With Le Mans coming up this weekend, now is the perfect time to see how Felipe Drugovich, a rookie to the classic race is using sim racing to prepare to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I also highlight more sim racers having success in the real world including Malaysian brothers Naquib Azlan and Nabil Azlan as well as Max Verstappen’s sim racing teammate Chris Lulham. All this and much more in this week’s edition of the Sim Racing Roundup on Motorsport Prospects. It’s sim racing news for racers not gamers.
From Sim Racing to the Real Thing
Autosport Plus profiles Aston Martin F1 reserve driver Felipe Drugovich, who will be making his Le Mans 24 Hours debut this year. The interesting part of the story is that he is no stranger to the Circuit de la Sarthe on the simulator. After two victories in the virtual edition, he’s targeting a strong debut with the Action Express Cadillac team.
Now he has the chance to put that simulator success into practice and tame the 8.5-mile circuit for real. Drugovich readily admits to believing that the virtual world is far from a 100% accurate depiction of the real race, but still thinks his online experience will come in handy when he heads out on track.
“It helps a lot in tyre management and traffic management,” the 24-year-old reckons. “In a race with 60 cars, you’re always going to be passing people so you need to lose the least time, but you can’t take too many risks.”
The Cadillac Le Mans rookie seeking to transfer virtual success to reality
After conquering many of the largest races in the virtual world alongside Formula 1’s dominant force, Chris Lulham is now the early pacesetter in this year’s Radical Cup UK. Although the two might appear poles apart, the skills he has picked up in sim racing are proving very much relevant as Autosport explains.
“There’s a lot more elements to distract you – even the noise, the smell, the wind, whatever, there’s so many different factors to focus on,” Lulham reveals about his Radical races. “Whereas, in the sim, it’s very much tunnel vision, which can lead you to building up a lot more nerves.”
The Star explains how Malaysian brothers Naquib Azlan and Nabil Azlan are using sim racing as a springboard to the real thing. “Azlan brothers Naquib and Nabil, currently kicking up a storm under Wing Hin Motorsports, don’t come from conventional motorsports background. Normally one will take the karting or single seater route to make it into motorsports.”
Jack Hawksworth and Tommy Milner relied on a sim to help them get up to speed at the recent Detroit IMSA race. Racer explains why.
“It’s getting closer all the time,” Hawksworth said. “Sometimes, we find it very useful. Other times, it’s not quite as useful. It’s a constant exercise where you’re basically trying to get the thing closer and closer (to reality). Sometimes we get it really close to feeling like it’s the real thing, and other times it doesn’t feel quite as realistic. It’s a moving target.”
In part of an interview with Racing News365, F1 driver Valtteri Bottas gives his opinion on the value of sim racing.
“It helps, you learn the basics in the simulator and certainly online racing can be very useful,” Bottas explained. “It keeps you, in a way, on your toes. I think for young drivers going towards Formula 4 or Formula 3, for example, where testing is hugely expensive, it’s an almost free experience you get. And you can do it in more and more places,” Bottas concluded.”
Competitive Sim Racing News
- Motorsport UK Esports Introduces New 2024 Rookie Sports Car Cup (Motorsport UK)
- Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series Returns in July (iRacing)
- Grid Finder Launches IMSA Esports Gaming Community (IMSA)
Sim Racing Tips & Techniques
- F1 24 force feedback settings and tips (Traxion)
- F1 24: 5 Best Tips for Beginners (Gaming)
Sim Racing Tech Roundup
Here is a roundup of the latest sim racing tech news, reviews, and recommendations from around the world
- Nacon announces new Revosim direct drive racing wheels (The Sixth Axis)
- The best racing wheels for PC in 2024 (Games Radar)
- Forget Fanatec — I just tested Nacon Revosim’s first racing wheel months ahead of launch (Tom’s Guide)
- Moza’s Xbox-compatible R3 sim racing wheel bundle now available (Traxion)
- [Computex] Corsair shows a Sim Racing prototype (Overclocking)
- Possible Fanatec suitor Corsair previews its first sim rig (Traxion)
- Corsair Makes A Pit Stop In Sim Racing With A Customizable Cockpit For Gamers (Hot Hardware)
- Sony releases new PC-compatible adapter for PS VR2 (Traxion)
- MOZA’s New R3 Will Change Xbox Sim Racing: Win One Today (MSN)
- Moza’s Xbox-compatible R3 sim racing wheel bundle now available (Traxion)
- The GT Omega DD-X is a sim racing wheel stand that can support up to 21Nm (Traxion)
- Sim Racing: The Best Entry-Level Racing Wheels in 2024 (Box This Lap)
General Sim Racing News
- CORSAIR Accelerates Into Sim Racing (Yahoo)
- Traxion returns – welcome to the paddock (Traxion)
- Is Gran Turismo Finally Getting Pikes Peak (and New Hyundais) (AutoGuide)
- EA Sports F1 24 is Here (Podium Life)
- All F1 driver ratings in F1 24 (VideoGamer)
- League and community platform Simracing.GP launches points reward system (Traxion)
- iRacing Season 3 2024: Everything you need to know (Traxion)
- Formula Ford Festival Lights Up Automobilista 2 (Overtake)
- Rennsport Beta 1.8.5 adds Fuji Speedway and two new cars (Racing Games)
- Traxion official Media Partner for 2024 ADAC SimRacing Expo (Traxion)
- Motorsport Games Regains Compliance With NASDAQ Listing Rules (Business Insider)
- rFactor 3 was cancelled in favour of Le Mans Ultimate (Traxion)
- King of the Mountain: the ultimate way to drive the Isle of Man TT course in sim racing (Traxion)
- Dormant KartKraft could be sold (Traxion)
- Best of Computex 2024: Our 10 favorite products after a week in Taipei (Yahoo)
- Simracing.GP and Racinggames.gg Enter Media Partnership for Drive2Win (Sim Racing.GP)
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.
