Thousands of motorsport fans have tuned in to watch the first round of a virtual racing series supported by NGK.

The ignition specialist is partnering with British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) team Power Maxed Racing (PMR) for 2020 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 is competing in a virtual car driven by its sponsored Mini Challenge driver Max Coates.

Max didn’t have the best possible start to the series, which sees drivers competing in Audi RS3 TCR saloons with identical set-ups and failed to score points. However, he will be fighting hard over the series’ nine remaining rounds.

The series, which is backed by Motorsport UK, got underway on the Donington Park circuit with motorsport stars racing against top simulator drivers. PMR said that thanks to the hard work from everyone at YearOne TV and AlphaLive, just under 12,000 tuned in live to watch the event and enjoyed a fantastic evening of competitive racing.

Max Coates streamed the race live onboard to his social media accounts with 1500 watching on Facebook alone.

Mark Hallam, Marketing Manager, NGK Spark Plugs said, “The PowerMaxed eSeries has got off to a great start and the viewing figures show that motorsport fans are keen to follow the drivers’ exploits.”

The next round takes place at Brands Hatch's Indy Circuit, at 8pm on Wednesday, May 6.

You can follow Max’s exploits on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaxCoatesRacingDriver/ or YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/MaxCoatesRacing71