Motorsport fans missing live racing during the current coronavirus crisis can now follow their favourite sport in a virtual racing series spearheaded by NGK.

For the 2020 season the ignition specialist is partnering with British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) team Power Maxed Racing, but with the start of the season being delayed due to COVID-19, PMR has launched a virtual racing series, called PowerMaxed eSeries, in which NGK will compete in a virtual car driven by its sponsored Mini Challenge driver Max Coates.

It will be run across 10 events, with two races at each, seven of which will be on UK-tracks, the rest on international circuits. All cars are Audi RS3 TCR saloons, with identical set-ups.

The series, which is backed by Motorsport UK, gets underway on the Donington Park circuit on April 29 when motorsport stars, including two-time BTCC champion Jason Plato, will race against top simulator drivers.

Max Coates said, “Everyone is getting excited about the new PowerMaxed eSeries and it’s great to be able to represent NGK. We’ll be coming up against some of the top ‘sim’ drivers and my aim is to be the very best ‘real-world’ driver.

All races will take place on a Wednesday evening from 8pm GMT, and will consist of a free practice session, qualifying and then two races of around 20-25 minutes each. All sessions will be streamed online. There will be official qualifying sessions for those wishing to potentially join the grid on April 22 which will give members of the public the opportunity to join the league and race against real BTCC and GT drivers.

Mark Hallam, Marketing Manager, NGK Spark Plugs said, “We are delighted that Max will be driving our car, which looks fantastic, during the PowerMaxed series and I’m sure all motorsport fans who are currently in lockdown will be  keen to tune in and see how he fares.”

Details on how to enter the event can be found on Power Maxed Racing’s Facebook page.