Photo Credit: Forrest Mellott/IndyCar
On Thursday, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (SPM) along with Bethesda Softworks, a ZeniMax Media company, revealed the DOOM car that is going to premiere at the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis on May,14. This is one day after the video game’s highly anticipated release on May 13.
The No. 7 car, will be driven by Mikhail Aleshin. Aleshin will also carry drive the car in the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 29.
DOOM is developed by id Software, the same studio that was the pioneer of the first-person shooter genre, and returns as brutally fun and challenging modern-day shooter experience game for XBOX One, PlayStation4 and PC. From Moscow, Aleshin is the first Russian driver to race in the IndyCar series and spent is prior racing years in Europe where he won on some of the most notorious race tracks around the world.
This is Aleshin’s second full season with SPM. In 2014, he had one podium finish and seven top-10 finishes. He was injured late in the 2014 season and sat out most of 2015. He made his return at the season finale in Sonoma in 2015 driving a third SPM car. 2016 is his first season back after injury.
“We couldn’t imagine a more perfect sponsorship fit,” Pete Hines, Vice President of PR & Marketing for Bethesda Softworks said. “DOOM is all about pushing forward with incredible speed. We’ll all be cheering on Mikhail and the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team as we celebrate the game’s launch.”
The game consists of demons, guns and fluid movement and provides an intense first-person combat and you are destroying demons in the depths of hell single handly or battaling against your friend in multiplayer mode. DOOM won many awards at E32015 and the recent preview of the game says “it is a total blast”.
“We are always pleased to invite a new sponsor into the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports family. However, according to my son, having DOOM on Mikhail’s car for the GP of Indy and the Indianapolis 500 is by far the most exciting sponsor we’ve ever announced,” Sam Schmidt, SPM Team Owner stated. “We feel these types of partnerships are absolutely critical to creating the next generation of fans for the Verizon IndyCar Series. This sport is all about speed, innovation and technology, so gaming seems to be a natural fit.”
The reveal of the paint scheme for the No.7 happened in the garages of SPM at the Indianapolis Motorspeedway right before it took track for the first practice for the GP of Indy at 11 am.
