Like anything, starting out in sim racing can be a daunting task. From new jargon, questions around sim rig setups, which platform to use and more can all be confusing. In this week’s Sim Racing and eSports News Roundup, I bring you sim racing setup advice for the beginner from a reliable source of real world racing guidance.
In addition, I look at how sim racer Jimmy Broadbent won the Praga Cup Championship with his co-driver Gordie Mutch, some competitive sim racing opportunities (and one involves raising money for a great charity), tips on racing an LMP2 car in iRacing and much more.
All this in this week’s Sim Racing and eSports News Roundup.
From Sim Racing to the Real Thing
The Traxion Podcast speaks to Gordie Mutch, Jimmy Broadbent and Praga’s Mark Harrison about their victorious 2020 Praga Cup season, following the final round at Donington Park. You can listen to it here.
Competitive Sim Racing News
The SimGrid x VCO World Cup is returning for the 12 hours of Kyalami this December. On December 17th, up to 49 of the strongest Esports teams on ACC will be heading to Kyalami for 12 hours of racing, all in the hunt for part of a $10,000 prize pool. With a Custom BoP developed in-house, free choice of ACC’s GT3 grid, and teams of 3-4 drivers, expect racing of the high level you’ve come to know from The SimGrid x VCO World Cup this December. Full details and how to register can be found here.
During the broadcast of the Fall Cup Masters within the Esports Racing League (ERL), Virtual Competition Organisation (VCO) announced the return of two of its most successful formats – in one single, spectacular event. VCO ProSIM INFINITY will see 40 teams contest no fewer than 24 races within 24 hours on 9th and 10th December. Six of these must be completed by a “Pro”, who also competes or has competed in real motorsport. Full details can be found here.
DC-SimRacing and Sim Racing Belgium are proud to have partnered up to bring you a 24 hour charity race where we will be Racing for Wishes! We hope to welcome 59 teams to do a 24 hours race around the epic Watkins Glen circuit, to support the Make-a-Wish foundation. This will be a GT3-only event, and the entry fee will be from 5 Euro upwards, which of course will go straight towards the foundation. Although we appreciate every amount of money you can afford to spend, we will give out cool prizes to the teams that will be able to bring in the biggest amount for the foundation! This is to encourage you to bring in as much money as possible and seek out friends and family to support the cause! And of course there is also a prize for the winner on the track! Full details can be found here.
Get to know the McLaren Shadow F1 Esports team and see how they answered our quick-fire questions in the video above.
Sim Racing Tips & Techniques
If you are a regular reader of News Racers Can Use here on Motorsport Prospects, and especially my Racecraft & Driver Development News, Tips & Techniques column, you will be familiar with Your Data Driven. Published by Samir Abid, an engineer from Warwick, UK, Your Data Driven is a site that “contains my best answers to questions club racers struggle with. The content is mainly on helping you improve your racecar setup, data analysis and race driving.”
While Samir focuses on real world racing, he does delve into sim racing and how it can benefit real world racers by improving their racecraft. As part of this, he has developed his Beginners Sim Racing Setup Advice which is well worth the read. Not only does it explain what a beginning sim racer should look for in their rig, it also explains how a real world racer can benefit from sim racing offline for things such as:
- learning a new track,
- improving your consistency,
- perfecting your race craft and even,
- to learn how setup changes affect racecar handling.
You can read the guide here.
Gaming hardware company Asetek explains why you want a hard brake pedal. “A hard sim racing brake pedal can help to improve lap times because, with a hard brake pedal, you can build more consistent muscle memory and brake later.”
The Coach Dave Academy goes Under The Hood with their Tips and Tricks to driving iRacing’s Dallara P217. “Endurance is a special type of motorsport where races are long, more than one driver shares the car and finishing the race is an achievement in itself, never mind winning it. The Dallara P217 LMP2 is a prototype racer that’s designed specifically for endurance racing and, for many drivers, represents the perfect endurance racing vehicle.”
Sim Racing Tech Roundup
Introducing the VPG Stealth.
Simcucube have announced a brand new set of pedals with innovative true force feedback. Check out all the details from Simucube.
General Sim Racing News
According to GamesIndustry.biz, Electronic Arts has put an end to Project CARS development. “Today we announced internally an update to our racing portfolio. Following an evaluation of the next Project CARS title and its longer-term growth potential, we have made the decision to stop further development and investment for the franchise,” said a spokesperson to GamesIndustry.biz. “We are focusing on our strengths in our racing portfolio, particularly licensed IP and open-world experiences, and expanding our franchises to be more socially-led with long-term live services that will engage global communities.” We are working with everyone impacted by this decision to place them into suitable roles across our EA Sports and racing portfolio, as well as other parts of EA, wherever we can.”
As The Race notes in their post about the cancellation, it’s big promise, wasted potential but there may be hope. Traxion is reporting that original Project CARS creator Ian Bell is trying to re-hire EA team.
London E-Prix circuit at the ExCeL centre is coming to rFactor as part of the rFactor 2 Q4 content drop. See the video above.
Also coming to rFactor is North Yorkshire’s Croft Circuit. See video above.
G2 Esports has entered into a sim racing partnership with Next Level Racing according to Esports Insider. “In addition to providing G2’s drivers with cockpits, the two parties will collaborate on community activations and events. According to a release, information on the events will be revealed soon.”
Finally, nominations are now open for the 2022 VCO Simmy Awards. You can submit your nominations here.
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.