This off road race happened ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix

Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda has established himself as the driver to beat in a competition named the (Un)Serious Race Series, defeating Dutch World Champion Max Verstappen in an off-road race in the fully functioning Erzberg mine in Austria’s Styria region.

The win backs up Yuki’s victory during May’s Miami Grand Prix week, where he downed Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo in a mini jet boat race. The series sees Scuderia AlphaTauri and Oracle Red Bull Racing go head-to-head in unique vehicles and locations.

In a warm up for this week’s Austrian Grand Prix, the pair raced three-meter tall, five-meter long, 500 horsepower mega trucks capable of crushing cars with ease. The location was the gravity-defying Erzberg mine, known as the ‘Iron Giant,’ which is also the host of the annual Red Bull Erzbergrodeo.

Plot Twist?

Loosely mimicking the layout of the Red Bull Ring, the mega truck track featured three key sections: ‘The Car Yard’, ‘The Swimming Pool’ and ‘The Big Drift’. As he has done so often throughout the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship, Max was the driver to beat in qualifying. A searing final sector putting him on pole, three seconds ahead of Yuki.

In the race Yuki rocketed out of second position, taking the lead into turn one and never looked back. Conversely, Max was dealt nothing but misfortune, his truck suffering a misfire and he could only trail Yuki home.

Max looked back on his Mega Truck experience positively, likening it to other adventures in Swamp Buggies, Reverse Racing and Caravan Racing, among others. Well, this was an extremely fun race that may foreshadow the results of the upcoming Grand Prix or it may not, we shall have to wait and see.

Switching It up

The (Un)Serious Race Series will continue later this season. Yuki and Scuderia AlphaTauri are now back-to-back winners, with Oracle Red Bull Racing being in the unfamiliar position as the hunter, not the hunted.

Want to know more? Then visit the Official (Un)serious Website for further details.