Fortunately, we have seen a lot of women stepping into the spotlight of racing in recent years. But what many don’t know is that this development is also happening in the virtual racing world. Our next interview partner tough, is one of the women who are pushing this development. She’s from Down Under but tops every result chart in simracing. Please welcome Emily Jones.
Hey Emily, welcome and congrats again on your impressive overall win in the Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup All-Star series. Let’s talk about the racing series in general: did you like it?
Yeah, it was a lot of fun! It’s always great to get a bunch of content creators together and get the chance to bang wheels. Really nice to try out the new Porsche GT3 R before it was released as well.
Unlike the PESC itself, the competitors in the All-Star series were all famous racers with a huge community behind them. How was the feedback from your fans? Did they like the season, too?
They really liked it! I think the drama really pulled people in. Rivalries formed over the course of the season, and our communities really got into the battles.
Is there anything that needs to be changed in order to attract even more fans to the series?
Not really! Maybe more content creators, a bigger grid is always good. Also, I’d like to drive the Porsche 919 Hybrid!
Now that you’ve got the bragging rights for the next year, claiming yourself the All-Star champion, are you ready to defend the title next season? Or would you rather like to become part of the PESC grid?
I would definitely rather be in the PESC! I don’t think I’ll be trying to qualify this year, but I’d definitely rather be in the pro race.
As an Australian, you’ve been cheering for your compatriots Dayne Warren and Joshua Rogers throughout the season. Did they live up to your expectation?
Yeah, they both drove awesomely! I’ve driven against them both many times in Australian series, so it’s great to see them kick butt on the world stage.
Would you like to join them on the track at some point? And if yes, would you beat them?
Yes, and yes! But I’m not that good. We all raced in the Australian Supercars eseries for the last two years, and I’ve been in a few battles with them both (including pushing Rogers off the track in the final lap of a race in 2019).
Let’s talk about something that you can evaluate best. What does it need to encourage more female drivers to step into simracing?
Just more of us! I feel like if more young girls can see how fun and accessible simracing is, there will be way more involvement over the next few years. I’m not sure if there’s an easy way to do this, but I really hope it happens.
What are your expectations for the next couple of months or years in simracing? Are we going to see even more drivers battling on the All-Star grid?
I would love to see more content creators on the grid! I think we’re going to see more and more esports creators intertwining with real world racing. Jimmy Broadbent is a great example of this, and I think we’ll see more and more of it as the years go.
Thank you very much for the kind conversation. We wish you all the best and are looking forward to watching you going full throttle again.