- Pastrana joins Legends Trophy for esports race against Alonso, Montoya, Kanaan, Castroneves and more
- Torque Esports-created event adds ex-F1 drivers Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok plus IndyCar ace Conor Daly
- Round two of the ROKiT Phones Triple Crown runs on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (Friday, June 19, 2020) – X Games, Rally, Nitro Circus and stunt legend Travis Pastrana will take his place on the virtual grid tomorrow at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to compete in Torque Esports’ The Race All-Star Series powered by ROKiT Phones Legends Trophy.
Pastrana undoubtedly fits the tag of “legend” – having competed in a massive variety of motorsport disciplines. His achievements include:
- Four-time Rally America champion
- AMA Supercross 125cc champion
- 11 x X Games gold medalist
- Rallycross racer
- NASCAR Nationwide Series and Truck Series Racer
- Rolex 24 at Daytona sportscar racer
But in addition to his traditional motorsport activities, Pastrana is renowned as a motorsport entertainer and stunt performer. He co-founded the Nitro Circus TV show and live tour, once skydived without a parachute, plus replicated three of Evel Knievel’s most famous jumps in one night in Las Vegas on two wheels and jumped 269 feet in his Subaru rally car in Long Beach – both of the last two events shown live on ESPN.
Saturday’s The Race All-Star Series powered by ROKiT Phones will be shown as ESPN 2 as Pastrana competes against the likes of two-time Formula 1 World Champion Fernando Alonso and Indy 500 winners Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan and Juan Pablo Montoya.
“I’ve been spending a lot of time recently racing different sim championships with the Indy, NASCAR, short course trucks and rallycross drivers,” said Pastrana who will race in a livery replicating his Subaru Rally America car.
“I called Montoya because Conor Daly went from a back of the pack sim driver with me to title contender within a week of getting his Allinsports rig and Juan Pablo helped get me set up.
“Then he asked if I wanted to join his crew of legends for an event. It’s such an honour to even be considered to race with these guys so of course I didn’t hesitate to take the opportunity.
“I’ve had some of my best finishes at Indy when I tried NASCAR a few years back so hopefully I can get up to speed this weekend in my new Allinsports sim and have some fun!”
Pastrana will be joined in making his Legends Trophy debut by ex-Formula 1 driver and UK Sky Sports F1 commentator Karun Chandhok.
“This will be my first ever sim race so straight into the deep end,” said Chandhok, whose car will carry an early 1990s Williams F1-style livery.
“Mind you, I’m looking forward to the prospect of racing on an oval for the first time and not worrying about my legs. I’ve done lots of sim work in my F1 days but that counts for nothing in this modern world of sim racing.”
Saturday’s race is the second event in the ROKiT Phones Triple Crown – virtual versions of the three biggest events on the world motorsport calendar – Monaco, Indianapolis and Le Mans.
This weekend all three classes – Legends Trophy, Pro Cup (featuring current modern day racers) and Sim Master (pro sim racers) will compete on the famous Indianapolis oval.
Making their Pro Cup debuts will be ex-Formula 1 driver Bruno Senna (nephew of the late, great Ayrton Senna) and second-generation IndyCar star Conor Daly.
Six drivers remain in contention for the virtual Triple Crown – Alonso and three-time World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx; Nissan Formula E racer Oliver Rowland and sports car racer Job van Uitert in Pro Cup and Sim Master aces Lucas Blakeley and Jan von der Heyde – all took race wins in Monaco two weeks ago. The final race will be held at Le Mans on June 27.
Tomorrow’s race will be shown live on ESPN 2 in the US, Eurosport in the UK and on YouTube at the-race.com/YouTube. The event starts at 12:00 noon US Eastern / 9:00am US Pacific / 17:00 UK and 18:00 in Europe.
About Engine Media Holdings, Inc.
Engine Media is focused on accelerating new, live, immersive esports and interactive gaming experiences for consumers through its partnerships with traditional and emerging media companies. The company was formed through the combination of Torque Esports Corp., Frankly Inc., and WinView, Inc. and trades publicly under the ticker symbol (TSX-V: GAME) (OTCQB: MLLLD). Engine Media will generate revenue through a combination of: direct-to-consumer and subscription fees; streaming technology and data SaaS-based offerings; programmatic advertising and sponsorships; as well as intellectual property licensing fees. To date, the combined companies have clients comprised of more than 1,200 television, print and radio brands including CNN, ESPN, Discovery / Eurosport, Fox, Vice, Newsweek and Cumulus; dozens of gaming and technology companies including EA, Activision, Blizzard, Take2Interactive, Microsoft, Google, Twitch and Ubisoft; and have connectivity into hundreds of millions of homes around the world through their content, distribution and technology.
Torque Esports whose brands and businesses include UMG, Stream Hatchet, Eden Games, IDEAS + CARS, The-Race.com, WTF1 and Allinsports.
Frankly and its wholly-owned subsidiary Frankly Media, LLC, provides a complete suite of solutions for streaming, VOD and advertising visit: www.franklymedia.com
WinView is a Silicon Valley-based company, pioneering second-screen interactive TV which is pioneering mobile gaming and interactive second screen viewing through its ownership and licensing of intellectual property foundational patents visit: www.winview.tv