Audi Drops Driver For Secretly Using a Ringer To Compete In Virtual Race (theverge.com) 75
Audi has dropped driver Daniel Abt in the all-electric racing series Formula E after he had a pro sim driver surreptitiously race for him during a virtual competition over the weekend. He has also been told to pay 10,000 euros to charity as a result. Abt said Tuesday that he thought the idea would be funny and that he had planned to release a video about the whole ruse. The Verge reports: Abt was supposed to be competing in the fifth round of Formula E's online sim racing series, which started up in April alongside virtual substitute series from Formula One, NASCAR, and IndyCar. The Formula E sim series was not only meant to give fans something to watch during the pandemic, but it was also supposed to keep the drivers and teams connected, all while raising funds for UNICEF. But Abt had tapped 18-year-old Lorenz Hoerzing, who has been competing in the sim racer section of Formula E's events, to run in his place. (Hoerzing has since been suspended from the sim racing series as a result.) Abt had someone even appear on the drivers' group Zoom call under the name "Daniel Abt" dressed in Audi red, but with a microphone blocking his face -- a noticeable departure considering Abt's lively presence on his personal streams of the previous races.
Hoerzing led most of the race in Abt's virtual car, but he came into contact with Mercedes-Benz driver Stoffel Vandoorne, allowing Nissan driver Oliver Rowland to take the win. This initially raised suspicions because Abt had previously struggled to compete in the earlier rounds of the virtual championship. The deception really started to unravel after Hoerzing finished third, meaning Abt was supposed to show up for the standard post-race interview with the top three drivers. But he didn't; Rowland and Vandoorne's Zoom feeds were instead placed next to a black box with Abt's name, and the broadcast hosts never even attempted to interview the Audi driver. During his portion of the interview, Vandoorne said was "questioning if it was really Daniel in the car." Vandoorne vented even more on his personal Twitch channel following the race and even tried to call Abt while streaming, but the Audi driver did not pick up. Organizers of the race were reportedly able to verify that Abt was not racing based on Hoerzing's IP address. "I didn't take it as seriously as I should have," Abt said after he was caught. "I'm especially sorry about this, because I know how much work has gone into this project on the part of the Formula E organization." In a later video, Abt said he "won't be racing" with the Formula E team anymore.
Hoerzing led most of the race in Abt's virtual car, but he came into contact with Mercedes-Benz driver Stoffel Vandoorne, allowing Nissan driver Oliver Rowland to take the win. This initially raised suspicions because Abt had previously struggled to compete in the earlier rounds of the virtual championship. The deception really started to unravel after Hoerzing finished third, meaning Abt was supposed to show up for the standard post-race interview with the top three drivers. But he didn't; Rowland and Vandoorne's Zoom feeds were instead placed next to a black box with Abt's name, and the broadcast hosts never even attempted to interview the Audi driver. During his portion of the interview, Vandoorne said was "questioning if it was really Daniel in the car." Vandoorne vented even more on his personal Twitch channel following the race and even tried to call Abt while streaming, but the Audi driver did not pick up. Organizers of the race were reportedly able to verify that Abt was not racing based on Hoerzing's IP address. "I didn't take it as seriously as I should have," Abt said after he was caught. "I'm especially sorry about this, because I know how much work has gone into this project on the part of the Formula E organization." In a later video, Abt said he "won't be racing" with the Formula E team anymore.
"Virtual Race" WTF? (Score:2)
Shit, by that standard I'm a goddamn race car driver and a pilot too.
Thanks to my copy of Mario Kart, and my DJI Mavic Air, that is.
Re: (Score:2)
Modern simulation came quite a long way, electronic sports have a solid viewer base as evidenced by this event, and physical sports were in a real nasty place during lockdown. A lot of leagues and teams are going deep(er) in debt across the sporting world.
This before the problem of fans disengaging from sport because it's not there. Hence people responsible for organising sports events were basically flinging all kinds of shit at walls to see if something would stick. And since this is a very novel thing, y
Re: (Score:2)
Considering e-sports viewer numbers, tens to hundreds of millions of people at the very least.
Re:video crap, boring (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, this is basically why porn failed.
"If I can't actually bang the chick, what's the point?", people said.
Then it gradually faded away due to a lack of interest.
I guess the same will happen here too. Oh well.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: video crap, boring (Score:1)
Men are visually oriented, and watching another (faceless) man fuck a chick is a workable substitute for fucking her yourself.
Quoth the cuck.
Re: (Score:2)
Spectator sports are a different issue entirely.
You're right. There's no point to spectator sports at all. I'm just not sure why you think this is relevant in a discussion between watching someone turn a virtual steering wheel vs watching them play an actual steering wheel.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
"You're watching a someone turn a wheel in real life vs you're watching someone turn a virtual wheel in real life".
Point being that both are equally "watching someone else turn the wheel". You're not there either way. It's still a spectator sport. The only meaningful question is "is this different enough to qualify as a completely different sport".
And here, I can see arguments going both ways.
Re: (Score:3)
The problem is that there is no real penalty for crashing or going off the track (other than time)
I watched a few minutes of the virtual F1 and on every lap the front runners were hitting barriers that would have put them out of a normal race. Not to mention the first turn pileups that incurred no one dropping out.
If they add damage to tires it would be a totally different race.
On MotoGP it was just comical, you could run off the track and be back on within seconds.
I guess someone likes this but it's not
Re: (Score:3)
Coming from a Gen Xer ... okay boomer
Real race teams recruit from the virtual leagues now, and some people who have never driven a real race car, only sim raced, do pretty well. It's that accurate (within obvious limits). When a simulation is accurate, the skills you learn are quite transferable to "real life". Obviously, G-forces and the fear of injury are the main differentiators, but if it was the same, it wouldn't need to exist.
It's not the same, but if you excel at iRacing, you have a good chance of
Re: (Score:2)
Real race teams recruit from the virtual leagues now, and some people who have never driven a real race car, only sim raced, do pretty well
I've never heard of this, but I don't exactly follow the sport. I'd be really shocked if the skills transferred over from sim to real. There are too many unsimulatable physical cues in actual driving that are pretty important. You don't even have to be a race driver, just driving a Corolla around and you can tell.
Also race drivers seem to border on nihilism. If that's an important skill and it translates well from sim to real, maybe we should have another look at the effects computer gaming has on the brain
Re: (Score:2)
https://futurism.com/sim-racin... [futurism.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Much ado about nothing (Score:4)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
A better analogy would be an athlete hiring someone to play for them. In fact that's not really an analogy, that's literally what happened.
It's not merely "not liking it" - the entire point of a sport is a competition between individuals or teams. Covertly substituting a player undermines the legitimacy of the competition, and the very purpose of sport along with it.
=Smidge=
Re: Much ado about nothing (Score:4)
Theres plenty of ways in which heart surgery can fail and not kill you - do you like living with reduced mental capacity after a blood clot caused a stroke, or infection caused cardiac arrest?
Re: (Score:2)
do you like living with reduced mental capacity after a blood clot caused a stroke, or infection caused cardiac arrest?
Silly question, clearly he already is.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Would you feel the same if your heart surgeon subcontracted to a guy in India?
Depends. I only want to make sure that strawman isn't built by slaves or child labour.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Re:Much ado about nothing (Score:5, Interesting)
Answer: No - the simulations have a long way to go.
I suspect most here could have guessed that was the case without even looking.
Maybe they'll be closer in 10-20 years time.
Re: (Score:2)
And another interesting question: "Can your bosses take a joke?".
Also...
Most of the pro teams use simulators.
Re: (Score:2)
Is a prank a joke?
Is a trick a joke?
Hint: All bosses answer "no" to both.
Re: (Score:2)
It only became a joke *after* he was caught, mainly because he is a joke at simulation driving.
Re: (Score:2)
"Are the simulations close enough to reality such that someone with trained in the real world can compete against someone trained in the simulation?"
Answer: No - the simulations have a long way to go.
But the gamer who replaced Daniel Abt finished third in the race. He was beaten by Oliver Rowland and Stoffel Vandoorne, who are both real racing drivers.
Clearly, Rowland and Vandoorne were more than able to compete with "someone trained in the simulation".
Re: (Score:2)
The reason Abt was hired for this is because he'd been racing Formula E for Audi since 2014.
The "Race at home challenge" features two races per weekend; The first is a lineup if pro sim racers, the second is all actual Formula E drivers.
So I don't know what questions are to be raised about this... the pro drivers are involved because they're the actual drivers, and it would make zero sense for Formula E to replace their normal races with e-sports and not involve their actual drivers somehow.
=Smidge=
Re: (Score:2)
So what. The work was done.
There is your mistake right at the start; you don't comprehend what work is being done!
Re: (Score:2)
Subcontracting is not the problem. Subcontracting while it's forbidden, though, is a different thing.
Re: (Score:2)
The guy coudln't care less for simracing and might not want to do it but it was a race for the benefit of UNICEF and part of the appeal of watching it is knowing the actual drivers from the real world series are competing.
How old is he ? Twelve ? (Score:3)
Is it me who has become an old biiter boomer or have young people become increasingly immature and childish with each generation ?
Does everything have to turn into a fucking "prank" ? Is everything about the "lulz" these days ? Can't these people take anything seriously for a change ? Did he think for on minute about the possible consequences for his career ?
Yeah yeah, I know... And get off my lawn, too.
Re:How old is he ? Twelve ? (Score:4, Funny)
me who has become an old biiter boomer
I'm glad to know you've still got your teeth.
Re:How old is he ? Twelve ? (Score:5, Insightful)
“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.” -Socrates, 400BC
Re: How old is he ? Twelve ? (Score:3)
Kenneth John Freeman, 1907
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, but Socrates was talking about children.
Daniel Abt is a 27 year-old adult. Or at least he should be.
Re: (Score:2)
The Boomer generation were young during the 60s and 70s. Some of them were hippies.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Weird example to use:
https://www.elitedaily.com/ent... [elitedaily.com]
And it's absolutely not embarrassing to get schooled by video game nerds when you're a pro-whatever. Real life and video games, shockingly, are not the same.
Re: How old is he ? Twelve ? (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
A a guitar player in a professional band, I unequivocally state that guitar hero has no similarity with an actual guitar whatsoever. At least motor sport games have a steering wheel and an accelerator.
Re: (Score:2)
"Bonus challenge: You have just broken a string and have to successfully change it and retune before the start of the next song in 30 seconds. Difficulty: You have a Floyd Rose bridge."
Re: (Score:1)
My friends and I played guitar hero against the lead player in a professional band. He was really bad and we all took turns beating him. Good sport about it though, and like 30 years older than us.
Well, yeah. As a guitar player myself I can tell you that there's literally no relationship in the motor skills required for press 1 of 5 buttons on a guitar-shape stick and playing an actual guitar with 6x13x4 combinations on the stick part of the guitar.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It's you! Especially if you're a boomer.
Your generation refused to fight in Vietnam even when drafted, while young people voluntarily went to Iraq and Afghanistan. Your generation is throwing a temper tantrum about the lockdowns, while young people are staying home to save your lives. Your generation commits crimes at a higher rate, even at your advanced age, than young people d
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, I'm a boomer too.
Still paying my ungrateful millennials' bills
so shurrup until you can pay your own
Mac
Re: (Score:2)
Funny, here in Norway the generation of early 2000s has become known as "generation perfect" because the culture has centered on performing in every way in life. It's like everyone's working on a glam version of themselves for Facebook and Instagram where you're supposed to be smart, sexy, fit, socially conscious, living the good life and more all at once, all the time. There's less freaks and rebels, less crime and binge drinking, there's even less teen sex because they're afraid of not performing well eno
So Audi are NOT ok with cheating? (Score:2)
Christ, people... (Score:4, Insightful)
It's just a game. It sort of sucks, too, because high performance in one sport has almost no bearing on performance in a radically different one. It reminds me of the "Celebrity Home Game" episodes of Poker Night in America - you can be guaranteed that the only thing worse than the endless, banal conversation will be the quality of the poker. You see, old hockey/basketball/whatever players don't necessarily make good poker players. Similarly, people who race real cars probably aren't great at handling video game cars. Shit, you could probably get better viewing by putting the drivers' kids against each other.
Re: (Score:2)
Tom Brady's golf competition this weekend is more than proof of this.
Re: (Score:2)
It still amazes me that people actually watch golf, I find it boring even to actually do it. If I wanted to go for a walk in the country that's what I'd do, I don't need to chase a ball to do it.
Re: (Score:2)
Obviously, people who dedicate much time to simracing should be very good at it and probably better than professional car race drivers.
At the professional level actual race drivers use simulators to learn the circuits before going there physically. Another reason they should be at least passable at commercial sim racing games (though I don't know how
You ever notice (Score:5, Insightful)
Every time someone gets caught cheating or doing something immoral or illegal that it was " just a prank / joke " ?
Every time a company gets caught doing something unethical or illegal, that it was just a " bug or error " in a program ?
No one is ever at fault for anything, it's always someone or something else.
It's fucking pathetic.
Re: (Score:2)
I would liked to have seen Experian explain away that huge data breach by trotting out their music major CFO and having her say "it was just a prank".
Re: (Score:2)
I would liked to have seen Experian explain away that huge data breach by trotting out their music major CFO and having her say "it was just a prank".
Congratulations. You got just about every part of that reference wrong - that takes talent!
You ever notice? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It's fucking pathetic.
That's virtue signalling. I highly doubt if you ever do something wrong and get caught that you'll say "LOL. Got me, please take me to jail".
Now you may have the moral high ground of not cheating in the first place, but if you did, no doubt you'll be just like everyone else.
Re: (Score:1)
Yup (Score:3)
That's why I always turn my ringer off. Sure I miss important phone calls and people get mad at me, but that's the price.
screw it (Score:2)
This isn't a real race... it's a half ass attempt at a racing simulator that doesn't compare to the real thing. I wouldn't take this shit seriously either. There is no real replacement for the feel of racing a car, the bumps, curves and inertia of taking a curve.
Real Driver Hires Pretend Driver (Score:2)