The Peninsula
The reigning Qatar Touring Car Champion Abdulla Al Khelaifi will be racing in the first ever TCR Europe SIM Racing virtual series tomorrow. A total of 25 recognised drivers, mostly from Europe are set to compete in the series which flags off at a virtual circuit of Spa-Francorchamps.
Al Khelaifi, who raced at the TCR Europe Series last season, will switch his gears to a digital platform this time in a SEAT Leon Cupra TCR under the colours of Qatar Motor and Motorcycling Federation (QMMF). The championship is strictly for drivers who have raced in the TCR Europe last season and those who have newly registered for the 2020 season. Among Khelaifi’s opponents at the virtual series will be top drivers such as the 2018 European champion Mikel Azcona, Niels Langeveld and Kevin Ceccon.
Khelaifi finished third in the recently concluded Qatar Online Racing Championship, organised by the QMMF. The event was also conducted on a virtual Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps track. All drivers, from home, will be steering digital cars in their actual liveries and representing eight different brands, while the new CUPRA Leon Competitición TCR will be available from one of the next events.
The format of the series will see competitors sitting in the simulator for a twentyminute Qualifying session and two back-to-back races of eight laps each.
The grid of the second race will be based on the final results of Race 1 with the top 12 in reversed order. All action will be streamed live tomorrow, from 20:00 (Qatar time) on TCR TV, TCR Facebook page, TCR Europe Facebook page, TCR Youtube channel, and delayed on TCR Twitch channel.
The scoring system will follow that of the real championship, awarding points to the top 10 in the Qualifying (from 10 to 1) and the top fifteen in each race (from 40 to 1). After Spa, the series will race at Red Bull Ring (May 13), Hungaroring (May 27), Le Castellet (June 10), Zolder (June 24), Monza (July 8) and Barcelona (July 22).