William Byron graduated from sim racing to winning the Daytona 500 and this week you will find out how. You will also get words of advice from IMSA driver Parker Thompson as he builds his sim racing rig, how a race team uses a sim in their real-world racing and sim racing tips from F1 driver Kevin Magnussen.
All this plus tech reviews, general sim racing news and more in this week’s edition of the Sim Racing Roundup on Motorsport Prospects. Its sim racing news for racers not gamers.
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From Sim Racing to the Real Thing
The IndyCar website looks at the connection shared between Daytona 500 winner William Byron and IndyCar driver Pietro Fittipaldi.
Besides Papis, the other mutual bond between Byron and Pietro Fittipaldi is their success in virtual racing before they started winning in actual racing machines.
Byron grew up in North Carolina and started racing online instead of the usual route of karting or quarter-midgets. That unorthodox path led to the NASCAR ranks, to the Championship 4 last season and to victory lane Monday night at Daytona.
While Fittipaldi doesn’t necessarily come from the same background as Byron, he does have the same love and appreciation for virtual racing.
Fittipaldi said virtual racing has opened a new world for all aspiring drivers, and Byron is a great example of how they can use this path to enter motorsports.
“First you have to understand if you like racing,” he said. “Usually, you go to a karting track or do rental karts or something like that. Now, it’s much more assessable through virtual racing. As a young kid, you can understand if you like the sport or not just by playing the video game. Whether it’s iRacing or an F1 game, you don’t even have to have a simulator. You can just have a controller and go see if that’s something you enjoy.
“We know motorsport, it is very expensive to go karting and to race cars. William is a perfect example of someone that started with sim racing and was very successful with simulator racing. Then moved on to racing in real life. Virtual racing is amazing.”
Sim Racing Connects Fittipaldi, Daytona 500 Winner Byron
In the video above, watch GT3 Driver Parker Thompson as he joins the folks at Advanced Sim Racing on the build of his brand new Racing Simulator. Watch for some key observations of the difference between a real race car and a sim.
A new name will join the Radical Cup North America program in 2024 as Suellio Almeida will take his first green flag of the season at Sebring International Raceway in a few weeks’ time. Sim racer turned Radical Cup competitor, Almeida has chosen the Radical SR3 XXR platform with RySpec Racing as he begins his ultimate goal of being on the grid at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2028.
“This is a great story on how the Radical Cup program can help set lifelong goals for an individual,” said Radical Cup North America’s Tom Drewer. “Suellio has a great story about where he started, where he is today, and his future goals in motorsports and we are thankful that he will compete with us in 2024.”
“My career really started coaching iRacers where I went from coaching one drivers a week to 30 or more in just a few months,” said Almeida. “This eventually became a full-time position for me as I got more into racing.”
Almeida will take his first green flag of the season at the March 1-3 Sebring weekend. To learn more about him, visit http://www.SuellioAlmeida.ca or http://www.TheMotorRacingCoach.com, or visit his YouTube page.
The video above is Part 3 of Racing Prodigy‘s deep look into how sim racers perform in real Radical SR1s. “Day 3 of Prodigy Week Part 1, November 1, 2023 – the very first real-world Prodigy Racing League event! 12 Prodigy Pass winners from our global PRL sim racing competitions were brought to Atlanta Motorsports Park to learn, train, and compete for a shot to be drafted in 2024 as paid pro drivers in the real-world PRL.”
Hitech GP shares insights into how a brand new F1 grade simulator is helping the team prepare for upcoming season. “Hitech Grand Prix invested in Dynisma’s technology for race car setup, race preparation and circuit familiarisation ahead of the 2024 season, enabling simulation of a wide range of racing scenarios and driver procedures. F1-bred low-latency, high-bandwidth DMGs (Dynisma Motion Generators) set new standards in simulator technology offering an experience as close to reality as possible.”
Competitive Sim Racing News
- 2024 Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup Race Preview: Le Mans (iRacing)
- Job takes four in a row, Webster scores first Porsche TAG Heuer Esports Supercup feature win at Le Mans (iRacing)
Sim Racing Tips & Techniques
Want to improve at sim racing? You’re in luck! Formula 1 driver Kevin Magnussen is here to give you 6 pro tips to try out, next time you fire up your favorite racing sim! 
In the video above from Asetek, Christian Damm will give you a short introduction on how to set up an ergonomic position in relation to your sim racing pedals. Christian has been in motorsports for more than five years. Among others, he was with Ferrari as a part of their Engineering Academy in their ERS (Energy Recovery System) department for the Ferrari F1 team. If you’re a passionate sim racer, you probably spend a great amount of time in your rig. Therefore, you should consider your position in the seat, and how you bend your knees, so you can perform better when sim racing.
Sim Racing Tech Roundup
Here is a roundup of the latest sim racing tech news, reviews, and recommendations from around the world.
Turn Racing’s BP2, paired with the R320, is a fun combo! Turn Racing is a Minnesota-based grassroots manufacturer that has developed before our eyes, becoming a real ‘for sim racers, by sim racers’ brand. Their products are made more interesting just by virtue of that goodwill. - Sim Racing: Essential Techniques for Accident Recovery (Box This Lap)
- MOZA Racing Revolutionizes Sim Racing with R5 Bundle: Ultimate Performance Meets Cutting-Edge Technology (BNN)
- I’ve started sim racing on Meta Quest 3 and I’ll never go back — here’s why (Tom’s Guide)
- Sim Racing: The Definitive Logitech Buyer’s Guide for 2024 (Box This Lap)
General Sim Racing News
- iRacing Development Update – February 2024 (iRacing)
- iRacing to Split Road License Type into Sports Car and Formula Licenses for 2024 Season 2 (iRacing)
- This Week in iRacing: February 20-26, 2024 (iRacing)
- Dallara and AK Informatica join forces for sim racing venture (eSports Insider)
- Data.bet unleashes the power of esports at ICE London 2024 (iGaming Business)
- Forza Motorsport Is Finally Getting the Nürburgring Nordschleife Today (Road & Track)
Insider Gaming’s Mike Straw sits down for an exclusive 1-on-1 interview with iRacing President Tony Gardner. - Canceled IMSA Game Almost Revolutionized Console Sim Racing Before Gran Turismo (The Drive)
- Forza Motorsport Developer Shares ‘Exhausting’ Experience Making the Game (Thye Drive)
Le Mans Ultimate now on SALE in Early Access worldwide! 
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.