Bathurst once again became home to Erebus Academy’s Esports competition on the weekend, with 50 of Australia’s best sim racers fighting for a fantastic prize pool.

It was the second virtual contest Erebus had run this year and a great opportunity for young racers to get noticed.

“It’s great for Erebus to do something like this,” Erebus Motorsport’s Will Brown said on the broadcast.

“It’s a great opportunity to get yourself in front of a top tier team and you never know where that may lead in the future.

“Simulators have come such a long way and they really do help with training for the real world.”

The Over 18’s competition came down to the wire with James Scott taking the race win from pole position with blistering pace.

“That was an awesome race; there was a lot of pressure, Josh (Anderson) and Brady (Meyers) are very quick so I knew it would be a tough battle,” Scott said.

Josh Anderson also impressed and was awarded the Hard Charger for his age group after starting third on the grid.

Anderson applied pressure at the front of the field and waited for his moment to move past Brady Meyers for second which eventually came at Griffiins Bend, before he closed the gap to Scott.

“It was fairly tough to pass so I knew I had to make a move somewhere; it was fairly close but it was clean and Brady gave me some room which was appreciated,” Anderson said.

Watch the Over 18’s highlights here.

The 13-17 year old’s were also stand outs, with Corey Shepherd leading from start to finish.

“There was definitely a bit of pressure; I thought I would keep it smooth and calm and hopefully build a gap and bring the car home safe and easily,” Shepherd said.

He built a comprehensive 3.1-second victory from second placed Luke Pink and third-placed Jack Boyd, while it was Emerson Harvey who came home the Hard Charger.

“I started pretty far behind where I wanted to be in ninth but it was a great race and I managed to move up three spots,” Harvey said.

“It’s always fantastic to do these races with Erebus Academy, it was really fun.”

Watch the Under 18’s highlights here.

Winners took home a hot lap experience in an Erebus Supercar, while hard chargers will have the chance to take what they’ve learnt to the racetrack with a training session at Norwell Motorplex.

Other prizes included $250 Pedders vouchers, Snap-on tool packs, $250 JB HI FI vouchers thanks to Ryco Filters, plus merchandise packs from Motorsport Superstore and Mechanix Wear.