Faraday Future Dragon Racing sim racer Bono Huis has claimed the first ever Visa Vegas eRace victory and with it, walks away with eSport's racing's largest ever prize fund of $200,000 as well as an additional $25,000 for pole position.
The event took place at the Venetian Hotel in front of a packed audience at the 50th edition of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
Amongst those in attendance were FIA president Jean Todt and series CEO Alejando Agag,
"This first eRace in Las Vegas was a great success," commented Agag. "It’s exciting to have brought Formula E into the inner sanctum of CES – the biggest and most influential technology show in the world.
"I think this can be the first in a big future for Formula E in eSports racing. We will continue to pursue new and innovative ways to improve our presence in this fast growing landscape, while maintaining fan engagement at the forefront of all our initiatives."
Huis, who topped every session throughout the event, made a clean getaway from the line and held on to his lead throughout the first stint. Following the first round of pitstops, the Dutch driver dropped to second place behind Olli Pahkala of Mahindra Racing.
Pahkala went on to cross the finish line first ahead of Huis, but was later handed a 12-second time penalty for having gained an unfair performance advantage caused by a software issue, allowing him to use too much FanBoost.
Huis therefore claimed the victory ahead of Formula E driver Felix Rosenqvist.
The top ten also included a number of actual Formula E drivers including: Jose Maria Lopez (DS Virgin Racing), Sam Bird (DS Virgin Racing), Daniel Abt (ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport) and Nelson Piquet Jr. (NextEV NIO).
David Greco (Renault e.dams) crossed the line in 15th place, but picked up fastest lap and $10,000 in the process.
