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BMW SIM News, February 2021.

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In our monthly BMW SIM News, we briefly summarise news from the world of virtual racing, and provide information on driver backgrounds, teams, technology, and much more. Over the year, we also regularly focus on individual subjects in separate press releases.

BMW Motorsport SIM Racing has an extensive and diverse programme in store for the Esports community in 2021 – from BMW SIM Cups and BMW Motorsport SIM Racing teams to technical innovations. In our monthly BMW SIM News, we briefly summarise news from the world of virtual racing, and provide information on driver backgrounds, teams, technology, and much more. Over the year, we also regularly focus on individual subjects in separate press releases. 

Formula E Accelerate.

The second and third events in the virtual ABB FIA Formula E World Championship racing season took place in February. At ‘Formula E: Accelerate’, BMW Motorsport SIM Racing Team Redline with Kevin Siggy (SLO) and BMW Motorsport SIM Racing Team GB with Petar Brljak (SVK) competed against the best sim racers in the world in the BMW iFE.21 on the rFactor 2 platform. Both teams and the drivers can look back on a very successful month. On the Hong Kong circuit, Siggy repeated his third-place finish from the season-opener and then followed that up with his first win on the Berlin racetrack. Starting from pole position, he gave a commanding performance to cross the line in first place. Brljak finished third in Berlin to secure his first podium of the season. He had claimed seventh place in Hong Kong. These great results see BMW i Andretti Motorsport top the team standings, with 80 points after three out of six events. Siggy is second in the drivers’ championship with 59 points, behind Erhan Jajovski (MKD, 68 points). The two remaining races and the Grand Final, where drivers can earn double points, take place in March. 

Interview with Kevin Siggy. 

Kevin, after two third-place finishes you achieved your first win of the season in race three. What went better this time? 

Kevin Siggy: “First and foremost, it was qualifying. As always, it was extremely tight but I managed to get out in front after an error-free lap. That proved to be the key to victory. Behind me, Frederik Rasmussen would only have had the chance to overtake at the start or by making better use of the ATTACK MODE, but I had that under control.” 

You won the ‘Race at Home Challenge’ last year. Has the competition got even tougher this season? 

Siggy: “The competition has definitely got harder. The entire field is just top-class. Effectively, you have to get every turn perfect to win against these guys. I didn’t manage that in the first two qualifying sessions of the season, which meant I didn’t start from the front. This time it happened to Erhan Jajovski, who won the first two races. You can see you really have to get it exactly right on your lap and hope that your closest competitors make at least one mini error. Half of one tenth of a second is often enough.” 

Second place in the drivers’ standings and first place in the team championship: how do you view the situation in the overall standings after three out of six races? 

Siggy: “It is good that I have got closer to Erhan Jajovski in the drivers’ standings. I feel that there is always less pressure on the chasing driver, but everything will be decided in the Grand Final, where we can score double points. I don’t think that anyone will be able to build up a big enough lead before then so I am concentrating totally on the final race. There is no prize money on offer for the team championship title but it still feels very prestigious to me as it shows that Petar Brljak and I have done a good job as drivers for the BMW Motorsport SIM Racing Teams. Peter is a very good team-mate, who can record a top result at any time – as he proved recently with his third place. I feel that the fact that we are both strong gives us an advantage in the team standings – especially compared to the teams for my two closest challengers in the drivers’ championship, Erhan Jajovski and Frederik Rasmussen. I am optimistic about our chances in the team championship.” 

Energy management in the virtual Formula E.

Within ‘Formula E: Accelerate’, the races held on the rFactor 2 simulation platform are transferring Formula E features like energy management and ATTACK MODE from real motorsport to the world of virtual racing for the first time. To help them master this new sim racing challenge, BMW Motorsport SIM Racing teams Redline and GB are receiving support from BMW Motorsport performance engineers, who are sharing their experience gained in real Formula E with the sim racers. They provided the drivers with a basic knowledge of energy management in Formula E, and helped them to adapt their know-how as well as possible to the conditions provided by the simulation. 

“I had no idea that you have to save so much energy in Formula E in order to cover the full distance. It took me quite a while to find out how to do a lap, on which I was quick but also managed to save sufficient energy,” said Siggy and explained: “After consulting the BMW Motorsport engineers, I had to find a way to take their information and adapt it so that it would work for me in the simulation.” 

The story linked below explains the crucial details of energy management in the real Formula E and what is required to transfer as much knowledge as possible from real motor racing to the very specific characteristics of the simulation. 

Link to complete story

 BMW Motorsport SIM Racing Teams.

Since the start of 2021, BMW Motorsport SIM Racing has been collaborating with four big sim racing teams: BS+COMPETITION, G2 Esports, Team Redline and Williams Esports. They took part in numerous races as official BMW Motorsport SIM Racing teams in February, celebrating successes in virtual BMW racing cars. 

SimGrid Endurance Cup.

The BMW Motorsport SIM Racing Team G2 Esports claimed the first podium finish of the year in the 4h Paul Ricard, the penultimate race of the season in the SimGrid Endurance Cup on the Assetto Corsa Competizione platform. Nils Naujoks and Arthur Kammerer (both GER) employed smart tactics and gave a consistent performance as they finished third in the virtual BMW M6 GT3. The duo started from seventh place but timed the tyre change perfectly as the rain came in, a decision that allowed them to move up significantly. After 121 laps, Naujoks and Kammerer finished about 20 seconds behind the winner. 

DNLS.

Team BMW Bank and BMW Team GB were representing BMW Motorsport SIM Racing in the virtual BMW M4 GT3 in the fourth and penultimate race of the season in the Digital Nürburgring Endurance Series DNLS. It proved to be an unfortunate race for both teams as they finished in fifth and twelfth places. Nonetheless, BMW still had reason to celebrate. Laurin Heinrich (GER) and Rainer Talvar (EST) gave a commanding performance at the wheel of the #89 BMW M4 GT3 competing for BS+COMPETITION, winning the race and already securing the title in the GT3 class. 

iRacing 12h Bathurst.

At the second iRacing Special of the season, the BMW Motorsport SIM Racing teams BS+COMPETITION, GB and Redline were competing with the BMW M4 GT3 on the virtual Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst. However, racing luck deserted them on this occasion and they were unable to build on the great result from the iRacing 24h Daytona in January, where Team BMW Bank celebrated the GT3 class win. BMW Team Redline, with drivers Maximilian Benecke, Patrik Holzmann and Jonas Wallmeier (all GER) overcame serious damage to the car to finish eighth as the best-placed BMW crew. BMW Team BS+COMPETITION and Team BMW Bank endured difficulties during the twelve-hour race, crossing the line in 15th and 20th positions. BMW Team GB retired early. The best-placed BMW M4 GT3 was in third place, racing for the Logitech G Altus Esports team.