Audi has dispatched German Formula E racer Daniel Abt after Abt employed a professional gamer to impersonate him in an esports racing game – the Formula E Race at Home Challenge Series.
Last weekend, Abt supposedly finished third in the race behind UK’s Oliver Rowland and Former F1 driver, Belgium’s Stoffel Vandoorne, but Vandoorne and fellow former F1 driver Jean-Eric Vergne had raised suspicions since Abt had failed to score a single point in the previous four rounds of the racing series and a video feed of Abt had his face obscured. It was later revealed that professional gamer Lorenz Horzing had been behind the virtual wheel.
Abt was initially fined $11,000 and suspended by Audi before Audi fired him completely.
Abt had been driving for his family’s namesake Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler team in Formula E since the sport’s inaugural season in 2014 and had recorded a mere two race wins during that time.