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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday May 27 2020, @06:58PM   Printer-friendly
from the echeating dept.

Audi parks driver for using a ringer in charity esports race:

The combination of racing drivers and esports is turning out to be full of drama. When COVID-19 put a stop to real-world racing in March, professional series moved the action, using sims like iRacing and rFactor 2 along with streaming platforms like Twitch to give drivers something to do and fans something to watch. But the transition hasn't been a smooth one for some of the professional drivers, particularly those who had little interest or experience in the simulation side of things before the pandemic.

Audi's Daniel Abt is the latest to discover that it's not just a game when you're being paid to show up. The latest incident took place on Saturday in Formula E's Race at Home challenge, where the sport's real-world stars show up to compete in rFactor 2 to raise money for UNICEF. Set in a virtual version of Berlin's Tempelhof airport, Abt qualified well and raced to third place, a performance that was in stark contrast to his previous esports races. This, and the fact that he was obscured from view in his video feed, raised suspicions among some of the other drivers.

Those suspicions had merit. When the esports race organizers investigated, they checked IP address data and discovered the presence of a ringer—sim racing professional Lorenz Hoerzing, who raced pretending to be Abt. Disqualified from the race, Abt was ordered to donate $10,817 (€10,000) to charity. (Hoerzing was also stripped of his sixth-place finish in the companion event held for professional sim racers, and banned from competing in that series again.) After admitting he swapped in Hoerzing, Abt apologized in a statement on Sunday.

"I would like to apologize to Formula E, all of the fans, my team and my fellow drivers for having called in outside help during the race on Saturday. I didn't take it as seriously as I should have. I'm especially sorry about this, because I know how much work has gone into this project on the part of the Formula E organization. I am aware that my offense has a bitter aftertaste, but it was never meant with any bad intention. Of course, I accept the disqualification from the race. In addition, I will donate 10,000 Euros to a charitable project," he said.

[...] While these esports sim racers might just be a game to some, racing drivers are professional athletes under contract to big organizations. And when you're being paid to represent a big brand, there are consequences for making it look bad. Unsporting conduct, smoking weed, and even speaking out politically will get you in hot water in professional esports, and although Abt wasn't signed by Audi to play rFactor 2, he was still representing the organization—which bears his family name, no less—on Saturday. At a time when Twitch streams are bringing many racing stars closer to their fans, it seems like a shame that drivers of the caliber of da Costa and Vanthoor are retreating over someone else's mistake.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 28 2020, @12:32AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 28 2020, @12:32AM (#999991)

    But you're also a total idiot to ridicule virtual racing

    The op wrote just three words. And that's what you got from it ?

    If he had just said "hello", would you also have accused him of ridiculing virtual racing ?

    Hint: His post had nothing to do with virtual racing, and everything to do with an entire generation of adults acting like they're fucking twelve year-olds.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 28 2020, @01:49AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 28 2020, @01:49AM (#1000022)

    False. The OP actually wrote four words. The subject of just "esports" followed by the text of the comment suggests the OP is implying esports are for "dumb millennials." This is a reasonable interpretation, for which the response was warranted.

    If the intent is to criticize all millennials, as your comment suggests, then it's offtopic, flamebait, and most certainly contributes nothing of value to the discussion. Neither does your defense of the comment.

    If the intent is to ridicule Daniel Abt for being a "dumb millennial," then the comment should have made that clear. Moreover, it would still be a really stupid comment. Blaming cheating in sports on "dumb millennials" would be absurd. Cheating has been rampant in sports for as long as sports have been contested. There were very primitive efforts to engage in doping at the Olympics in ancient Greece. There are very sophisticated cheating operations in motorsports, such as the alleged efforts by Ferrari to violate F1's fuel rate limits. The Houston Astros ran a mostly low tech cheating operation by banging on trash cans to signal what pitch the catcher called for. There were businesses dedicated to doping in sports, such as BALCO, which Barry Bonds was a client of. And there have been very sophisticated cheating operations in sports like cycling, particularly the scheme orchestrated by Lance Armstrong and his team. That's not the work of dumb millennials but a recognition that the penalties for cheating aren't effective deterrent given the potential benefits from doing so. And how many businesses violate laws because it's cheaper to pay the fines than to comply? It's not "dumb millennials." It's an economic calculation that happened to backfire on this racer.