Bsimracing Sim Racing Resources and News for the racing enthousiast.
To most of the readers, the name Jimmy Broadbent will need no introduction. The past few years, the Jimmer, as nicknamed by the community has become one of the most famous Sim Racing / Esports influencers in the booming world of virtual racing.
From his sim racing shed, Jimmy mainly streams sim racing related content and is often either a contender or guest commentator on a variety of racing eSport events. At the time of writing, Jimmy’s popular YouTube channel has a massive 640K subscribers, and that number is likely to go up after today’s announcement.
Jimmy Broadbent proudly announced that he will be a contender in a real-world racing series. He will be driving a Praga R1 in the British 2021 Britcar Endurance Championship.
For 2021, Praga runs a Britcar Guest Driver program supplying five factory Praga cars to be raced within the Britcar Endurance Championship, by both experienced and novice racers from various backgrounds. Besides Jimmy Broadbent who represents the virtual racers, also supercar influencer Mr. JWW, ex-SAS adventurer Jay Morton, and transgender racer Charlie Martin will be part of the driver program, with more drivers being announced in the coming weeks.
If Jimmy can secure his race licence during the early weeks of the season, he should be ready to race the Praga R1 in Round 2 of the Britcar Endurance Championship in May.
Jimmy Broadbent said: “I’m super excited to be involved with Praga and their guest driver program. The new R1 looks like an absolute weapon! I can’t wait to get behind the wheel and start learning what the car is all about. It will be a big challenge, but the support Praga are providing is incredible and I am really looking forward to getting out on track in the R1.”
Mark Harrison, Managing Director, Praga Cars UK said: “We are really looking forward to Jimmy joining the Praga Britcar Guest Driver program. Neither Jimmy nor Praga are under any illusion that this will be an easy challenge for Jimmy, but that is what appeals to him and also fits the brief for all of our guest drivers. For the more experienced, it will be a challenge to compete for race wins and the championship in their first experiences as a full aero racer, whilst for the novice drivers like Jimmy, the challenge will be there to target qualifying lap times and enjoyable races.
Ultimately, all of our Guest Drivers have been selected for their attitudes and desire to test themselves and be part of a team. I am looking forward to seeing Jimmy get behind the R1 wheel at our first test day and also for us to take advice from him on the opportunities in the world of eSports and sim racing.”
The Praga R1 is a turn-key ready purpose build racing sportscar designed and engineered by the Czech Praga Motor Company. The new €195,000 Praga R1 racer is powered by a Mid, Longitudinally mounted (Praga T) 2 liter, 4 cylinders / 16 valves Renault-Alpine F4R Formula 2.0 engine. This engine delivers 365 bhp @ 6900 RPM, and 395 Nm (302 lb-ft) of torque @ 3750-6000 RPM.
Al that power is directed to the rear wheels via a a lightweight triple-plate competition clutch and custom-made Hewland JFR six-speed gearbox which is operated by a bespoke paddle shift system supporting flatshift and auto blip.
Furthermore, the updated 2021 Praga R1 features an all-new carbon fibre monocoque, splitter, floor, diffuser and rear wing alongside revised engine management software, improved electronics, adjustable pedals, larger fuel tank, revised suspension and in-car driver controls and new headlights optimised for night racing.
Official Webpage – pragaglobal.com
