Supercars Bathurst e-Sport challenge

Have you ever watched the Supercars belting out lap after and lap at Bathurst and thought; "These guys are rubbish, I could do better"? Of course you have, and now is your chance to back it up with minimal risk to life, limb, expensive machinery or surrounding infrastructure.

In fact, all you would be putting on the line is your reputation.

With the impending release of Forza Motorsport 7, Microsoft has joined forces with retailer Harvey Norman as well as the championship formerly known as the V8 Supercars to find the best Forza e-Sports driver in Australia.

Thankfully, for the hopeful, they don't need to wait for the release of Forza Motorsport 7, as the previous game, Forza Motorsport 6 will be used for all events.

The e-Sport challenge has already commenced and will play out online through September and October with players clocking their best lap time in a virtual Supercar around Mount Panorama. This means you can start setting your best times around 'the mountain' right now.

At the time of writing, UltimateAge05 had set the fastest lap of 02:05.249 in the #5 Ford Falcon FG. The only other brand in the top 12 is the Nissan Altima, driven by MRN4Drifter with a time of 02:06.854.

The eighth fastest qualifiers will win a trip to this year's Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

Once there, they will be paired with some of Supercars' top drivers, including defending Champion Shane van Gisbergen, current Championship leader Scott McLaughlin and former Bathurst winners Chaz Mostert and Nick Percat for an All-Stars Challenge.

Imagine beating the pros? It'd be pretty cool.

Fellow Supercars drivers David Reynolds, Lee Holdsworth, Simona De Silvestro and 17-year old Alex Rullo will also co-drive in the All-Stars challenge.

It doesn't end there either.

This is a gruelling challenge that will see only the most dedicated make it to the finals. The finalists will compete against each-other during a live finals event across a ten-race Championship to determine the ultimate winner.

The finals will be run over three days and consist of a series of races on a range of international race tracks that feature in Forza Motorsport 7. While the initial qualifiers will take place in Forza Motorsport 6, the final series will be contested on Forza Motorsport 7, due to be released on October 3, 2017, the week prior to the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

This should not faze the top entrants, but it may add a level of adaptability to the finals.

The whole shebang will be played across a series of Xbox One consoles in front of a live audience set and streamed live on Supercars.com and foxsports.com.au in Australia, and across Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East with Supercars broadcast partners.

"This e-sports initiative is an exciting opportunity to showcase Supercars and further our fan engagement, representing a significant growth market for our teams and partners," said Supercars CEO James Warburton.

"The synergy and popularity of racing games and the sport of Supercars means that an e-Sports Championship in 2018 will become a natural extension of our product offering."

Will a race driver be humbled by a video game expert? Bank on it!