WRC to Debut Interactive Video Game in 2011

The World Rally Championship fans out there are prepared a big surprise in the near future, as it seems the championship's promoter North One Sport is looking into the possibility of creating a real-time game allowing them to compete side by side through the duration of a WRC event against the actual WRC drivers.

What that means is that once a driver takes off at the start of one stage, you will do the same from the comfort of your own home, via this online game. At the end of the stage, you will see who was better and how much time you've lost (or gained) as compared to the real drivers competing in the event. At the end of each rally, the event will feature two winners: the real thing and a virtual one.

To take things even further, the upcoming 2011 World Rally Championship will crown two champions as well (as shown before).

According to the WRC official site, gaming specialists iOpener Media and Black Bean Games were the ones to develop the technology for this game (whose name is yet to be disclosed), as they will “collect a continuous stream of positioning and telemetry data from the cars competing on WRC rallies this year.”

“This study should take us a step closer to our goal of allowing WRC fans anywhere in the world the opportunity to become part of the action. Using the internet they would be able to compete in the rally on the same stages against some of the best drivers in the world. If this test is successful then we hope in the future to crown our first virtual rally champion,” said Simon Long, CEO of North One Sport.

“Together we aim to configure North One Sport's systems and iOpener's patented technology to capture high accuracy live action GPS which can then be integrated into the next generation of WRC video games. These games will allow fans to drive, co-drive, manage or simply watch the WRC from the heart of the action,” added iOpener CEO Andy Lurling.