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As Virus Shuts Down Tracks Race Drivers Use Games To Stay Sharp

Le Mans winner Neel Jani won't feel his tires grip the road in a competitive environment for quite some time with the Formula E season suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

ABB FIA Formula E Championship - Mexico City E-Prix
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - FEBRUARY 15: Neel Jani of Switzerland driving the TAG HEUER PORSCHE FE TEAM during the E-Prix of Mexico City as part of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship 2019/2020 on February 15, 2020 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)

That doesn't mean he can't find a race worth his time. To do that, he's been taking his auto racing skills online — and finding himself at times overmatched.

"Against the gamers, it's a different world," he said. "They're incredibly quicker than all of us, all of the real racing drivers."

Pros from Formula One, NASCAR and other leading series are using race simulators to stay sharp and entertain fans with their seasons postponed by the outbreak.

NASCAR Driver Rajah Caruth Participates In Online Race During Pause In Action Due To Coronavirus
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 19: NASCAR Drive For Diversity Driver, Rajah Caruth competes in the eTruck Series Night in America Powered by FilterTime, a live-online NASCAR Truck Series race on the iRacing platform, from his bedroom of his parent's home on March 19, 2020 in Washington, DC. The online race was organized by NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Ryan Vargas in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic - benefited multiple charities and included other professional ARCA and NASCAR drivers. Caruth, 17, who is currently racing in the NASCAR Late Model series and was set to make his debut, is back home due to the pause in action due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to a NASCAR release, they have suspended the season through the first weekend in May, following the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to not hold mass gatherings over the next eight weeks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Caruth, who represents Rev Racing, is one of the first drivers with an iRacing background to be selected for the aforementioned NASCAR program. He previously came out of the eNASCAR IGNITE Series. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix was called off last weekend, Red Bull's Max Verstappen has been racing online, as has McLaren's Lando Norris. F1, NASCAR and INDYCAR have had drivers sign up to take part in virtual races in place of real ones, and sports networks with time slots to fill are saying they'll air them.

"It's good just to keep you in the groove from a mental, psychological aspect," Jani, who raced against Verstappen on Sunday, told The Associated Press.

Jani was using a borrowed simulator at a friend's house and has ordered his own simulator, but doesn't know when it will arrive amid restrictions in Switzerland due to the virus.

Jani says it's good for training "pure racecraft," particularly overtaking, although there's nothing like wrestling a real race car around a track.

"Being quick in a real car and being quick in a sim, there are still different aspects coming into play. In the real cars, first of all, you need the physical condition to be able to do it, so you need to have physically to train and all these things," he said.

NASCAR Driver Rajah Caruth Participates In Online Race During Pause In Action Due To Coronavirus
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 19: NASCAR Drive For Diversity Driver, Rajah Caruth competes in the eTruck Series Night in America Powered by FilterTime, a live-online NASCAR Truck Series race on the iRacing platform, from his bedroom of his parent's home on March 19, 2020 in Washington, DC. The online race was organized by NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Ryan Vargas in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic - benefited multiple charities and included other professional ARCA and NASCAR drivers. Caruth, 17, who is currently racing in the NASCAR Late Model series and was set to make his debut, is back home due to the pause in action due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to a NASCAR release, they have suspended the season through the first weekend in May, following the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to not hold mass gatherings over the next eight weeks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Caruth, who represents Rev Racing, is one of the first drivers with an iRacing background to be selected for the aforementioned NASCAR program. He previously came out of the eNASCAR IGNITE Series. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

"With all the speed and all the G-forces, you have to still be able to have the guts to do it, to take this corner flat because you know if you don't make it, you're going to hit and it's going to hurt. While in the sim, you say: 'This lap I try, and if it doesn't work, next lap I try differently.'"

Sim racing allows fans to watch drivers who wouldn't normally race each other. So far, Verstappen has taken on gamers, but also Indy 500 winners Juan Pablo Montoya and Simon Pagenaud.

Drivers aren't the only athletes using technology to stop their skills from decaying while in self-isolation.

The 2018 Tour de France-winning rider Geraint Thomas is one of a number of cyclists moving online to give indoor workouts more purpose. He's been using the Zwift platform to turn a ride on an exercise bike into a group race through computer-generated scenery in the fictional nation of Watopia.

The First Tee Experience At The Northern Trust
PARAMUS, NJ - AUGUST 21: PGA golfer Ryan Moore talks after his swing in the golf simulator at The First Tee Experience At The Northern Trust at Ridgewood Country Club on August 21, 2018 in Paramus, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Some PGA Tour players already have simulators in their homes and can use them as part of normal practice to check the launch angle, ball speed and other measurements relevant to the swing. Full Swing Golf is one of the largest companies and supplies Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and Gary Woodland. Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler even spent time this week by using a simulator to compare left-handed swings.

But perhaps no sport is better positioned to turn simulations into a fan-friendly experience than auto racing.

Two postponed races will be held virtually on Sunday — F1s Bahrain Grand Prix and NASCAR's event at Homestead-Miami Speedway. INDYCAR will launch its own series the following weekend.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch and more than 30 other NASCAR pros have signed on to race in the multi-week eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series that begins Sunday on the virtual Miami track. That race will be broadcast live on FS1, with NASCAR commentators Jeff Gordon, Mike Joy and Larry McReynolds on the call.

eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Dixie Vodka 150
HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA - MARCH 22: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) (Editors note: This image was computer generated in-game). Garrett Smithley, driver of the #51 Chevrolet, leads the field at the start of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Dixie Vodka 150 at virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 22, 2020 in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

"We're basically the only sport in the world where your competitors are going to go out there and put on a show for the fans," said NASCAR Cup Series driver Clint Bowyer, who will compete and provide in-race commentary.

The 40-year-old Bowyer told The Associated Press he's been on the iRacing game with other drivers constantly since the pandemic forced him to hunker down at home. He said a group including him, Earnhardt, country musician Tim Dugger and other pros have run virtual races until 2:30 a.m. some nights.

"It felt like I was in the garage area," Bowyer said. "Everybody that I work with on any given weekend was all sitting there in this thing."

It's not clear how much Sunday's race will help drivers stay sharp, but it's undoubtedly keeping them competitive. Bowyer said some have gone to extremes to perfect their race stations and are even studying in-game data to maximize performance.

eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Dixie Vodka 150
HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA - MARCH 22: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) (Editors note: This image was computer generated in-game) Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Toyota, races Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #8 FilterTime Chevrolet, during the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series Dixie Vodka 150 at virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 22, 2020 in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Bowyer expects the 45-year-old Earnhardt will surprise fans with how adept he is, but probably one of the younger pros will take the checkered flag.

"Nobody can leave their houses, there ain't nothing to do," Bowyer said. "Some of them don't have wives and kids. Those are the ones who are going to win. Look for that guy."

© 2020 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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