[dropcap]H[/dropcap]ave you ever wondered how your computer game driving skills would fare on a race track in real life?
Ford is this week giving visitors to Gamescom in Cologne, Germany – Europe’s biggest interactive games trade fair – the chance to find out with the exciting new Tame the Track challenge.
Gaming fans can use the Forza gaming pods at Ford’s Gamescom show stand to set a virtual lap time in a Ford Focus RS around the famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Belgium.
The gamers who set the fastest virtual laps on August 23, 24 and 25 will win the chance to be flown by helicopter to drive the Ford Focus RS hot-hatchback on track for real – with tuition from Ford Chip Ganassi Racing driver Harry Tincknell. The winners will also receive a pair of Recaro seats and prizes from B&O PLAY.
“I’m a huge fan of virtual driving simulators. My team mates and I use the Ford Performance racing simulator to help practice and optimise set-ups before races,” Tincknell said. “I’ve no doubt that a gamer who is quick around Spa in Forzawill be no slouch when they take to the track in the Focus RS for real.”
Visitors to Ford’s Gamescom show stand will be able to experience Tincknell’s real-world lap of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit using 3D virtual reality headsets, while seated in the Focus RS.
Forza Motorsport 6 players have collectively spent more than 398 years driving a total of more than 466 million kilometres (290 million miles) in Ford vehicles since the game’s launch in 2015. The Ford GT is the most driven car in the game, having covered 66 million kilometres (41 million miles), and gamers have also completed more than 10 million virtual races at Spa-Francorchamps.
“Forza is like a digital showroom for our Ford Performance models. Virtual driving simulators are a great way of making accessible to everyone the joy of driving a super-rare car like our Ford GT,” said Henry Ford III, global marketing manager, Ford Performance. “Half of Forza gamers around the world are about 25 years old or younger. Gaming is helping us share our passion for performance driving with the car customers of the future.”
The Focus RS, Ford GT race car driven by Tincknell in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and all-new Fiesta ST-Line will be on display at Ford’s Gamescom show stand – Hall 8, Koelnmesse – throughout the event.
