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WALKINSHAW ANDRETTI UNITED LAUNCH ESPORTS TEAM

Walkinshaw Andretti United launch e-sports team - Photo: Supplied

By Bruce Williams

Walkinshaw Andretti United launch e-sports team - Photo: Supplied

Walkinshaw Andretti United launch e-sports team – Photo: Supplied

Walkinshaw Andretti United has launched its expansion into the world of e-sports.

The Supercars squad will enter the 2019 Supercars Gfinity Eseries with Joshua Rogers and Jarrad Filsell today named as the team’s inaugural drivers, along with Mobil 1 and MEGA Limited as the naming rights partners.

Mobil 1 MEGA Racing will field two of the 12 entries this season, an opportunity the team jumped at once the series opened to Virgin Australia Supercars Championship teams.

Jarrad Filsell, 24, from Adelaide, South Australia, is a three-time and reigning V8 Supercar Online Premier Series (V8SCOPS) champion, with 48 wins from his 101 starts. He is also currently competing in the Porsche Esports Supercup, sitting fifth after eight rounds, and has competed in the VRS GT World Championship and Blancpain GT World Championship in the past.

“I’m extremely excited and privileged to be involved in the upcoming Gfinity Eseries with Walkinshaw Andretti United, their history speaks for itself really. I’m hoping we can contribute to the Team’s trophy cabinet, albeit virtually come the end of the year.” said Filsell

“Teaming up with Josh is something I’ve done in different categories previously but I can’t wait to see how far we can push one another in the Gfinity Eseries this season, it should be a cracking battle!”

“Esports is really starting to take off globally and it’s a credit to Supercars for jumping on the bandwagon to really promote sim racing locally here in Australia & New Zealand, this is a great opportunity to showcase how good Supercars racing really is in the virtual form.”

Joshua Rogers, 19, from Gladstone, Queensland, is the current leader of the VRS GT iRacing World Championship Series, as well as the Porsche Esports Supercup.

He began sim racing at the age of eight. After discovering iRacing in 2014, he made his V8SCOPS debut in 2015, before finishing third in both 2016 and 2017. In 2018 he expanded into the iRacing World Championship Series, the VRS GT iRacing World Championship Series, and the Porsche Sim Racing summit, where he finished third.

Rogers’ motorsport connection also sees him compete on-track, with multiple-state championships in go-karts amongst many other wins and podiums in his 10-year career.

“It’s difficult to contain my excitement for the upcoming Gfinity Supercars Eseries representing Walkinshaw Andretti United and Mobil 1 MEGA Racing. It’s an absolute privilege to have been selected and I am looking forward to working with such a prestigious team this season.” said Rogers.

“Hopefully Jarrad and I can bring some solid results this season with the aim of lifting the bar higher each round pushing each other to the limit. I’m sure both of us will be doing everything we can to fly the team’s flag as high as possible!”

The Eseries will be run on iRacing platform, the world’s leading racing simulation service, which will no doubt attract some of the leading sim racers around the world.

The 2019 Gfinity Supercars Eseries will start in September and run through to the end of the Supercars season.

It will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo and streamed across Supercars.com and Gfinity AU social media channels, including live streaming platform Twitch.

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