BOOST MOBILE, the world’s largest youth-focused telco brand, has now announced that its Boost Mobile Racing brand will now be seen by esports fans across the country with the launch of a dedicated team to take part in this year’s Gfinity Supercar E-Series.

Emerging esports drivers Ian Ford and Ethan Grigg-Gault from the Evolution Racing Team have been announced as the latest additions to the Boost Mobile Racing team, extending Boost’s support for young driving talent whether it be on-track or in their living rooms.

Boost Mobile has been supporting esports on various levels for a number of years, including naming rights partner of the Supercars E-Series and involvement in the Melbourne esports Open in 2018. Today’s news extends their on-track racing strategy to the Supercar E-Series, that will be even more authentic than ever with the introduction of the iRacing platform. 

“We were very passionate about growing the Supercars E-Series and had very positive meetings with Supercars about the evolution of the series, how we could best help support its growth, and the need for authentic racing between race teams and drivers,” said Jason Haynes, General Manager of Boost Mobile Australia.

“We congratulate Supercars and Gfinity in making this important step forward with the introduction of the iRacing platform. It will ensure great racing and great entertainment for the fans. We look forward in seeing Boost Mobile Racing and our talented team of drivers in Ian and Ethan take on the other teams in what will undoubtedly be a closely fought battle”. 

Boost Mobile plans to integrate teams and drivers to share best practice with the new Supercar E-Series team already embraced by the Boost Mobile Racing family and Garry Rogers Motorsport. This includes Garry Rogers Motorsport / Boost Mobile Racing driver Richie Stanaway personally mentoring the esports drivers given he has experienced significant success both on the track and as an iRacing World Champion.

“While I focus on the track I have immense respect for esports drivers, and winning races at the highest level in iRacing have been some of the most rewarding moments in my life. What I find is a huge positive for sim racing is it’s accessibility – thousands of people have the means to compete & practice as much as they please. Nothing feels more satisfying than qualifying on pole or winning a race that thousands have people have registered for. I also like how virtual environments eliminate any discrepancies between cars. Everyone is using an identical car so you can only put performances down to your inputs and your ability to build the best setups.”

“My 2012 iRacing Pro Series trophy is the only one that I keep by my side wherever I’ve lived over the years. It required 12-15 hours per day of testing, 7 days a week for 6 months to achieve. That’s what I loved the most about iRacing, I’ve never been more nervous or stressed in my life than before some of the 2 lap qualifiers or race starts at the highest level in iRacing.” 

“Esports is the future of sport in my opinion & I think there’s a lot of young kids out that are probably bored and frustrated at the lack of opportunity and politics in real sports which is a void that esports will fill. It’s great that Supercars is providing an accessible, fair platform for people to compete on.

“IRacing has recently implemented variable weather and track states as well as particle physics for marbles going offline, so you end up with a living breathing track surface exactly like reality. At the start of a session or race the track begins dirty without much rubber down, and evolves based on each cars’ racing line each lap. Weather and temperate also effects grip and setup choices, so it’s really getting to an impressive level of realism.”

Ethan Grigg-Gault on joining Boost Mobile Racing; “It is an honour to drive for the Boost Mobile Racing team in the Gfinity Supercar E-series. To drive for such a reputable brand and race team as Boost and Garry Rogers Motorsport is a huge opportunity. We will be doing all the necessary work to ensure that when the first round comes up, we will have the cars to be as competitive as possible. The team has made me feel very welcome so far, and I look forward to working with them in a greater capacity when the eSeries finally kicks off!”

“IRacing is incredibly competitive – 3 Tenths of a second in qualifying can mean the difference between pole position and 15th place. Sometimes the top 30 cars are only separated by one second, so any mistake can be disastrous. And often in races, we’ll be fighting for 250km just to gain a couple of seconds on competitors.” 

“With how accurate and detailed iRacing models its cars, setup is one of the most important things to get right if you want to be competitive, other than the drivers themselves, so it’s fantastic to have the backing of Boost Mobile Racing in this regard.”

“We use the same software as the real teams to study the data from the car and make changes based off many different parameters. So many of the same ideals you would use to setup a real Supercar also works in the sim.”

Ian Ford has also joined Boost Mobile Racing; “Being part of the Boost Mobile Racing Team is my highest accomplishment to date, I have several championship wins, many incredible races but this experience is what I’ve worked hard for. Boost Mobile Racing has a long heritage in Australian motorsport, not just in terms of on track accomplishment but in terms of developing talent, and I am hoping to learn as much as I can as to be fully prepared to represent such a team.”

“Other than having to be mentally and physically fit to do long stints behind the wheel, we  also deal with strategy and changing weather conditions.  Being well prepared half of the job as it is in real life, track time between now and the start of the championship is going to be vital. As I have roughly eight years of experience driving a Supercar on IRacing, practice has now become a normal part of life and finding extra pace whether it is through car set up or driving style are all being looked at after almost every single stint I do behind the wheel.”

Boost Mobile is an Australian based telecoms provider with a focus on youth.

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Supercars has announced an exclusive partnership with Gfinity Esports Australia (Gfinity AU) to take the virtual Virgin Australia Supercars Championship to the next level in 2019.

In the second Supercars Eseries, Supercars and Gfinity AU are teaming up with the world’s leading online racing simulation service, iRacing, as the competition platform. Gfinity has been a significant force in the global esports market and Gfinity AU’s move to partner with Supercars follows global tournament partnerships with major video game publishers and sporting organisations, including Formula One.

The eseries will be broadcast live and free across Supercars.com and Supercars and Gfinity AU social media channels, including live streaming platform Twitch. Twelve teams will contest the 2019 competition. These will include Supercars race teams and other teams representing high-profile consumer brands. Boost Mobile Racing is the first Supercars team to field an entry, with more to follow in the coming weeks. Gamers can make the eseries grid by being selected by to join one of the participating teams by through impressing them in the Gfinity Supercars Eseries open qualifiers, from which teams may choose their driver.

With thousands of registered iRacing competitors in Australia, the tournament is expected to attract the most talented sim racing drivers in the country. “This is a great opportunity to embrace and engage the growing Supercars fan base and esports community,” Supercars CEO Sean Seamer said. “The partnership with Gfinity will help engage a new generation of fans and offer a pathway for sim drivers to showcase their skills in our cars against our best teams and drivers.” The eseries supports the strategic objectives of Gfinity AU and Supercars by broadening audience bases and diversifying revenues across a non-traditional esports space. “We are very excited to be partnering with Supercars and taking their esports strategy to a new level,” Gfinity Esports Australia CEO Dominic Remond said. “Racing titles are exciting and easy to comprehend, with a significant crossover into real world motorsport. It’s a unique opportunity for brands to engage both the massive existing audience in Supercars and rapidly growing esports community.”

The format includes twelve teams, each with an elite sim driver, competing across the eight rounds, with the winner awarded the 2019 Gfinity Supercars Eseries title. The 2019 Gfinity Supercars Eseries will consist of eight competition rounds commencing in August and running to the end of the 2019 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship season. Registrations for the 2019 Gfinity Supercars Eseries open qualifiers open in July, with individual team driver nomination programs to be detailed separately on the Official Website.

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