Car racing can be considered as one of the most development-prone and -affected sports in the world. This becomes especially prominent with the rise of Formula E, and its interactive strategy options for racers and fans alike. This unique situation provides car racing fans with the perfect sport for gambling, as the fast-paced strategic mindset is key for all players involved.
How can you gamble in car racing?
There are a number of ways that you can gamble when it comes to car racing, be it in Formula 1, NASCAR, IndyCar, or Formula E. Some of the most common forms of race gambling are:
- Race winner – which is where you bet on the winner of a particular race or series.
- Podium finish – which is where you bet on who places first, as well as who places second and third. This is harder than race-winner betting, as you need to predict or guess all three positions correctly.
- Fastest qualifier – one of the most common types of bets as it can be largely calculated on a racer’s history.
- Winning margin – which is where the betting site gives you a specific time margin, which you wager on whether the winning margin will be longer or shorter than the given time.
- Props bets – which is where you bet on other factors within the race, such as who drives the fastest lap, or who retires the race first.
Car racing also has a significant impact on regular casino games and has inspired many racing motifs for popular casino games such as slots. Find some of the most well-designed new online casinos in New Zealand at new online casinos in NZ.
Live betting
One of the most popular forms of betting on any of the categories mentioned above is live betting. Live betting allows bettors to make bets during races in real-time, allowing them to add new bets as they watch how the current race progresses. This is especially useful in car racing sports due to the high frequency of crashes, pit stop miscalculations, and time penalties.
While live betting, also known as in-race betting, has not been allowed in a lot of US states historically, some measures from European races indicate that up to 75% of all NASCAR bets are made in the form of live betting.
How Formula E stays on top of gambling innovations
Perhaps one of the most innovative and gambling-inspired sports is the relatively new sport of Formula E. Formula E – which debuted its first world series in 2014 – is similar to Formula 1, except the cars are fully electronic. Furthermore, the cars are all the same design, which strikes out the development and research advantages that may be present in Formula 1 racing. Consequentially, the ending of every single race is an open opportunity for every single racer. Often, five consecutive races will feature five different podium winners.
Formula E also has also adapted several gambling-like elements to their racing, such as the use of ‘attack mode’ racing and the ‘fanboost’ function. The ‘attack mode’ includes specified “activation zones” along the track that allow racers to collect extra power for their vehicles, allowing them to enter ‘attack mode’. However, the activation zones are located along the walls, thus risking the loss of racing efficiency and time if not used smartly.
The ‘fanboost’ function acts similarly to the activation zones but is based on the support and voting of the fans. The voting takes place in the three days leading up to the race, and extra power boosts are awarded to the top five racers with the most votes. The extra power is available to them for five minutes of the race.
Gambling that stands out
Both of these functions add additional strategy elements that make gambling in Formula E different from any other sport. The fanboost function adds gambling feeling to the game, and the lack of dominant racers allows for equally staggered bets for all racers, as compared to the more predictable outcomes of Formula 1 which may lower the excitement of bets on race winners.
Following the classification of Formula E as a FIA sport for the 2020/2021 season, British news channel BBC adopted the sport as part of their national broadcasting on their platforms.