing, is just incredible.”

“The Real Race is designed to portray realism and professionalism. Skills in sim racing are so transferable, which is why Lamborghini wants to give players an opportunity to test drive the real thing as part of the prize. There’s nothing quite like getting behind the wheel of a Lamborghini,” Coulthard said.

Lamborghini GT3 — *A real Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO in action(above).The photorealism of the cars of The Real Race makes it hard to tell the difference (below).*

Assetto Corsa Competizione is the new official GT World Challenge videogame. It offers an authentic atmosphere of the FIA GT3 homologated championship, competing against official drivers, teams, cars and circuits, all reproduced in-game with the claim of the highest level of accuracy ever achieved. Sprint, Endurance and Spa 24 Hours races take full advantage of Unreal Engine 4 to ensure photorealistic weather conditions and graphics, night races, motion capture animations, reaching a new standard in terms of driving realism and immersion.

Click here for other news and articles about Lamborghini.

Porsche Carrera Cup Germany moving its racing activities into the virtual world

In response to the ‘motorsport-free’ period forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany is moving its racing activities into the virtual world. Today, for example, the national one-make cup is running the ‘Porsche Esports Carrera Cup Germany – Race at Home’ event. 24 drivers will take part in the two 30-minute races on the digital Autodrom Most (Czech Republic).

“With ‘Race at Home’, we are expanding our Esports activities and underlining the important role that digital motorsport plays for us in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany. We have been active in this area since last year and I am looking forward to two exciting races,” said Hurui Issak, Project Manager of the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany series.

“Experienced sim racers and highly motivated newcomers bustle around in the driver’s field. I am particularly happy about the start of Timo Bernhard, Porsche’s brand ambassador He can look back on an impressive career and is now taking part in virtual motorsport with us, ” added Issak.

The Autodrom Most stretches for 4.212 kms and consists of 21 curves. In addition to the two races, free training (35 minutes) and a 15-minute qualifying session are on the program. The top three of both races will each receive credit for the entry fee for the real season of the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany. A total of 15,000 euros in prizes can be won.

New challenge for Porsche’s Brand Ambassador
Timo Bernhard, 39, is one of the most successful sportscar drivers of all time. He is a 2-time world champion in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), 2-time overall winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and has collected 5 overall successes in the 24-hour race at the Nurburgring,

Today, the Porsche brand ambassador, as owner of Team75 Bernhard, is still active in motorsport. The racing team is used in the ADAC GT Masters, the ADAC GT4 Germany, in selected endurance races and in karting. “Anyone who has followed me in my active career knows that I am always open to new things and like to face a challenge. So far I have had little experience with sim racing,” he admitted.

Successful Porsche sim racer Max Benecke says the single most important thing you can do if you want to progress in sim racing is to keep practicing. “Have as professional an approach to it as you can. Be dedicated, stay fit, stay positive and remember to enjoy it! Do all this and the opportunities will open up for you,” said the 26-year old who races for races for Team Redline and often challenges Formula 1 stars like Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.

Virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans as well
The newly created Porsche eSports team will also take part in the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 13/14 with four Porsche 911 RSRs. In the digital race on the legendary French circuit, Porsche factory drivers, juniors and young professionals share the cockpit with experienced sim racers. Professionals from the online and offline worlds thus fight together for success.

The Porsche eSports Team has 16 drivers in its squad. The simulation platform rFactor2 is used for the premiere of the ultimate simracing long-distance race with the involvement of factory drivers.

Over 4,900 sim racers have tried to get one of 40 places in 2020 Porsche Esports Supercup

How iRacing developed the BMW M4 GT4 for sim racing

After about half a year of intensive development work, the BMW M4 GT4 is set to make its virtual debut on the sim racing platform iRacing next month. To make sure that the BMW M customer racing car is as realistic as possible, iRacing developers are working as intensively with the BMW Motorsport engineers as if they were working on a real racing car.

In just a few days, the M4 GT4 will be another current BMW racing car after the M8 GTE to make its sim racing debut on the iRacing platform. When the users contest their first races in June, the iRacing developers and BMW Motorsport engineers will have a phase of intensive collaboration behind them.

Important project for BMW Motorsport
“I can’t wait for it to get started,” said Kevin Bobbitt, Director of Marketing at iRacing, emphasising “The openness with which BMW Motorsport met us in this project is fantastic. The communication channels were very short, and you could tell by their involvement that this project is really important to them.”

For some time now, sim racing has been one of the pillars in the BMW Motorsport portfolio. Those responsible had identified the potential of virtual racing before it experienced a boom during the current break from real-world racing. “BMW Motorsport knows the difference between a standard racing game and a real racing simulation, and values it,” said Bobbitt. “A simulation as realistic as this also benefits the manufacturer, because many more people can test the cars and in the best-case scenario might even go on to buy one.”

As head of vehicle development, Rudolf Dittrich is also responsible for the field of sim racing at BMW Motorsport. He confirms the strong customer focus behind the M4 GT4 project. “We want to give our customer teams the opportunity to experience the BMW M4 GT4 virtually,” he said, explaining the advantages: “They can upload and use their own liveries with their own sponsors. Their drivers can also practice on their own in the current break. And potential new customers might even develop a taste for it and think about racing with a BMW M4 GT4 in real life.”

How the collaboration works
Maximum authenticity requires the virtual car to be as close as possible to its real-life counterpart which was the joint mission of BMW Motorsport and iRacing. What do you need for that? “We need three things from the car: the laser scans, the CAD data and photos as a reference,” explained Brian Simpson, Senior Art Manager at iRacing.

Explaining the data transfer process, Dittrich said: “Everything starts with the licence agreement, which is the basis for the transfer of confidential data. Then the developers receive two large data packages of several gigabytes each. Firstly, the CAD data with all the specifications of the car parts. That is exactly the same data that a supplier gets from us to produce the real component. iRacing also scanned a real car, in this case the Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4.

“The second large data package contained all the information on driving dynamics. We use the same data set to do a lap time simulation or to operate our BMW Motorsport simulator, for example. This data includes damper curves, engine performance curves, axle kinematics, weight distribution, aerodynamic values: any figures that we had calculated for the car we passed on to iRacing,” he said, concluding that ‘iRacing now know as much about the car as our customer teams do’.

Real vehicle driving dynamics
“The more real vehicle data we receive, the closer we get to the real driving dynamics. In the case of our BMW M4 GT4, the initial feedback from people who have driven the real car is very positive,” said Steve Reiss, Senior Vehicle Dynamics Engineer at iRacing.

It goes without saying that the driving dynamic plays the crucial role in user satisfaction, but even the most minute of details are important for realism. “First, our designers parse the data provided and use it to make the basic car. Once we’ve got that, it’s time for the details such as spinning wheels, displays and much more,” explained Simpson. “

“In that respect BMW Motorsport is incredible. They even sent us information on in which situations which lights on the steering wheel come on, and what information is displayed when, which buttons the driver presses when, and what happens when they do. I really enjoy working on those displays right down to the last detail,” he added.

Ready to race
At the end of a continuous development period of about 6 months, BMW Motorsport inspect the virtual car which is also no different from reality. “The idea is to inspect the virtual car in exactly the same way as a real car,” said Dittrich. “This ranges from the external appearance, through handling, to details such as cable routing in the interior, light or texture of the dashboard. After all, we are ultimately responsible for the virtual BMW M4 GT4 meeting all the requirements that we and our customers have for a real racing car.”

BMW Drivers Will Be Racing At Super Sim Saturday With Races All Around The Virtual Globe

Formula E: Nissan e.dams team scores first ever win in esports version

The global pandemic may have impacted motorsports by preventing events from being run, mainly because of valid concerns about transmission of the coronavirus. While real-world racing has been on hold, esports have quickly grown online and even the works teams of carmakers have joined in.

For Nissan, which was the first Japanese carmaker to enter the all-electric single-seater Formula E, series, its driver in the Nissan e.dams team, Oliver Rowland, recently took the team’s maiden victory in round 5 of the ABB Formula E Race at Home Challenge.

Racing in what has been described as ‘the best race in the esports series so far’, Rowland (pictured above) showed strong pace from the outset, qualifying in P3 on the Berlin circuit, having had just one day’s practice along with the rest of the grid on the newly created virtual Tempelhof track.

He got away cleanly at the start, key to sim racing success, and immediately settled into an exciting battle with the lead group of three drivers. On lap 7, from third position, Rowland made an inch-perfect move into a hairpin bend to overtake two cars at once and claim the lead. He maintained the lead to the finish, fending off constant pressure from behind.

First virtual win
The stylish overtake and team’s first virtual win pay tribute to “Go Nissan Day”, celebrated each year in May. Sebastien Buemi qualified in P11 and crossed the finish line in 12th position.

The new online racing series represents Formula E, the first real-world zero emission racing series, as the height of zero emission competition in the virtual world. This aligns with Nissan’s goal of zero emissions and zero fatalities, an important pillar of Nissan Intelligent Mobility, the brand’s vision for changing how cars are driven, powered and connected into society.

The ABB Formula E Race at Home Challenge raises funds for UNICEF’s global coronavirus appeal, helping keep children safe, healthy, and learning in the face of the pandemic.

570-ps Mazda RX-Vision GT3 Concept joins Playstation4 Gran Turismo SPORT

For many years now, Polyphony Digital’s Sony PlayStation 4 (PS4) driving simulation title, Gran Turismo SPORT, has attracted the interest of a number of carmakers who have developed concept models for it. The Gran Turismo Sport title is certified and promoted by the FIA (the world motorsports governing body) as an official platform of digital motorsport.

From this May 22, a new addition will be the Mazda RX-Vision GT3 Concept virtual racing car. This new model will automatically grant seed rights to participate in the FIA-certified Gran Turismo Championship (World Tour) that will be held in various locations around the world in the 2020 season.

The RX-Vision GT3 Concept is based on the Mazda RX-VISION which was displayed in 2015. It is modified in accordance with FIA GT3 vehicle regulations. The RX-VISION took on the challenge of achieving the most beautiful front engine rear wheel drive (FR) sportscar that Mazda could conceive, based on the ‘KODO -Soul of Motion’ design theme.

2015 Mazda RX-VISION concept — *The RX-VISION concept was unveiled at the 2015 Tokyo Motorshow.*

The RX-VISION was selected as the ‘Most Beautiful Concept Car of the Year’ in the 33rd Festival Automobile International held in France in January 2016.

At that time, Mazda said it could be equipped with a next-generation ‘SKYACTIV-R’ rotary engine (RE) which naturally excited rotary fans and enthusiasts who await the return of the ‘RE’. Mazda has not ruled out the possibility and said the concept represented ‘the vision of a sportscar that Mazda hopes to make a reality in the future’.

The GT3 project started in the fourth quarter of 2019 and an image sketch was released at the venue for the world final of the FIA Gran Turismo Championship held in Monaco in November last year. It was announced that the racing car would be added to the 2020 update of Gran Turismo SPORT. From then on, the teams at Polyphony Digital and Mazda Design worked to refine the model using 3D modelling.

Taking advantage of the original concept’s long-nose/short-deck form, the RX-Vision GT3 Concept has a wider tread. The front midship and transaxle rear wheel drive configuration achieves an ideal 48:52 weight distribution, with excellent aerodynamic characteristics optimized for handling performance and tyre management.

Like the RX-VISION, the RX-Vision GT3 Concept will use a SKYACTIV-R 4-rotor rotary engine with a maximum output of 570 ps (the output and weight may change due to balance of performance (BoP) adjustments depending on the race). Its suspension consists of a double wishbone front and multi-link type rear layout.

Each function within the cockpit is arranged with an emphasis on ease of operation during the race. In particular, the steering wheel uses a special design that improves operability. The interior layouts of all Mazda models are developed in the pursuit of superior ergonomics. Similarly, the RX-Vision GT3 Concept prioritizes aspects such as seat shape, driving position, pedal arrangement and visibility during driving as essential items to providing a ‘human-centered’ cockpit.

SPECIFICATIONS
Length x Width x Height (mm) : 4590 x 2075 x 1120
Wheelbase (mm) : 2700
Front / rear tread (mm) : 1720 /1760
Vehicle weight (kgS) : 1,250
Engine displacement (cc) : 2600
Maximum output (ps/rpm) : 570/9,000
Maximum torque (Nm/rpm) : 540/7,500
Tyres and Wheels : Michelin – 310 / 700 – 18

Michelin is the Official Tyre Technology Partner for Gran Turismo

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