Sim Racing and Esports News for June 2, 2022

This week in Sim Racing and Esports News there is a lot of great news to digest. I bring you information on the upcoming RENNSPORT sim racing game, a Digital Communications Award for competitors in the Rally Star initiative, how to learn from real-world racers, Porsche’s new esports team and more. I also take you behind the scenes at CXC Simulations.

• Traxionn has everything you need to know about the unique sim racing game RENNSPORT. “Since its initial reveal in April, mystery and intrigue as surrounded the all-new sim racing game RENNSPORT. However, after a summit in Munich, Germany, we were able to ask members of the development team important questions and learn more about what could be an important addition to the racing platform roster.” They also have posted a video of their experience with the alpha build of the game which you can watch above.

• RENNSPORT will also be featuring the Porsche Mission R in the game. “Its ferocious power accelerated the car at a staggering rate, while its necessarily heavy design made braking and cornering a much more challenging endeavor.”

• The FIA has joined forces with ESE Entertainment’s Digital Motorsports brand to offer a dedicated Digital Communications Award for competitors in the Rally Star initiative. The prize for the R.A.C.E. Award winner in Pretoria comprises of one Playseat Trophy chassis, one Thrustmaster T300 Ferrari Integral Racing Wheel Alcantara Edition wheel and pedals, one Thrustmaster Gaming headset, one set of OMP Race gloves and one copy of the WRC 10 game. Digital motorsports will assess each applicant based on their personal growth under each pillar of the R.A.C.E criteria. This will be analysed from their social media professional analytical dashboards. More information about the R.A.C.E award can be found on Digital Motorsports’ website here.

• Speed Secrets’ Sim Racer Academy looks at what sim racers can learn from real-world racers in how to practice. “Imagine having to book time on your simulator two months in advance, just to reserve your spot, and paying $25,000 per hour to practice on it. Would that change the way you approached the way you developed your driving skills? That’s what professional race drivers are faced with. The only difference with an amateur race driver is the cost comes down… to maybe $2,000 per hour. What a bargain, right?! Now, imagine if you applied the same efficient learning and improvement strategies to your sim racing as these real-world drivers do. How big a difference would that make to your performance?“

• Porsche has unveiled their first factory eSports team. Tommy Ostgaard, Mitchell DeJong, Mack Bakkum, Joshua Rogers, and Martin Kronke have been given the title of Porsche eSports works driver. The team itself has also been given a new name: the Porsche Coanda eSports Racing Team. Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President of Porsche Motorsport, compared the partnership with Coanda to the brand’s partnership with Penske on the LMDh car. “In the same way that we have found a perfect partner for our LMDh project in Penske, we are convinced that Coanda, as one of the most successful sim racing teams, is the right choice for us,” Laudenbach said.

• Speaking of Porsche, the Coach Dave Academy looks at Porsche sim racing in Getting to know iRacing’s Porsche Cup Series. “We motorsport fans know the roaring sound of a Porsche with our eyes closed. In the virtual space of iRacing, there are multiple series that feature the brand in which to immerse ourselves in – but there is one that is pure Porsche. Let’s get to know each version of the iRacing Porsche Cup Series.”

• Autoweek looks at how to get started iRacing on nearly any budget. “Curious about jumping into iRacing? You might not know how to take your first step down the path of becoming a digital F1 champion. Truth be told: We didn’t know either, but that got us thinking about the different ways you can approach racing from the comfort of your own kitchen. Or whatever room you want—we don’t judge.”

• Race Department has a great article on how to mentally prepare to race online. “What started off as a few laps by themselves on track to get up to speed turned into some offline races against the AI controlled cars. However, few seem to have made the jump into the online world of racing against human opponents, which is a massive shame.”

• Finally, The Drive has a get look behind the scenes at CXC Simulations. “Put more simply, they take real-life data and use that to precisely match it to the sim. Any and all requests are accommodated, including highly specific pedal feel and button placement to closely mirror the real race car. I even tried a simulator that was a complete frame from an off-road truck mounted on six electric motors to simulate jumps, yaw, pitch, and nearly every degree of motion that a hardcore Baja truck would experience. “Approaching $1 million” is the figure that was reported to me and the experience of driving it is uncanny. Jumps have that stone-in-your-stomach feeling, the steering is heavy and numb to simulate large off-road tires and the virtual reality headset is perfectly calibrated so that it doesn’t induce motion sickness and it plays nice with the motion of the simulator. Best of all, it’s being made for a Norwegian cruise ship that already has a go-kart track aboard.”