How Chris Lulham went from sim racing to the real thing, with Max Verstappen of all people, is one of the sim to real-world success stories in this week’s Sim Racing Roundup. I also have news on how a sim manufacturer teamed up with a track day organizer and more.
Overview
From Sim Racing to the Real Thing
I Became a Full Time Racing Driver Thanks To Max Verstappen!
Chris Lulham is one of the strongest “sim to real” stories in modern motorsport. The British Team Redline standout dominated top-level sim racing, including wins at the iRacing Nürburgring 24 Hours and Le Mans Virtual, plus two VCO Esports Racing World Cup titles. In 2024 he switched fully to real racing and delivered an incredible Radical Cup UK SR3 season with 16 wins from 18 races and the championship.
That breakout opened the door to Max Verstappen’s Verstappen.com Racing program. In 2025 Lulham stepped into GT World Challenge Europe, racing Endurance in the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo and Sprint with Emil Frey Racing in the Ferrari 296 GT3. The results followed fast: a class win at the 24 Hours of Spa and Gold Cup titles, proving his pace translates from simulator to GT3 paddock. He also took on the Nürburgring challenge, including the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS) in SP9 Pro, building experience on the Nordschleife.
Sim Racing Put Mullingar Man on Road to Success in Motorsport
Mullingar driver Oscar Mangan started competing in sim racing and last year made a successful transition to rallying, in the Dacia Sandero Challenge Cup. Here he describes the value of sim racing and the opportunities it offers to new drivers.
“But also I think, the success about it was that they really saw what sim racers do and how it transfers. Verstappen has said to David Coulthard that if you look at the telemetry, what sim racers do and real racing drivers do is almost identical – they’re doing the same things, braking the same way, using the same racing lines, carrying the same speed – but one is virtual. That’s why Verstappen is a big advocate for sim racers getting chances to do competitions, and he’s brought up a couple of sim racers a bit younger than me into racing in real life now.
Max Verstappen – New Ground | Official Trailer
Beyond Formula 1 with Max Verstappen: New Ground. A three-part documentary series on Viaplay.
Follow Max on a new challenge: transforming sim racer Chris Lulham into a professional racing driver. Away from F1, Max pushes boundaries and channelling his passion into developing talent from endurance racing at the 24 Hours of Spa to the iconic Nordschleife.
Virtex and Curbstone Partner to Bridge the Gap Between Virtual and Real-World Testing
Virtex, a leader in high-fidelity motorsport simulation, is proud to announce a strategic partnership with Curbstone, a premium organizer of professional track days and test events. This collaboration integrates engineering-level virtual testing directly into the workflows of teams competing across single-seater, GT, and endurance racing.
“Simulation has driven performance at the highest levels of motorsport for decades and VIRTEX is now bringing that edge to teams in every category,” says Julien Gillard, Founder & CEO of VIRTEX. “As a leading test day organizer, CURBSTONE understands the teams’ needs and delivers some of the best environments for on-track testing. This partnership allows us to expand our reach and bridge the gap between virtual and real-world testing, helping teams to arrive at the circuit better prepared, whether for a test or a race.”
Schrödinger’s Sim Racing: A Scene Both Dead and Alive
Is the sim racing scene dead or alive? Jake Sparey looks at both sides of the argument.
Competitive Sim Racing News
James Baldwin Named Mercedes F1 Sim Driver and More
- Sim racer James Baldwin joins Mercedes F1 simulator driver program (Esports Insider)
- Cayman Motoring Federation confirms athletes for Porsche Cup (Cayman Compass)
- Gran Turismo World Series 2026 heads to Abu Dhabi for opening round (Esports Insider)
- This Week in iRacing | February 10th to February 16th, 2026 (iRacing)
- eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Readies for Refreshed 2026 Season (iRacing)
- Motorsport UK Esports is looking strong in 2026 (Paul Crawford)
- UCalgary student making noise in virtual racing circuit (UCalgary News)
Sim Racing Tips & Techniques
How a Pro Sim Racer Learns a New Track (Full Process)
In this video, James Baldwin breaks down his full process for learning a brand new race track – from the first exploratory laps to analyzing data and refining technique.
“No shortcuts here; just a calm, methodical look at how a professional sim racer approaches understanding a circuit, finding lap time, and building confidence step-by-step. This is a long-form, sit-down tutorial. Take what’s useful, skip around if you need to, and treat it as a reference you can come back to.”
Sim Racing Tech Roundup
Fanatec CSL DD 5nm vs Moza R5 and More
- I raced 5,000 miles with the Logitech G RS50 — and it’s the sweet spot for aspiring sim racers (Tom’s Guide)
- Fanatec Sim Racing Gear: Precision, Realism, and Competitive Advantage (Find Articles)
- Waymo Built a Driving Simulator Using DeepMind Magic (Waymo)
General Sim Racing News
Nine New Racing Games for February and More
- Nine new racing and driving games to look forward to in February (Traxion)
- The 10 Harshest (and Most Reasonable) Community Reactions to Assetto Corsa EVO (Box This Lap)
- RaceRoom Updates Online Racing Pack After Laguna Seca Removal (Box This Lap)
- Never-Before-Released Rave Racer Is Finally Coming to Switch, PS5, and Xbox (The Drive)
- Ride 6 review: New ideas, same result (Traxion)
- The inspiration behind Ride 6’s career mode (Traxion)
- Traxion Control Podcast – Career modes in sim racing…(Traxion)
- Updates on Endurance Motorsport Series, Revosim expected this week (Traxion)
Author: Mark Boudreau
Mark is the publisher of Motorsport Prospects. As a 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.
