Project Cars, a game that made our list of the 9 best games for Oculus Rift back in August, is one of the premier racing simulations not just in VR, but across gaming in general. Its VR racing is visually outstanding, filled to the brim with car and track content, and offers a wealth of customization options for weather, courses, and the HUD so players can really tailor the experience to their own tastes and skill level.
That customization also translates to the cars, from fuel load down to opening or closing your car’s radiator, so you can prepare down to minute details for each race. Overclockers UK, a company specializing in high-performance PC hardware, is using Project Cars to find the absolute best racers and giving them a chance to earn time behind the wheel of a real race car at the Bedford Autodrome Circuit.
The Overclockers UK Racing Series puts players into an intense VR racing rig and challenges them to set the best time they can. The full rig is powered by an HTC Vive, Thrustmaster racing gear, noblechairs seating, and Overclockers’ own custom VR gaming PC rigs.
The racers that earn top times for the VR races will be able to participate in one of three quarterly qualifiers: October to December 2016, January to March 2017, and April to June 2017. The qualifiers step out of the VR simulations and put the best drivers behind the wheels of real cars, so it’s going to be interesting to see if the skills truly translate. The best driver of each quarter will move on to the finals, which will take place sometime later in 2017, and determine who’s the champion.
A gold medal (and the chance to drive these cars for real) is the only prize currently revealed, but with so many partners contributing to the experience there’s likely to be more. If you’re in the UK and over 21, you can book your racing slot on the Overclockers website.
