Forget Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup, Andrew Hickman from Wagga Wagga became the king of the mountain this weekend, driving himself to the first big win of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 weekend by taking out the Xbox 360 Bathurst Challenge.
Based on the V8 Supercar shoot-out format, 12 lucky participants raced uniquely designed Xbox 360 go-karts around a purpose built track spanning Murray’s Corner and Pit Lane. Earning their place in the race via retail and online competitions in the previous six weeks leading up the event, the competitors travelled to Bathurst, with hopes of sharing in the $100,000 in cash and prizes.
Andrew, driving the EB Games go-kart, crossed the finish line first in a time of 22.09 seconds, just two hundredths of a second ahead of his nearest rival, Daniel Mitchell. James Davey, who earned his place in the race by winning the Xbox LIVE Forza Motorsport 2 Challenge, came third in a time of 22.74 seconds.
“That was the most exhilarating experience of my life,” said Andrew after his win. “These karts really do fly and being inches from the ground with such little margin for error made the experience so memorable. I’ve always been a keen gamer so when this opportunity through Xbox presented itself I jumped at it.”
The top three competitors will share in AUD$100,00 worth of prizes ranging from AUD$30,000 cash to an Xbox go-kart, a hot lap around Mount Panorama with a professional driver and Samsung home entertainment packages.
“The prize money will be a big help for me, setting me up financially,” continue Andrew. “I just tried to listen to what the professionals were telling me during the practice sessions on Thursday and stay mentally focused during the race.”
The winning times for the tournament were:
1st Andrew Hickman (EB Games) 22.0951 seconds
2nd Daniel Mitchell (Ford) 22.2963 seconds
3rd James Davey (Xbox Live) 22.7447 seconds
1st place prizes include:
• AUD$30,000 cash,
• Samsung home theatre system
• Samsung 40 inch LCD television
• 2 tickets to Xbox corporate hospitality on Pit Straight
• 1 hot lap for winner around Mount Panorama with a professional driver
• HP Laptop
• V8 merchandise pack
• Xbox 360 go-kart
• Holden Racing Team merchandise
• Oakley merchandise
2nd place prizes include:
• Samsung home theatre system
• Samsung 40 inch LCD television
• 2 tickets to Xbox corporate hospitality on Pit Straight
• 1 hot lap for the winner around Mount Panorama with a professional driver
• HP Notebook PC
• V8 merchandise pack
• Holden Racing Team merchandise
• Oakley merchandise
3rd place prizes include:
• 2 tickets to Xbox corporate hospitality on Pit Straight
• 1 hot lap for the winner around Mount Panorama with a professional driver
• HP Notebook PC
• V8 merchandise pack
• Holden Racing Team merchandise
• Oakley merchandise