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Special Olympics and Microsoft will host a ‘Forza 7’ tournament
This summer's Special Olympics USA Games will host a competition that has nothing to do with sprinting around a track, stretching to touch the wall of a pool or bowling a turkey. For the first time, there's an eSports event at the Games, with eight teams battling it out to win the Forza Motorsport 7 Xbox Gaming Tournament on July 2nd. The teams of two (one with and one without an intellectual disability) progressed through qualifiers at Microsoft Stores across the US.
Roborace's self-driving car isn't faster than a human (yet)
Ever since Roborace unveiled plans for driverless track cars, there's been a lingering question: can its technology outpace a human? The answer is a solid "no..." for now. The company used the recent Formula E race in Rome to pit its DevBot prototype car against pro drifter Ryan Tuerck, and the fleshy driver was clearly the frontrunner with a roughly 26-second lead -- you can see him claiming victory in the video below. That's still in the ballpark of what you'd expect from humans, but they wouldn't be lining up sponsorships after that kind of performance.
VW's electric Pikes Peak racer accelerates faster than an F1 car
After months of promises and teases, VW has formally unveiled its electric Pikes Peak race car... and its performance might be surprising even in light of earlier hype. The I.D. R Pikes Peak is built to smash Pikes Peak's EV record of 8 minutes and 57 seconds not through brute force, but by achieving a finely tuned power-to-weight ratio. While the 680HP two-motor powerplant may not sound like much when the existing record holder (Drive eO's PP100) packed a whopping 1,596HP, VW's vehicle will weigh under 2,500lbs versus 2,646lbs for its archrival.
Anti-drone tech protected a weekend of NASCAR racing
Anti-drone technology isn't just being used at airports or sensitive political and military locations. Law enforcement just relied on DroneShield's systems, including its anti-drone gun, to protect against UAVs during a NASCAR race series at the Texas Motor Speedway between April 5th and April 8th. The tech helped police watch out for drones, disable them and (if all else failed) knock them out of the air. There weren't any known incidents, but it's notable that the technology was involved in the first place -- it was the first time American law enforcers used all three of DroneShield's products.
Netflix will release a Formula 1 documentary series
Netflix is continuing its streak of scoring major sports originals. The streaming service has unveiled plans for a 10-episode documentary of Formula 1's 10-episode season with Senna's James Gay-Rees as one of the executive producers. The series will have "exclusive" access to drivers, team leadership and the league's own management, giving you a peek at the drama beyond the track. It should premiere sometime in early 2019.
VW unveils electric race car built to tackle Pikes Peak
Volkswagen is delivering on its promise of an electric car powerful enough to conquer the Pikes Peak hill climb. It has formally unveiled the I.D. R Pikes Peak, and the design is very clearly tailor-made for the job -- it looks more like a Le Mans machine than the relatively pedestrian I.D. models you've seen before. The company still isn't offering specs beyond four wheel drive. However, it's still determined to break the existing Pikes Peak electric vehicle record of 8 minutes and 57 seconds, which suggests it will have a monstrous amount of power. The current holder, a Drive eO PP100 driven by Rhys Millen, mustered 1,596HP.
BMW is helping to build the world's fastest racing drone
BMW is working with the Drone Racing League (DRL) to break the record for the world's fastest drone set by the DRL itself last year. BMW will loan its technical expertise and wind tunnel at its Aerodynamic Test Center to help the league break the 165.2 mph Guinness world speed record it set with its DRL RacerX drone. The automaker is also bring a DRL race to its BMW Welt exhibition center and museum in Munich, Germany.
Nissan’s debut Formula E design is inspired by the Doppler effect
It's hard to believe that Nissan, which sold more EVs last year than Tesla and every other automaker, has yet to race in Formula E. However, Nissan announced late last year that it would become the first Japanese automaker to join the electric-racing circuit for the 2018-19 season. Now, at the Geneva Motor Show, it has unveiled its season 5 Formula E car with a striking "Doppler-effect" color scheme and all-new powertrain package.
VW's Seat unveils the first fully electric touring-class race car
You've seen electric Formula cars, Le Mans racers and even a Pikes Peak machine, but there's still room for more firsts in EV racing. VW's Seat brand has unveiled the Cupra e-Racer, which it says is the first completely electric touring-class race car. It's built on the existing Cupra Leon TCR design and promises the kind of performance you'd expect in this category: it can muster 402HP of continuous power, and 670HP at peak.
F1's streaming service will be ready for March's Grand Prix
Formula 1 racing is getting in on the streaming game. F1 TV launched today at Mobile World Congress, and the new functionality will be up and running in time for March's opening grand prix in Melbourne, Australia. F1 TV will deliver racing fans commercial-free streams, which include access to onboard cameras for all 20 drivers in competition. From there you can arrange the camera feeds on your device however you like. There will also be a premium tier that grants access to exclusive camera feeds "not available on any other platform with the capability of multi-level personalization," according to Formula 1.
UVify's Oori is a 60MPH micro-drone that leaves others in the dust
At last year's CES, drone newcomer UVify made a splash with its speedy Draco racing quad, so much so that we gave it the Best Drone award in the official Best of CES awards. This year, the team is back with a new quadcopter called Oori, and it promises to be just as much fun.
Formula E's Montreal race cancelled over 'financial fiasco'
Formula E may be increasing acceptance of electric racing and EVs in general, but it has faced plenty of problems between bleeding cash (it lost $39.4 million US in the year ending July 2016) and races being moved or pulled in Brazil, Russia and the UK. And now, those problems just got magnified. Montreal has canceled its portion of Formula E after Mayor Valérie Plante's administration learned that the previous administration of Denis Coderre had committed up to $35 million CAD for the July 2018 race. Plante's team had only wanted to suspend the 2018 race to consider its options (such as moving from downtown to an established racetrack), but killed the race outright after Formula E said that a pause wasn't acceptable.
Fernando Alonso is the first F1 driver with an eSports team
You've seen basketball and soccer (aka football) teams dive into eSports, and now it's the turn for individual Formula One drivers to get in on the action. McLaren Honda driver Fernando Alonso has launched an eSports team in partnership with Logitech, with Alonso serving as a team principal. The FA Racing G2 Logitech G team -- yes, it's a mouthful -- will compete in a slew of games across multiple platforms, and has already enlisted F1 eSports league finalist Cem Bolukbasi.
'Gran Turismo Sport' brings back a classic solo racing mode
As good as it was for Polyphony Digital to finally reach the PS4 with Gran Turismo Sport, its game modes were a bit of a shock for long-time fans. What about those old-fashioned cups? You're about to get them back. The developers are releasing an update in December that will introduce GT League, a single-player mode which resurrects the classic GT modes of earlier games. True to form, you have to compete in a series of cup competitions, some of which require certain cars. You may need a car with a boxer engine, for example, or you might have to own a specific model.
UVify's Draco drone is fast, furious fun for wannabe racers
I'm flying high above the San Francisco Bay, maybe 150 feet in the air. I look down and start gliding toward a dilapidated skate park. Once I'm near the ground, I pull my nose up and look level with the horizon. Spotting two trees, I race toward them, pass between them, then turn on a dime, skirting some shipping containers on my left. It's like every dream I've ever had about flying, but faster. It's also not a dream. I take off a pair of video goggles, and I see the shipping containers come into focus, this time directly in front of me, as my eyes adjust to the sunlight. This is my third "first-person-view" flight with the Draco drone, and it's more exciting every time.
Futuristic racing game 'Lightfield' lands on PS4 and Xbox One
If you have a hankering for a different kind of racing game, Lightfield might pique your curiosity. You maneuver around by clinging to objects in a stylized, futuristic environment, with light trails streaming behind you. At any given moment, you can leap off the surface, parkour-style to find the fastest possible line to victory. Visually, it sort of looks like Tron meets Miami Vice, with pastel blue, pink and green colors trailing behind ships.
Jaguar plans a production EV racing series for 2018
To date, watching a full-fledged EV racing series has meant watching custom-built Formula E race cars. They're great to watch, but not exactly reflective of what you can drive on the road. Jaguar aims to fix that. It's launching the first production-based electric vehicle race series, the I-Pace eTrophy, as a support series for Formula E in late 2018. It'll run on the same tracks as Formula E, but it'll rely on (what else?) a track-optimized version of the upcoming I-Pace SUV. Up to 20 drivers will take part in each race in an "arrive and drive" package -- they'll need an international racing license, but Jaguar and the FIA will take care of vehicles and support.
Formula One's eSports racing league seeks the best 'F1 2017' driver
Traditional sports squads and eSports teams partnering has been happening pretty frequently recently. But now we're seeing it happen in a big way with motorsports. Specifically, Formula One is pairing with developer Codemasters and Gfinity to find the best F1 2017 driver. Per Reuters, the semi-final races will be held in London at the Gfinity Arena in October, and the best 20 racers will proceed to the last round of competition the next month.
Porsche takes its racing heritage to Formula E
Porsche is well aware of the performance potential of EVs, having committed in 2015 to the Mission E sports car and, more recently to a high-powered charging network. That now applies to the motorsports side, the company announced that it's forsaking pistons to join the Formula E racing circuit starting in the 2019/20 seaso. "Entering Formula E and achieving success in this category are the logical outcomes of our Mission E road car program," Porsche AG's Michael Steiner said in a statement.
This Japanese VR arcade put me inside 'Mario Kart'
Back when Bandai Namco opened its first VR arcade in Tokyo last April, I was keen to check out its various HTC Vive-powered VR games. My first ride there would have been Gundam VR: Daiba Assault, just so I could get a taste of what it's like hitching a ride on a Gundam's hand. The problem was by the time I got to the city the following month, this pop-up store already had a three-month waiting list, and I never got around to visiting before it closed in October. Luckily, as of last Friday, VR Zone is back in new form. Not only is it now the world's largest VR arcade, but it's also moved to Shinjuku, a more accessible downtown area in Tokyo. And this time, it's staying for two years. More importantly, the arcade has added some widely anticipated games that may sound familiar to you -- namely, Mario Kart Arcade GP VR, Dragon Ball VR: Master the Kamehameha and Evangelion VR: The Soul Seat. As a bonus, Gundam VR has also been brought over from the previous site.
