To offer the fans content, the stars, who are at home in quarantine, chose to compete virtually via simulators while the fans could follow the live broadcast from home. It was the first of a total of six planned races ahead.

They drove the legendary Watkins Glen course and after 45 laps the American Sage Karam was victorious ahead of Felix Rosenqvist and Will Power. Marcus Ericsson finished in 18th place.

“That didn't go as planned. I crashed and my internet connection was broken due to thunder. There is much left to learn about this form of racing, but I will continue training and try again next week, ”Ericsson writes on Twitter.

Screw loosened on Ikea chair

Ericsson was not the only driver with problems. Conor Daly, who finished in tenth place, writes on Twitter:

"There was a screw loose on the Ikea chair I was sitting on and the cardboard box holding up my pedals collapsed".

Felix Rosenqvist pressed the winner Karam, but had to settle for second place.

- I had to watch the TV afterwards to see what it looked like and it almost looked real. In these times it is fun to do something special for the fans. We are competition people and not only want to sit at home all the time, so it was fun, the Swedish tells NBC.

Canceled at short notice

The organization Nascar launched its iRacing series last week, attracting nearly a million viewers.

The Indycar premiere, which would have run in Florida two weeks ago, was canceled with just 48 hours notice due to the coronavirus.