The Sim-Racing Charity Event #RaceForGood by Rutronik Racing was a complete success. On Saturday 50 drivers made the asphalt glow for a good cause in the racing simulation iRacing. The spectators in the stream were rewarded with thrilling races as the amount of money raised at the end was rather impressive.
Racing for a good cause
Donations to Laureus Sport for Good Foundation – the cause #RaceForGood supported, could be made even before the race itself. The final figures are not available yet but estimates are placing the money raised for the children’s sport projects at around €5,000.
#RaceForGood: Highlights of the preliminary round
The starting signal of the charity event came puctually at 18:00. The number of spectators on Rutronik Racing's Twitch channel grew by the minute, but some of the well-known participants also broadcast the races live on their channels.
First up were the pros around René Rast and Antonio Felix da Costa, who delivered exciting racing action to the spectators in the Mazda MX5 Cup on the Daytona Road Course. In the end, reigning ADAC GT Masters Champion Kelvin van der Linde prevailed against his rivals. Nicky Catsburg and Phillip Ellis, who had moved up to the drivers' field just before the start of the event, completed the podium.
The Sim Racer field was also very hot. Danny Giusa made it through the finish line faster than anybody else with Leon Deselaers and Kenny Verdaasdonk fonishing within a single secondof the winner.
Tension rising in the semi-final
The 20 best pros and sim racers reached the semifinals. A change of the car and the track meant that the drivers had to get used to new things and caused some problems during the practice sessions. Instead of the rather tame Mazda, the drivers got behind the wheel of the massive V8 Supercar Holden VF 2014.
Kelvin van der Linde secured pole position for the second time running with his younger brother Sheldon right behind him in third. In the race Kelvin got a perfect start, but behind the leader there was a crash in the first lap with fatal consequences for some drivers.
The van der Linde family was all smiles in the end. Kelvin held on to the lead right to the end while Sheldon climbed a position to finish second at the expense of Philip Ellis who had to settle for third place.
It was similarly hot with the Sim racers, where a massive start crash caused a sensation. Pole position hilder Lukas Müller made a modest start, which caused the cars behind him to overtake. In the end Niklas Houben secured race victory by a wide margin, followed by Julius Fritzsche and Mark Fletscher.
Thrilling racing action in the #RaceForGood final
Agendas really started to flow once we got to the grand final where Sim racers and racing professionals met for the first time. Once again the changed conditions presented a challenge to the remaining 30 drivers. On the high-speed circuit in Monza, Italy, the fight for victory was going to be held within the confounds of the Porsche 911 RSR.
Sim racer Julius Fritzsche secured pole position with just seven thousandths of a second ahead of the two professionals Kelvin van der Linde and Philip Ellis. But this did not help him much, because Fritzsche slept through the start completely. Ellis moved up to first, closely followed by van der Linde.
In the middle of the race van der Linde pushed past Ellis with an outstanding overtaking maneuvre to take hold of the race. While Ellis had to defend himself against the constant attacks of the third placed Fritzsche, the leader was able to extend his lead further.
Kelvin van der Linde remained in the lead, but behind him Dylan Pereira moved up to second place. Pereira gave his best effort to move past van der Linde but Kelvin proved he’s the king by winning a third race in a row. Dylan Pereira from Luxembourg crossed the finish line just 0.245 seconds later. The podium was completed by Patric Niederhauser, van der Linde's teammate at Rutronik Racing.
#RaceForGood - A complete success
For the organizers, participants and supporters, the conclusion was equally positive: #RaceForGood was a complete success. Both in terms of the exciting motor sport on the screen and in terms of the donations received.
Fabian Plentz, team boss of organizer Rutronik Racing, stated after the event:
"We had a lot of fun watching and this will certainly not be the last time that we put such an event together. We will see what we can do differently and better next time. #RaceForGood was cool and we would like to thank all participants very much."
In any case, we are already looking forward to the next exciting Sim Racing event for the good cause. You can watch the entire broadcast from Saturday here. If that's not enough to fill your Tuesday afternoon, you can try some of these free-to-play games as well.
