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Supercars has officially launched
its new national e-Sports
competition.
To be known as the Harvey
Norman Supercars Forza
Challenge, gamers will be
charged to set a lap time using a
virtual Supercar around Mount
Panorama on Xbox’s Forza
Motorsport 6 platform.
The All Stars Challenge will
see the gamers paired up with
Supercars drivers Shane van
Gisbergen, Scott McLaughlin,
Chaz Mostert, Nick Percat, David
Reynolds, Lee Holdsworth,
Simona de Silvestro and Alex
Rullo for a virtual race.
“This e-sports
initiative is an exciting
opportunity to show-
case Supercars and
further our fan engage-
ment, representing
a significant growth
market for our teamsand partners,” said Supercars
CEO James Warburton.
“The synergy and popularity
of racing games and the sport of
Supercars means that a e-Sports
Championship in 2018 will
become a natural extension of
our product offering.
“We are delighted to be part-
nering with Harvey Norman and
Microsoft as well as the stars of
our show, the Supercars drivers
and their teams.”
This e-Sports program has
already been successfully debuted
by the FIA Formula E Champion-
ship, where drivers raced gamers
in a virtual race in Las Vegas for a
share of $1 million in
prize money.
Nissan has also
enjoyed success in
e-Sports by unearthing
driving talent through
its GT Academy
program.Prodrive Racing Australia
(PRA) could be rebranded
Tickford Racing if plans for a
unified identity go ahead.
It would be the third label
for the former Blue Oval
factory team, which switched
from Ford Performance
Racing (FPR) to Prodrive
Racing Australia in 2015.
A change to Tickford
Racing for the four-car Falcon
squad in 2018 would be more
relevant as Prodrive no longer
has a local presence.
PRA is co-owned by Rod
Nash, who is also behind
the revival of the Tickford
brand for a range of modified
Fords, while team principal
Tim Edwards doubles as chief
executive officer of the road-
car personalisation business.
PRA and Tickford operate
from the same site at Camp-
bellfield in Melbourne’s north.
There is already Tickford
signage on the PRA-run
FG X Falcons of Chaz
Mostert, Mark
Winterbot-
tom, Cameron
Waters and
Jason Bright.
A high-
profile racing
involvement
would enhancethe image and appeal of
Tickford-tickled road vehi-
cles, especially its upgraded
Mustangs in a crowded tuner
market for the fully imported
‘pony car’.
The lingering Prodrive link
is the British motorsport
and automotive engineering
group’s sale of FPR to Nash
and Rusty French in early
2013.
Renaming the Supercars
squad Tickford Racing would
return the venerable English
brand to V8 racing.
Glenn Seton Racing (GSR)
ran as Ford Tickford Racing
from 1999-2001, competing
with semi-factory backing
as the Supercars offshoot
of Broadmeadows’ then
HSV rival, Tickford Vehicle
Engineering.
Following Prodrive’s
takeover of Tickford, the fast
Falcon joint venture became
Ford Performance Vehicles in
’02, followed by the purchase
of GSR and
transformation
into the heavily
funded Ford Per-
formance Racing
official factory
team.
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