Jerome D’Ambrosio and Buenos Aires ePrix race winner Sam Bird will go head-to-head in a virtual racing battle as the headline feature of the second FIA Formula E Championship Race Off.

The Dragon Racing driver and the DS Virgin Racing star will use the Formula E cars in Turn 10 Studios’ Forza Motorsport 6 on Xbox One for virtual bragging rights. The event takes place at ESL Studios in Leicester on March 19, and you can be a part of the action too.

Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag said: “We believe that eSports and Formula E are natural partners and that the next generation of motorsport fans can be found in the virtual world. The Race Off series gives the fans the potential to race against their idols, but this is only the beginning of our plans in this field. Very soon we will be announcing a brand new initiative that will be a world first in this sphere and will demonstrate Formula E’s commitment to bring new fans into the sport and offer an unprecedented level of access and opportunity.”

Jerome D’Ambrosio said: “It’s going to be interesting - racing drivers are always competitive, so we’ll both want to win, but it’s going to be so much fun. Some of the gamers are really, really good and I think that it’s a real challenge for us even being racing drivers. I’m looking forward to sharing a different experience with professional gamers - gaming is getting more and more realistic so it will be interesting to see how it unfolds.”

Sam Bird said: “I used to do an awful lot of simulation with Formula 1 teams like Williams and Mercedes but now my girlfriend’s kids hog the Xbox – I don’t get a look in! These days gaming is huge with millions of people playing, following, streaming and downloading. If we can tap into that it would be amazing for us as a championship. I reckon Jerome has been getting some midnight practice but it’ll be good fun!”

Update: Due to overwhelming global demand, there has been a change to the format of this Saturday's Race Off event.

For an opportunity to take part, fans will simply need to tune in to the official Twitch stream from noon (GMT). Fans will then be given an opportunity to race online against Sam Bird, Jerome D'Ambrosio and a number of professional Forza Motorsport gamers by correctly answering questions on the days racing.

A link to the official Twitch channel will be shared across the FIA Formula E social channels on the day of the event.