Esports racer joins F2 grid in 2022 | FOS Future Lab
Don’t ever let them tell you playing games is a waste of time. It’s therapeutic, engages your brain and if you’re lucky, can lead to doing that thing for real. Well, ideally not in the case of Grand Theft Auto. Of course, we’re talking specifically about racing. Cem Bolukbasi, whose earlier career was dominated by esports, is getting an F2 drive for 2022.
Okay, he hasn’t exactly graduated from living room lobbies on Forza Motorsport to travelling the world. Starting out karting, he made the traditionally unconventional move of going digital, joining G2 Esports FA Racing – the Fernando Alonso-affiliated team – and also wore Toro Rosso in F1 Esports for three years from 2017 through to 2019.
He then ran with Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport in its European GT4 efforts, finishing second in the Pro-Am championship in 2020. From 2021, it was full-time singe-seater racing for Bolukbasi from 2021, competing in the Euroformula with VAR and F3 Asian Championship, winning first time out in the former. He then tested F2 with VAR at Abu Dhabi last year and the rest is history.
"I worked so hard to get an opportunity like this and first of all, I want to thank Charouz for putting their trust in me, I’ll do my very best to honour it.
"I obviously can’t wait to get in the car for the testing sessions, after my first taste of an old GP2 car later last year. It’s as close as you can get to a Formula 1 car and I’m fully determined to give my 110 per cent to learn how to master it and prove my potential as a driver.
"I also can’t wait to start working with the team, the season ahead is gonna be very long and demanding and establishing the best possible relationship with all the guys is going to be crucial for the final outcome."
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Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.
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