If you are a regular reader, you know that I am a strong believer that sim racing can be a pathway to real world motorsport and this week I bring more examples.
From Alpine’s esport series that gives you the chance to test a GT4 car to Screen to Speed giving the winner of their competition the opportunity to test a Kelly Moss Porsche race car, more and more you are seeing sim racing competitions giving the winners the opportunity to race the real thing.
In addition to that, I bring you the stories of two sim racers that have shown how they have parlayed their sim racing into the real world of motorsport, so you get a taste of what is possible.
Along with that I take a visit to a leading sim racing manufacturer and retailer, bring you the latest news from the competitive sim racing scene, plus sim racing tech reviews, tips, and general sim racing and esports news.
All of this and more is in this week’s edition of the Sim Racing and Esports News Roundup on Motorsport Prospects. Its sim racing news for real world racers, or those that want to be.
From Sim Racing to the Real Thing
Alpine has made a major move up with their sim racing activities this week with numerous announcements that I will cover over the course of this column. The one that most intrigues me is that, with the return of its Esports Championship, gamers will compete to win a shot at a real-world Alpine A110 GT4 test. Sponsored by cryptocurrency exchange firm Binance, qualifying for the Alpine Esports Championship runs between the 27th of March and the 9th of April, with the first double-header round beginning on the 27th of April. Here is some additional coverage of Alpine’s esports announcements, with more details on their esports plans in the Competitive Sim Racing News section below.
- GT4 prize drive on the line as Alpine Esports Championship returns for 2023
- How Alpine is bridging the gap between F1 and sim racing | Traxion.GG Podcast S6 E1
- Alpine announces esports plans, partners for 2023 season
I had a wonderful conversation last week with Stefy Bau, one of the organizers of this weekend’s Screen to Speed eSports competition and I must say I was impressed. “For women by women” is their motto and Screen to Speed is working to create a pipeline to bring more women into motorsports from sim racing, with an authentic program to establish the critical mass. Over the last few weeks they held an online competition to determine 15 finalists and they will be competing in person this weekend in Las Vegas during the Pennzoil 400 NASCAR weekend.
With support from Pennzoil, Ford and Fanatec, they are setting the groundwork for bigger things to come but right now, the focus is on this weekend’s competition. The cool thing about the competition is that the winner of the first-ever Speed to Screen will take the seat in a Kelly Moss Porsche race car, under the watchful eye of Kelly Moss racer Sabré Cook, for a chance to show her skill in real life.
The finals will be shown live on Twitch and to make things even more interesting for spectators, you can sign up as an ally and win cool prizes. The final will take place March 4th and you can watch it live on Twitch here.
On this segment of Indian podcast the Drive, “we’re going on a DRIVE with India’s first E-Racer turned Professional Motorsport Racer Dillon Zachariah as he speaks to us about life as a racer, fun facts about being a racer and the recent controversy surrounding the Formula 1 championship.” You can watch it above.
Rajah Caruth began his racing career through iRacing midway through 2018, where his uncommonly fast rise through the ranks began in the eNASCAR Ignite Series. Making it to the championship race in the Ignite Series, Caruth then became the first iRacing driver to ever earn a tryout for the Drive for Diversity Youth Driver Combine. And that tryout led to him becoming an ARCA championship contender in 2022, a Rookie of the Year contender in Trucks this season, and a part-time competitor in the Xfinity Series for Alpha Prime Racing. Here are two articles that describe his journey from sim racer to real world race driver.
- Rajah Caruth seeks to drive NASCAR forward as he capitalizes on his opportunities
- Inside Rajah Caruth’s transformation from gamer to rising NASCAR driver
Competitive Sim Racing News
Sim racer Emily Jones says that events like ESL R1 are long overdue. “I think it’s really early days with this game and they’ve done an incredible job to get it in the position of where it’s playable,” said Jones. “Rennsport is working on an esports stage, with little to no bugs, so it’s doing its job. I think that’s incredible. As a game as to drive, I’ve not spent enough time with it to really click yet. I think with sim racing there’s no perfect platform. iRacing, rFactor2, Assetto Corsa Competizione and even more games, all do things slightly differently and there’s no one right way of doing it. And Rennsport just feels like another way of doing it, different to all of them.”
Alpine’s esports team has revealed its youthful roster for the 2023 F1 Esports Series Pro, featuring returnees Patrik Sipos and Luke Smith alongside rookie Rubén Pedreño. The three-driver lineup has a youthful look to it this season, with Luke Smith – the youngest competitor in the 2022 F1 Esports Series Pro – returning alongside Alpine Esports stalwart Patrik Sipos.
Alpine also introduced their Alpine Esports Content Room “which is powered by QAN”, their Official Blockchain Partner, and is built within the walls of their historical F1 factory at Enstone in the UK. Alpine said in a press release that the Alpine Esports Content Studio is a ‘state-of-the-art facility is kitted with over £50,000 worth of equipment from Trak Racer, Elgato and BenQ, and will be used to support immersive content and livestreams from drivers and ambassadors’.
Finally, PC Gamer looks inside the F1 team treating esports like a Formula One Grand Prix. “Alpine isn’t alone in its interest in esports as an F1 team, and it sounds like most teams on the grid are investing more time and effort into data analysis. But I’ve visited French team Alpine’s hub of F1 operations, a vast tech facility in Enstone, UK, to talk to the Alpine esports team looking to push themselves further in the F1 Esports Series, Le Mans Virtual Series, and its own Alpine Esports Series.”
The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) is to collaborate with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Polyphony Digital Inc. by participating in the Olympic Esports Series 2023 Motor Sport Event. Gran Turismo 7 will be used as the platform for the Olympic Esports Series 2023 Motor Sport Event. An online time trial will begin in mid-April (eligibility criteria to be announced at a later date). The fastest from the time trial will be invited to compete at the finals, which will be live at the first-ever Olympic Esports Week from June 22-25, 2023 in Singapore.
Here are more headlines from the world of competitive sim racing:
- Power Your Passion: Stormforce Gaming and Apex Racing Team Forge Partnership and Launch Stormforce Racing ART PESC Team
- Esports Racing World Cup II: Unicorns of Love win fiery first day
- How Rennsport’s ESL R1 Series could shake up racing esports, forever
- Red Bull Racing Esports Rookies: “Learning from two of the world’s best sim racers is incredible”
- Josh Idowu talks Red Bull Esports, McLaren switch and long practice hours
- NGK Spark Plug Esports Cup: Kunze and Parvan win at Hungaroring
- Crimsix joins FaZe Clan for pro sim racing league ESL R1 at IEM Katowice
- What a real racing champ like Bruno Spengler brings to BS+COMPETITION’s ESL R1 roster
- 2023 SRO Esports registration open now with €88,000+ prize pool on the line
Sim Racing Tips & Techniques
The Coach Dave Academy explains how to understand tire pressures in iRacing. “The only part of your car that touches the track is the tires. This fact is carried across all of the cars in iRacing, regardless of whether you’re driving the latest F1 car or a Formula Vee. Some cars that are low downforce, like the majority of touring cars, are so reliant on this tire-to-track contact that even minor setup changes can result in a huge difference in performance.”
Sim Racing Tech Roundup
I had the privilege of accepting an invitation from Advanced SimRacing to visit their manufacturing, showroom and sim racing facility in Montreal recently and I must say I was impressed. Founded in 2020, Advanced SimRacing is the fastest-growing North American racing simulation chassis manufacturer and digital motorsport equipment retailer. Owned and operated by passionate SimRacers of which I had the chance to talk with during my visit, they explained to me how the company designs and builds the sturdiest and most durable aluminum profile racing simulation cockpits available in the market today.
Not only are they a manufacturer, but they are also a retailer of all the leading sim racing brands including Asetek Sim Sports, Buttkicker, Cube Controls, D-Box, Next Level Racing and more. They also offer turnkey racing simulators with an incredible eye to detail as well as personalized set-up and coaching services that can be included as part of the package as well.
Very active in the competitive sim racing scene, they also explained to me how real world racers have been using their equipment to improve their racecraft with the results transferring directly to the real racetrack resulting in an increase in lap times and overall competitiveness. Check out their Ambassadors page for a taste at what race drivers are saying about the company and their service.
Highly recommended that you check them out at https://www.advancedsimracing.com/. What probably impressed me the most was how they were both absolutely laser focused on the highest level of quality in how they manufacture their products and assemble their turnkey solutions, as well as their commitment to the highest standards in customer service. Well worth your time and money to have a look at what they offer and explore how they manufacture their products. And soon, their showroom will allow you to try out their products as well as sim race competitively. You will be impressed.
Here is a roundup of the latest sim racing tech news and reviews from around the world.
- The Playseat Trophy Is the Sensible, Surprisingly Lightweight Cockpit Every Sim Racer Deserves
- Level Up Your Sim Racing Setup With The Playseat Trophy Logitech G Edition Cockpit
- Review: Playseat Trophy – Logitech G Edition sim racing cockpit
- Combining VR and pioneering simulation gear for the ultimate sim racing setup
- Best PC racing wheel in 2023
- How Does Competition Benefit Sim Racing Consumers? Fanatec CSL DD P1 Bundle Is The Answer
- Fanatec Launches CSL DD “Race Ready” Bundle; Other Direct Drive Wheels Available Again
- Fanatec launches budget Direct Drive sim racing bundle, open for preorders now
- Cammus DDWB21 review: cheap direct drive sim racing, but at what cost?
- PSVR 2 vs Meta Quest 2: Which VR headset should you buy?
- Immersive tech to help improve F1 sim racing performance
- Thrustmaster has added a mini steering wheel to a gamepad
General Sim Racing News
- All-New Late Model Stock, CARS Late Model Stock Tour Coming to iRacing in 2023 Season 2
- 2023 Sim Racing Cockpit Market: Top Players Best Practices and Strategies for Success till 2028
- Nürburgring Grand Prix expands Rennsport’s track roster
- Complete Rennsport track list
- Betclic Apogee launches ‘Gamers 4 the Planet’ platform
- rFactor2 GT3 Update and BOP Released
- Best PS5 racing games 2023
- Gran Turismo 7 Update 1.29 is Now Available, Adds Grand Valley, GT Sophy, and PSVR2 Support
- Motorsport Games announces quarterly update and DLC for rFACTOR 2
- SIM Steering Wheel Market 2023 | Global Industry Report Forecast 2029
- Racing Simulator Equipment Market Future Growth Demand 2023-2030 | G-Performance, Sim -Lab, MOZA Racing
- 5 Reasons Why Forza Motorsport 8 Will Demolish Gran Turismo 7 (4 Why We’d Stick With GT7)
- Sony Unleashes Experimental AI Driver in Gran Turismo 7
Author: Mark Boudreau
Mark is the publisher of Motorsport Prospects. As a former lawyer, he applies his legal background and research skills to assist race drivers by showcasing the resources they need to make their motorsport careers happen.