ARG eSport Cup title protagonist Jaden Ransley will join forces with Supercars regular Andre Heimgartner in Thursday’s Bathurst enduro finale.
The duo have been making waves amongst the realm of sim-racing across the recent coronavirus-induced motorsport hiatus.
Heimgartner was an avid competitor in the recent Racing Local charity virtual series and currently sits sixth in the BP Supercars All Star Eseries standings after eight rounds.
For Ransley, the Christchurch-based Toyoya 86 pilot lies second in the ARG eSport point standings and within striking distance of snaring a a maiden virtual championship if he can upset current points leader Harley Haber.
“It’s awesome to be paired up with Andre for the 2 hour enduro coming up on Thursday night in the Audi RS3 TCR,” Ransley told Velocity News.
“I sent Andre a message last week and thankfully he didn’t have anything else on so it’s cool to be able to pair up and learn off him.
“There’s going to be some tough competition with quite a few of the top running drivers in the ARG series managing to secure Pro sim-racers as their co-driver but I’m confident we will be able to have a crack at the win.
“It’s a long race so strategy is also going to play a part so anyone has a chance.”
Though it would be no easy feat for Ransley, with Haber having landed the services of kiwi born iRacing aficionado Fawzan El-Nabi.
Meanwhile, ex-Bathurst 1000 podium pairing Fabian Coulthard and Tony D’Alberto have confirmed their participation in the two-hour event.
The duo will once again partake in this year’s curtailed Pirtek Enduro Cup in the #12 DJR Team Penske Mustang.
“[I am] very excited about this,” D’Alberto said on the Parked Up podcast.
“He’s been doing a lot of online racing recently in Supercars, he’s been giving me a few little tips, so I’ve sort of put out the challenge now, [so] to come and join me at this race and actually drive a TCR car and see what they’re like”
The ARG eSport Cup final is scheduled to get underway from 10 PM NZT and will be live streamed via the official TCR YouTube and Facebook page.