Decorated Kiwi racer Brendon Hartley will head up an all-star assembly of New Zealand’s finest racers to embark on this week’s World E-Series Sprintcars competition.
Formed by Hadley Group’s James Hadley, the fledgling outfit will use the new dirt track based tournament to become established in the new virtual racing environment, with the goal to embark on multiple online racing disciplines in the future.
“Brendon is a former F1 driver and points scorer for Toro Rosso along with his dual FIA World Endurance titles and 2017 Le Mans win in the real world, so he is well-credentialled and is quickly adapting to his home setup to get up to speed. He’s used to a lot of simulator work with his current roles with the Toyota Gazoo Endurance team and Geox Dragon in Formula E so now he’s working hard on adjusting to how to react to a virtual dirt surface.”
Hadley’s choice of established real-world dirt track racers to round out the four-member team include three-time New Zealand Minisprint Champion Chris Hermansen, current New Zealand Super Saloon Champion Sam Waddell, and established Midget racer Breyton Davison.
“It’s a great mix of racers, and they are all determined to work together to help each other acclimatize to the new setup, and like any Kiwi, they are all super-competitive, especially when it comes to beating Aussies!” he laughed.
Hadley’s opinion about the gravity of the new virtual racing world falls on the competitive side, especially as he welcomed a high-profile team sponsor into their first event.
“There’s a lot of varying opinions on how seriously we should be taking the virtual racing world, but Lucas Oil New Zealand and Australia have claimed the naming rights for the Hadley eSport team so we can absolutely justify taking it seriously when such a respectable brand believes in what we want to achieve! The team are bringing their A-game and are determined to get results, and we’ve engaged CT Designs as a supporting partner to take care of our liveries as well.”
Hosted by iRacing, the series will be held over three weekends in April and May visiting Charlotte Motor Speedway, Knoxville and Eldora. Full details are available on the World Series Sprintcars facebook page
#28 Brendon Hartley
- Former F1 driver and points scorer for Toro Rosso
- 2015 & 2017 FIA World Endurance Champion
- 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans Champion
- Current Formula E driver for Geox Dragon
- Current FIA World Endurance driver for Toyota Gazoo Racing
#18 Sam Waddell
- Current New Zealand Super Saloon Champion
- Former runner-up New Zealand Super Saloon Champs
- 4th at the 2019 Rotax Max Challenge World Final
- 28th at the 2018 Rotax Max Challenge World Final
- Former Runner-up New Zealand Karting Champs
#48 Christian Hermansen
- Three-time New Zealand Minisprint Champion
- Four-time New Zealand Grand Prix Minisprint Champion
- Lightning Sprint Feature winner at Valvoline Raceway
- Oval Superstars Minisprint Tour all-time win leader
