The governing body of world motorsport, the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, or FIA to most people, has announced it is looking for a partner to produce an officially sanctioned sim racing championship.
In an announcement post released earlier today, the FIA has requested proposals from interested parties for new sim racing championships that would be officially sanctioned by, and run in collaboration with, the FIA.
The FIA has dabbled in the world of esports before, with some sanctioned events running around the world, but few have been truly global championships that feature the very best sim racing talent in the world. Now, it seems that the organisation is looking to change that, with a request for tournament operators to come up with ideas for major championships and events.
While full details of the scale the FIA is looking to achieve are a little thin on the ground, it is clear this is a bigger project than most FIA sanctioned events we have seen before. The call for proposals mentions LAN finals, and hints at a global format which many would interpret as an invitation for a major LAN event with drivers from all corners of the world.
“Esports represents one of the most accessible and rapidly growing forms of competition, creating new pathways for people around the world to engage with motor sport,” said H.E. Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President of the FIA. “This Call for Proposal marks an important milestone in the development of the FIA’s Esports strategy as we identify opportunities that will support sustainable growth and attract new audiences and competitors.”
Unsurprisingly the announcement post mentions multi-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen, who has long been a sim racing fan and has helped grow the competitive scene through his own racing and his sim racing team. With Verstappen, and other top racers, increasing the profile of sim racing it is no surprise that the FIA wants to increase its involvement in the esports world, and it could be a big area of growth in future.
As someone who spends a lot of time watching sim racing, I am hopeful this could result in a larger, more centralised circuit for sim racers. For a long time the larger games such as iRacing have mainly focused on large on off events rather than a regular circuit, and other titles tend to run smaller leagues with no LAN portion and small scale broadcasts. This means the best way to watch a lot of sim racing is to find a driver you like and watch their personal stream, rather than any official broadcasts. Hopefully the scale of this FIA event, whatever format it may take, may change that.