Honda’s rich racing heritage lies at the heart of this highly ambitious project, which features the all-new 2018 Civic Type R; a race car disguised as a daily driver.

This innovative race between pro IndyCar driver Graham Rahal and pro gamer Peter Jeakins, started out at Microsoft’s (publisher of the Forza Motorsport Series) Turn 10 Studios in Seattle where Jeakins (known to the gaming world as theSLAPtrain) recorded his fastest lap time in a virtual Type R at the Road Atlanta race track in Forza Motorsport 7.

The race continued at the actual Road Atlanta in Braselton, GA, where Rahal raced a real 2018 Civic Type R against Jeakins’ virtual one. The real Type R was outfitted with a custom-made mixed-reality windshield that broadcast the gamer’s position on the track to Rahal in real time, allowing him to compete in a head-to-head race against the gamer.

The meteoric rise of eSports has put digital athletes and traditional athletes on a collision course. R vs R is the first time augmented reality has been used to merge real motorsport with a racing simulation, creating a unique and innovative stage for the virtual world and the real world to battle it out once and for all.