11 of the FIA World Rally Championship’s young drivers will compete in a Rally Argentina themed eSports competition next week.

Entrants to the shootout include Oliver Solberg, who himself has set up his own virtual competition for fans to compete in, WRC2 frontrunners Ole Christian Vieby and Rhys Yates and Junior WRC driver and winner of the test event the championship setup last weekend Raul Badiu.

Using the WRC8 video game, a total of 11 competitors will go up against each other over three nights to entertain the fans of the WRC, with live streaming of the event taking place on the championships official Facebook page.

Aimed to coincide with what would have been the real life running of Rally Argentina before its postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the El Condór, Parque Tematico and Cuchilla Nevad stages will all feature in the shootout.

Stages from Rally Argentina will be used in the competition. Photo Credit: Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

The fastest eight drivers from a qualifying stage will face each other in four quarter finals on Tuesday evening, with the winners then going on to compete the following night in a pair of semi-finals before the final featuring two different stages on Thursday deciding the winner.

WRC Promoter Managing Director Oliver Ciesla said on the upcoming tournament: “While the WRC is paused as the Coronavirus outbreak continues, we’ve turned the spotlight on the championship’s stars of the future for the eSports WRC Shootout.”

“Of course, our drivers are missing real-life competition, we all are. But I’ve no doubt their competitive spirits and adrenaline will surge as much as ever behind the WRC 8 wheel on Rally Argentina’s tricky stages.”

He continued: “Virtual driving is a fast-growing part of motorsport and this shootout sits alongside our popular eSports WRC Championship, which continues through the WRC hiatus. I hope our fans will enjoy watching the Shootout from home before competing themselves in our eSports Championship.”

Other drivers scheduled to take part also include WRC3 competitors Marco Bulacia Wilkinson, Yohan Rossel and Pierre Louis-Loubet, fellow Frenchman and WRC2 runner Adrien Fourmaux and Catie Munnings and Roland Poom from the JWRC.

Co-drivers are also represented in the form of Elia de Guio, who sits alongside Junior frontrunner Enrico Oldrati in the real-life championship and set to take part next week.

The eSports WRC Shootout takes place next week, with the action live streamed on the WRC’s Facebook page at 21:00 CET on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.