IndyCar does get almost all their drivers at the start of virtual championship
Red Bull content pool
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Formula 1 organized an official virtual Grand Prix of Bahrain last weekend. The intention was that as many current F1 drivers as possible would participate, but in the end only Lando Norris and Nicholas Latifi showed up. IndyCar does not have that lack of star-power.
Due to the low turnout among F1 drivers, the field for the virtual Grand Prix of Bahrain last Sunday had to be filled with veterans, young talents and even a former member of One Direction.
On the other hand, the virtual championship that the IndyCar organises on the iRacing platform can count on a lot more enthusiasm among their drivers. While some veterans such as Scott Dixon, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Takuma Sato are missing, all other drivers in the top 15 of last year's championship will be at the start of the IndyCar iRacing Challenge next Saturday.
Fans choose the circuit
The championship is really meant as a gesture to the fans. They can choose where the first race will take place next Saturday, Watkins Glen or the Michigan Superspeedway. After that there will be one race every weekend for the next six weeks. Below you can see the preliminary start list for the first race next Saturday. Announcements from special guests are expected in the coming days.
Starting list first round IndyCar iRacing Challenge | |
| Team | Driver |
| Andretti | Zach Veach |
| Andretti | Alexander Rossi |
| Andretti | Kyle Kirkwood |
| Andretti | James Hinchcliffe |
| Andretti-Harding | Colton Herta |
| Andretti-Herta | Scott Speed |
| Carlin | Felipe Nasr |
| Carperter | Conor Daly |
| Coyne | Santino Ferrucci |
| Coyne | Alex Palou |
| Dreyer & Reinbold | Sage Karam |
| Foyt | Sebastien Bourdais |
| Foyt | Tony Kanaan |
| Foyt | Dalton Kellett |
| Ganassi | Marcus Ericsson |
| Ganassi | Felix Rosenqvist |
| Juncos | Kyle Kaiser |
| McLaren | Pato O'ward |
| McLaren | Oliver Askew |
| Meyer Shank | Jack Harvey |
| Penske | Josef Newgarden |
| Penske | Scott Mclaughlin |
| Penske | Will Power |
| Penske | Simon Pagenoud |
| RLL | Graham Rahal |