A MUSSELBURGH man has raced against former Formula 1 stars in Las Vegas. . . walking away with a cool $20,000 in prize money.

Graham Carroll, a qualified joiner, was in third place at the Formula E Las Vegas eRace – a simulated race – when he was involved in a three-car crash halfway through the 28-lap computerised contest, which saw him take on an illustrious field.

Also in the race was ex-Formula 1 star Nelson Piquet Junior, the son of three-time world champion Nelson Piquet.

Graham admitted that the crash cost him $30,000 and said it was “hard to take”.

But he told the Courier: “These things happen in racing.

“The race was not the best thing ever but the exposure was unreal. I think this sport is going to get bigger and bigger. The competition has pushed other games and sims to run their own competitions.”

Twenty Formula E drivers and 10 sim racers, including former Musselburgh Grammar School pupil Graham, took to the stage in front of a packed crowd at The Venetian Hotel in the Sport Business Innovation zone on the 50th edition of the Consumer Electronics Show.

An enthusiastic gathering of media, exhibitors, industry analysts and Jean Todt, FIA president, watched history in the making as the drivers and sim racers went wheel-to-wheel on the famous Las Vegas strip for a share of the £1 million prize pot.

Bono Huis, the Dutch sim racer, clinched victory, walking away with $200,000 and securing an additional $25,000 for pole position.

Other racers among the field included Nick Heidfeld, another racer with Formula 1 experience, and Nicolas Prost, himself the son of another multiple Formula 1 world champion, French legend Alain Prost.

Felix Rosenqvist finished as runner-up as the best-placed Formula E driver.

Despite his crash with Aleksi Uusi and David Greco, 26-year-old Graham still managed to walk away away with a guaranteed $20,000 prize money. He is now in “talks” about the future but was unable to go into detail.

He qualified for the Visa Vegas eRace, organised by Cloud Sport, using three screens, a steering wheel, pedals and a seat in the corner of his bedroom – a loft conversion at his parents’ home in the Honest Toun.

READ MORE: Musselburgh joiner set to race against ex-Formula 1 stars

Graham took up ‘real’ karting at the age of seven before entering car racing, winning five championships in 2008, including the British Formula Ford Championship.

At that stage, he received offers from teams in Britain and across Europe. But he had to find £150,000, and getting sponsors proved difficult in the Credit Crunch, meaning the end of his racing career.

He worked as a joiner but, for the past two years, has turned his attentions to online sim racing Sim racing is much more advanced than a racing video game, as realistic physics affects the car, software mimics the effects of tyre traction and suspension, and the ‘cars’ are not as forgiving as they would be in the more standard video games.

Last year, he won the Walter Hayes Trophy – the world’s largest Formula Ford 1600 event, which is held at the home of British motorsport, Silverstone.

Reflecting on his Las Vegas experience, Graham added: “It was great to meet all the other sim guys and race against the real drivers, some of whom were ex-Formula 1. Let’s hope this is the start of better things to come.”

He praised the support he got from the public in Scotland, saying it made him “speechless” and was delighted to get the backing of British racing legends Allan McNish and Dario Franchitti.