The World’s Fastest Gamer finalists have embarked on their high-stakes, 12-day #CaliforniaDreamin tour, but the 10 gamers were given a surprise detour to kick off the event – a trip to Las Vegas.

The 10 finalists spent their first night together in a luxury condo on the 56th floor of the Palms Palace. While many of the gamers have competed against each other in the virtual world, this was the first time many had actually met in person.

The Vegas trip was the first was the first of many surprises facing the gamers.

“We have some amazing challenges ahead for these guys but each morning, they have no idea what awaits them,” World’s Fastest Gamer creator and Torque Esports President and CEO, Darren Cox.

“We want to really keep them on their toes. Some of these tests will be incredibly tough, but we thought we’d start off with a something a little special.”

Each gamer was presented with his team uniform for the tour – the blue team headed by former GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough and the orange team led by World’s Fastest Gamer season one winner, Rudy Van Buren.

“Vegas was already a huge surprise for all the guys, but we couldn’t believe the view the greeted us when we walked in the door of the apartment we were staying in,” British esports racer, James Baldwin said.

“None of us had ever seen anything like it. The view was just incredible.”

Polish Project Cars racer Kamil Pawlowski enjoyed the opportunity to meet his new team-mates and rivals.

“It was a great way to meet all the guys in what was an insanely incredible location. I’m looking forward to seeing what other surprises lie ahead for us,” Pawlowski said.

The World’s Fastest Gamer competition bridges the gap between virtual and real-world racing by bringing the top racing gamers together to crowned the world’s fastest, regardless of platform. The competition showcases the best of the best from iRacing, Forza Motorsport, rFactor2, Project Cars, Gear.Club, Gran Turismo and Assetto Corsa.

Mardenborough’s blue team will consists of Pawlowski, Mitchell De Jong, Sebastian Job, Max Benecke, and Jonathan Wong. While Baldwin, Aurelien Mallett, Erhan Jajovski, Fabian Portilla, and Riley Gerster comprise van Buren’s orange team.

The World’s Fastest Gamer winner will be rewarded with a full-time race seat in GT4 competition next year – a prize worth more than US$1 million.