MOTORSPORT: Max Verstappen to race Holden Commodore

Formula 1 superstar Max Verstappen will guest star in second round of the Australian Supercars Eseries tomorrow night (April 15).

Verstappen will race a virtual Holden Commodore ZB in the colours of his Red Bull F1 team, using the same #33 as his F1 racer.

As a simulator racing expert the Dutchman is expected to be highly competitive in the Eseries, which has been created to fill the void created by the postponement of real-world racing triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s a coup for the Supercars Eseries as Verstappen has yet to race in the F1 simulator racing series also created because of the global spread of coronavirus.

He will join 25 regular Australian Supercars racers on the grid for four races, two each at Silverstone in England and Barcelona in Spain – where an 18-year-old Verstappen won his first F1 race in 2016.

He will join fellow Red Bull drivers Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen from the Holden Racing Team on the grid.

Verstappen has previous experience of Australian V8 Supercars on the iRacing platform, which is used to underpin the Eseries. He’s also raced against and occasionally teamed with van Gisbergen, another sim racing star.

“I’m looking forward to the race. It’s going to be a challenge as it’s not a car I’ve driven a lot on the sim, but they are pretty cool to watch in real life,” Verstappen said.

“We always race with Supercars in Melbourne so it’s going to be interesting to see how I get on against all the regular drivers.”

Verstappen will be a strong reinforcement for the Holden ranks, which went winless on the opening night of Eseries Supercars racing last week.

Scott Mclaughlin won two of the three races in his DJR Team Penske Ford Mustang, while Jack Le Brocq claimed the reverse grid outing in his Tickford Racing Ford.

One Supercars driver Verstappen won’t be racing against is Erebus Motorsport’s David Reynolds, who has been replaced for this outing by his endurance co-driver Will Brown.

No reason has been given for the change by the leading Holden team.

The event will be broadcast live on Fox Sports from 6:00pm and Kayo, Sky Sports (NZ) and 10 Play from 7:00-9:00pm AEST. Fans will also be given the chance to tune in live on Red Bull TV.

Fans from around the world will be able to watch online via the Supercars Facebook Page and Supercars Team Facebook Pages.

Meanwhile, Eseries racing is creating controversies just like real-world racing does. NASCAR driver Kyle Larson has been suspended without pay by Ganassi Racing for muttering a racial slur while his mike was open during an Easter iRacing event.

For using the n-word Larson has also lost his sponsorship with Credit One Bank, Chevrolet has suspended its deal with him and he has been suspended by iRacing. He will also have to attend sensitivity training.

In a statement Larson apologised for the incident.

“I wasn’t raised that way. It’s just an awful thing to say. I feel very sorry for my family, my friends, my partners, the NASCAR community and especially the African-American community.

“I understand the damage is probably unrepairable, and I own up to that.”

Last week another NASCAR driver, Bubba Wallace, ‘rage-quite’ an official NASCAR iRacing event, because another driver crashed into him. While Wallace pulled the plug on the race sponsor Blue-Emu ended its association with him.

“We're interested in drivers, not quitters,” the company said in a tweet.