Hayden Paddon will face off against Shane Van Gisbergen in the second round of the World RallyCross Championship Esports series as the field heads to the famed Hall circuit in Norway this weekend.
The 2016 Supercars champion dominated the opening event staged around Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit, triumphing over the likes of real-life World RX racers Timmy and Kevin Hansen.
Paddon, meanwhile, will make his series debut piloting an Audi S1. The 33-year-old recently launched his own global online series in partnership with Hyundai New Zealand and last year sampled a Projekt E electric WRX car in Austria.
Making another return to the virtual series is fellow Supercars regular Scott Pye. Having been eliminated in the heat stages, Pye would be determined to become more of a threat to his rivals and have luck fall his side come to tomorrow’s event.
GT stalwarts Tom Blomqvist and Kelvin Van der Linde are among the list of welcomed returnees. Blomqvist narrowly came up short on a podium last time around, losing out to Norwegian Henrik Krogstad in the battle for the final podium spot.
Van der Linde was among a handful of racers to contest last weekend’s virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans where the South African finished seventh overall for the WRT outfit.
Other debutants include ex-British Touring Car Championship racer Max Coates, Italian rally driver Tamara Molinaro and current European Rally Championship contender Orhan Avcioglu.
The 1.0km circuit has hosted a round of the World Rallycross Championship every year since the series’ inauguration in 2014 and is characterised by an unusual double right-hander joker lap hairpin.
The event kicks off from the early hours of 12.30 am NZT Monday, June 22 and will be live-streamed via the official World RallyCross YouTube channel.