The first ever Olympic Esports has kicked off in Singapore (22-25 June) and Gran Turismo star Will Murdoch is ready to represent the United Kingdom in the event, having qualified fifth out of the 10 available spots for global competitors.

The International Olympic Committee event has nine sports represented, featuring the likes of cycling, archery, baseball, tennis and dance alongside its motorsport competition, which utilises Sony’s hit racing sim Gran Turismo 7.

The competition is made up of a Pre-Qualification Time Trial and then a Final, which involves just one qualifying session and one race to determine the champion.

For Pre-Qualification, Murdoch goes up against the nine other fastest drivers – representing a single nation each – as well as a group of competitors from other countries picked out by some of the FIA’s affiliated national motorsport authorities (ASNs), and one competitor from host nation Singapore. The top 12 will then progress to the Final, which begins at 5am UK time on Sunday (25 June) and can be viewed here.

Murdoch was one of thousands of hopeful qualifiers to take part in the 10-day public pre-event time trial, available to anyone with access to the game and an internet connection. Entrants could do as many laps as they wished around the imaginary Deep Forest Raceway track in a World Endurance Championship Toyota GR010 Hybrid ’21, and ultimately Murdoch’s 1’14.831 put him an impressive fifth in the final leaderboard, securing his ticket to Singapore.

Interested in learning more about simulated racing and Esports? Motorsport UK’s dedicated Esports website has everything you need on how to get started.