This weekend will see reigning F1 world champion Max Verstappen, former IndyCar champion and Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan, current GT3 pro driver Daniel Morad, and a whole host of top sim racers take part in The Race For Mental Health; a 23-hour event put together by influencer Jimmy Broadbent to raise money for charity.
The race takes place on November 9-10, with the biggest names in sim racing, and real world racing, competing to win an endurance race like no other. The 23-hour competition will see teams racing around Zolder, with more than a few unusual things going on throughout the event such as random safety cars, buyable penalties and voice chat karaoke.
It’s all organised by sim racing influencer Jimmy Broadbent, who set the race up as a way to raise money for charities that support those struggling with mental health and to honor his late father. Not only do those racing have to make a donation to Mind, a charity in the UK that helps those struggling with mental health, but viewers who watch the race are also encouraged to donate. If you would like to make a donation, you can do so through the race’s JustGiving page.
“I wanted to give something back to the community that had been very kind to me,” says Broadbent. “The reason why I got into YouTube was a way to distract myself from my own mental health problems. And given that I was quite open and honest about those things, people seemed to be drawn to me in that way, and I found myself around people who had their own problems. So it felt only right that, given that a lot my community seemed to suffer in the same way that I did, that we do something about it and try and raise some money for a good cause.”
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The race has been running for a few years at this point, raising almost £300,000 and becoming a much loved event in the sim racing community. So much so that, not only are the biggest names in sim racing eager to get involved, even real world drivers want a seat in the race, including the best in the world.
“I don’t go after people, if they want to come take part, they want to come take part,” said Broadbent. “For Max [Verstappen], he actually turned up last year sort of incognito in another team. I didn’t know he was racing until he was on track with us. And not only did he compete, but he donated quite a large chunk of his own money as well to the cause, which is amazing. My main goal was to raise as much money as possible for this charity. So to have the current F1 world champion, to have an IndyCar legend, and to have a current GT driver as well as is very cool.”
It’s a similar story for the likes of Tony Kanaan, who has also raced previously and donated significant amounts of his own money, Daniel Morad and the massive range of influencers from within and sometimes outside of the sim racing community. When there’s a fun event that is doing something good in the world, people want to be involved, and with the chaos that Broadbent has built into the event, along with the countless ways to watch with almost every team having their own stream of it going, there’s a lot of entertainment for fans.
If you are looking for something to keep you entertained over the weekend, especially with the lack of an F1 race, you could do a lot worse than tune into The Race For Mental Health. Almost all the big name drivers involved will be streaming on their own channels, including Broadbent, so you can find a stream that fits what you are looking for. I’ve cleared my weekend to watch along with it and got in enough snacks to last the entire 23 hours!
While the race is, of course, designed to raise money for Mind, it’s creator also hopes that it might also directly help those people struggling with their mental health. Having lost his own father in his teens due to mental health, Broadbent is hoping that the race might be the thing that helps one more person seek help and start to take the steps towards recovery.
“It’s my hope that this race acts as maybe the catalyst for people to pick up the phone, email someone, or just reach out to somebody, if they’re suffering from their own problems,” said Broadbent, “It’s cliché, but I’m a firm believer of a problem shared is a problem halved, and just talking to someone is an amazing first step. And this race and the charity we benefit, Mind, is all about that, that’s that’s their mentality. So I think it’s important to spread that message.”
