Aspiring young rally drivers have the chance to make their mark on the international stage with the FIA announcing an Esports program aimed to find, train and develop young rally talents from around the world, including in Australia.
Working in conjunction with the video game accessory company NACON and the studio Kylotonn, the FIA Rally Star will be available to interested participants through a downloadable feature on the official video game of the FIA World Rally Championship, WRC 9.
Open to any player between the ages of 17 and 26, the FIA Rally Star will run as a multi-phase selection process, giving seven selected drivers the opportunity to receive training and coaching via the FIA, as well as the potential to enter the official FIA Junior WRC.
With the first FIA Rally Star qualification phase starting in 2021, the feature will become available to download for all players on any of the game’s consoles in December, with the competition essentially mirroring the FIA World Rally Championship.
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Giving drivers the opportunity to showcase their skills from the comfort of their own home, players will have access to all 400km of roads in all of the 2020 WRC season’s 13 scheduled rounds, which FIA Rally Director Yves Matton believes is one of the most realistic rally simulations ever made.
“Being innovative and global, FIA Rally Star’s ambition is to develop new solutions allowing young drivers from all over the world to reveal their potential,” Matton said.
“As soon as we introduced the project to NACON and KT Racing teams, they showed great enthusiasm and we couldn’t have hoped for a better platform than WRC 9 to select the most promising candidates.
“The WRC brings together fans from every continents. Many of them dream to get behind the wheel and our wish is to make our sport more accessible. Through FIA Rally Star and its digital version in WRC 9, living this passion is simpler than ever.”