ESE Entertainment Inc. (TSX-V:ESE) has announced that its acquisition target Auto Simulation Limited, trading as Digital Motorsports, has signed a multi-year deal with Formula 3 racer Jack Doohan.
Under the deal, ESE said Doohan will represent Digital Motorsports, an Ireland-based provider of advanced simulation racing infrastructure, technology and support, as a Brand Ambassador until the end of 2022.
ESE said Digital Motorsports will be providing Doohan with a bespoke professional spec simulator tailored to his requirements to aid his training and race preparation regimes. In addition, Digital Motorsports will be working closely with him and his engineers to fine tune the simulator to precisely replicate the Dallara Formula 3 car and its 3.4 litre Mecachrome V6 engine.
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"Motorsport simulators and sim racing are now a crucial element of the training and preparation regime for any professional driver on the road to Formula 1,” Doohan said in a statement. “The availability of testing and seat time is both limited and expensive, which makes access to a professional motorsport simulator an exciting prospect! It is an honour to partner with Digital Motorsports and to have the opportunity to take my racing career and simulator preparation to the next level thanks to their support.
Doohan is an 18 year-old Australian and part of the Red Bull junior driver program. He is the son of legendary motorcycle racer Mick Doohan, who won the 500cc World Championship five years in a row.
He made his FIA Formula 3 Championship debut last year and is currently positioned second in the championship. He competes amongst the best young drivers in the world, despite only having three years experience in single-seater racing.
Doohan recently put in an incredible performance at the Spa-Francorchamps where he placed first in two of three races in Formula 3, the fiercely competitive Formula 1 feeder series.
Digital Motorsports Director Rob King commented: “From a technology perspective, we have never been in a better place to offer simulators to drivers and teams that precisely replicate the real-world cars. Vehicle mapping, laser scanning and use of vehicle data has now got to a point where ultra-realism is accessible to everyone.
"To put that into perspective, team RLR M-Sport's LMP3 simulator, which was supplied & developed by us is now so accurate that Tommy Foster's qualifying lap at Le Mans last week was within 0.01 seconds of his best time on the simulator. Previously this level of vehicle dynamic realism was the reserve of teams with multi-million-dollar budgets, but we can now offer this tech to club racers, it's an exciting time to be in this space.”
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