The 2022 Mercedes-Benz Virtual GP season is underway!

The most prestigious virtual racing series in the Czech Republic and Slovakia starts its eighth season! The Mercedes-Benz Virtual GP championship started another season in March, which promises to be the best yet. What's in store?

This year's season will feature twenty of the best Czechs and Slovaks in the colours of ten stables with real sponsors. They will race online on the popular iRacing simulator, which is known for its difficulty and separates the wheat from the chaff. That's also why the quality of the starting field continues to shift over time and this year's event will offer the strongest line-up yet. Names such as Martin Štefanko, Lukáš Podstata, Lukáš Přáda and Martin Sirotek will be in the virtual race cars.

The main partner of the entire championship is the Mercedes-Benz brand, which will also take care of the main prizes. The overall winner can look forward to a year's loan of a Mercedes-Benz A-Class with everything, including insurance, service and, of course, all the luxuries. The winner only has to pay for the petrol! But he'll also get more. Those who finish in second and third place can look forward to sports driving courses at the AMG Driving Academy. Drivers in fourth and fifth place will receive prizes in kind. Prize money is also included. This year's prize pool is over 60,000 CZK.

But it won't be easy for the competitors. There will be a total of twelve races on the most renowned circuits around the world. The calendar includes classics such as Imola, Monza, Spa-Francorchamps, Daytona and Suzuka. There will also be racing on the streets of the city, in Long Beach, USA. In addition, the drivers have to change between two completely different cars during the season. While the opening six races are run with a Mercedes-AMG GT3, after the summer break, modern formulae will come into play, specifically the Dallara IR18 known from the real-life American IndyCar series.

What do these online races actually look like? The format itself is not too different from what viewers can see in real races. The races are always on Tuesday nights from 7pm. First, drivers will have a 15-minute qualifying session to decide their position on the grid, followed by the 55-minute main race with a mandatory one pit stop. In addition, the broadcast of course includes a full studio, interviews and other elements for the spectators.

Racing runs from March through November, so be sure to watch! Online on the Virtual GP channels, or on the screens of O2 TV Sport!

Mercedes-Benz Virtual GP 2022 season calendar:

Links:

YouTube www.youtube.com/c/VirtualGP

Facebook www.facebook.com/VirtualGP