The Real Race 2022 annual competition ended this weekend; Lamborghini confirms its status as a major actor in the sim-racing industry
Sant’Agata Bolognese, 19 October 2022 – Lamborghini Esports has announced the winners of the third edition of its annual sim-racing competition: The Real Race 2022. This year, the competition returned with a brand-new format across the three regions: EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), NALA (North America and Latin America) and APAC (Asia Pacific) with a prize pool and the chance to join the official Lamborghini Esports team.
The Real Race took place this year on the Assetto Corsa Competizione platform and brought together 2,751 unique participants from around the world and more than 1,145 Sim Racing drivers registered on Lamborghini Esports platform. All participants had the chance to discover the new Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2, the latest racing model of Lamborghini designed to race in the one-make series.
Competitors had to make it through the qualification phase after which the 24 best players move forward. These participants were then able to move on to the group phase which was divided into six main matches. All the best sim racers from the three regions qualified in the previous session faced each other. Those taking part in the last chance race were handed one final opportunity to qualify for the grand final, which decided the regional champions.
During a spectacular final, three drivers were crowned champions: Niklas Houben for EMEA, Renan Negrini for NALA, and Lukas Birss for APAC. One of them has now the chance to join Giorgio Simonini and Gianfranco Giglioli and the winner of the second edition of The Real race, Jordan Sherratt as an official Lamborghini Esports driver. Earlier this year, Sherratt ended the GT World Challenge Europe Esports season fifth overall, while the Intercontinental GT Challenge Esports Series still has one race left to run. The spirit of the Lamborghini Esports team is well represented thanks to the victory in the 12h of Bathurst and second place in the 9h of Kyalami. The team is now ranked 4th overall, with the last race taking place on October 22nd.
The winners of this edition are unanimous. They are all very proud to have been able to participate in this competition, which allowed them not only to push their limits, but also to put in hours of hard training, with the aim of achieving victory.
Renan Negrini, the winner of the NALA region said: “It is really amazing to win! This was my first big event that I won, and I feel so happy right now! I won my first race and that gave me so much hope for the rest of the competition! In addition, I trained a lot in order to be able to win this competition and I made it, I can’t explain how happy I am!”
The Real Race is not the only Lamborghini Esports competition, indeed, Lamborghini also partnered with Asphalt 9: Legends for the mobile racing competition “Countach LPI 800-4 challenge” which counted a total of 980,000 unique participants and 53,000 registered players. In addition, the competition was well attended by fans with over 63,000 viewers for the livestreamed final. Ledjon Feraj (UK) won the competition on iOS. Colombian driver Andrès Camilo Ardila Garzón was crowned winner on Android. Finally, Fabrizio Polanco, from Peru, won on Windows devices.
The 2022 competition has been developed around the Countach to enable gamers to drive an exclusive and limited-edition vehicle produced by Lamborghini in 112 pieces. All the players were able to participate in qualifying sessions held from August 1 to 7 and August 22 to 28. The winners were then able to advance to the grand final, which took place on September 14, broadcasted live on Asphalt, Gameloft and Lamborghini’s social channels. Asphalt 9: Legends, the latest game in the billion-downloaded Asphalt racing franchise, shows again its quality with 4.2 million races completed by the players during the competition.
Fabrizio Polanco, winner of Asphalt 9: Legends on Window devices said: “Winning the Lamborghini Countach LPI 800-4 Challenge meant filling me with joy and excitement, as it is the first major tournament, I have participated in. Throughout the whole tournament I felt thrilled, nervous, and even anxious to see how the other finalists would perform. The level was very good, and it showcases the competition really well”.
The Real Race Official Technical Partner: Assetto Corsa Competizione
Assetto Corsa Competizione is the new official GT World Challenge video game. Thanks to the extraordinary quality of simulation, the game will allow you to experience the real atmosphere of the FIA GT3 homologated championship, competing against official drivers, teams, cars and circuits, reproduced in-game with the highest level of accuracy ever achieved. Sprint, Endurance and Spa 24 Hours races will come to life with an incredible level of realism, in both single and multiplayer modes.
Assetto Corsa Competizione is born from KUNOS Simulazioni’s long-term experience, and it takes full advantage of Unreal Engine 4 to ensure photorealistic weather conditions and graphics, night races, motion capture animations, reaching a new standard in terms of driving realism and immersion, thanks to its further improved tyre and aerodynamic models.