SI Sports Blog

As the automotive industry continues its transition towards electric vehicles, we have already seen several attempts at battery-powered racing – Formula E, Extreme E, and since 2026 even Formula 1 with an increased share of electric power.

Last week, we had another attempt at battery-powered racing – although this one was entirely unplanned.

Brands Hatch Race

Daniel and Felix met for a few training sessions in ACC (originally to test Assetto Corsa Evo, but the download took too long). On short notice, they decided to join a race on a public server.

Felix had never raced at Brands Hatch in ACC before, but as it is not the most difficult circuit to learn, it proved manageable with some support from Daniel.

Training and qualifying were busy sessions with lots of traffic and plenty of lessons learned, but the results were encouraging: pole position for Daniel in the RaceCar and P4 for Felix in the Mirage.

The target for the race was clear: avoid collisions, bring both cars home cleanly, and then see what would happen. The race distance was set to 30 minutes.

Following the conservative strategy, both cars had a cautious start and lost a few positions in the opening corners. Daniel stayed in the fight for the lead, while Felix had his first incident in Surtees Corner. Forced to brake by a Porsche ahead, the Porsche itself failed to make the corner and clipped the Mirage from the side.

After the collision, which cost several positions, the race settled down a little. Daniel was able to stay close to the leader, but a few small mistakes prevented him from making an overtaking attempt. Felix worked his way back through the field, but when battling for P3 he was not patient enough. At Hawthorn Bend he tried to pass a Ferrari, but the gap simply wasn’t wide enough. While the Ferrari managed to stay on track, the Mirage spun around and the chance for P3 was gone.

But things were about to get even worse.

While fighting with overheated tyres, a warning suddenly appeared:

„Notebook battery running low.“

Well… that certainly explained the poor performance and the rather low FPS. Since there was no way to fix the problem while driving, the only option was to hope that the battery would last until the chequered flag.

For the team, it was already the second energy-related issue after Daniel’s fuel problem at the Nürburgring race. Luckily, with just 5% battery remaining, Felix managed to cross the finish line in P4, complementing Daniel’s podium finish in P2.

Red Bull Ring Race

There was still enough time for a second race that evening, this time at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. The battery issue had been solved (by plugging the notebook in properly), allowing both drivers to start qualifying with full performance.

The field was rather small, with only two other cars joining, making it feel more like a training session under race conditions.

Daniel qualified on pole, Felix lined up in P2, and the first non-RaceCar entry was a McLaren in P3.

Daniel won the start, while Felix’s hopes for a clean race ended in the Rindt Corner when the McLaren made contact while fighting for P2.

After that incident, the McLaren showed that it was clearly the fastest car on track. However, repeated excursions beyond the track limits and an aggressive driving style eventually resulted in a spin at Turn 1 (Niki Lauda Corner), allowing Daniel to retake the lead after several laps of close racing. Meanwhile, Felix enjoyed a relatively quiet race with consistent lap times. A second spin from the McLaren eventually promoted him to P2.

The final lap became interesting once again. The McLaren was gaining almost half a second per lap and quickly filled the mirrors of the #18 Mirage. Once again, everything was decided in the Rindt Corner, but this time it was the McLaren that ran wide, followed by a high-speed spin, allowing Felix to secure second place.

In the end, it turned into an enjoyable evening of testing after two exciting races – against the other cars… and the battery.