While I continue to champion the cause that sim racing is an ideal path to real-life racing, I am going to tone down the hard sell. Instead, I will just continue to bring you examples of sim racers who have started to race IRL (in real life). This week continues that tradition.
While I bring you examples of sim racers turned real-life racers like Suellio Almeida and Chris Rosales, I also bring you the teaser to the new mini doc on the Screen to Speed program, the power of Esports and Gaming Sponsorships, tons of racecraft tips, sim racing rig setups for beginners and more.
As usual, there is competitive and general sim racing news, my regular sim racing tech roundup and more. And if you are a real life racer wondering how to use sim racing as a tool to improve your racecraft, check out this week’s racecraft column where you will find 5 sim racing drills for real life racing.
All this in this week’s edition of the Sim Racing Roundup on Motorsport Prospects. Its sim racing news for racers not gamers.
From Sim Racing to the Real Thing
Watch the first ever mini-docu of women in sim racing on June 25th on Init Esports Twitch page at 12p.m. PDT, 3 p.m. EDT, 9 p.m. CEST. I have covered the Screen to Speed program in the past on the Sim Racing Roundup and now you will be able to see what an incredible opportunity it presents to potential female race drivers.
In the video above, Suellio Almeida explains what it was like to go from sim racing to racing an endurance race at Daytona.
Chris Rosales explains how his first time racing at Watkins Glenn after sim racing for so long changed his life. “It was two hours of the most blissful existence I’ve ever felt. It was like I was 13 again and I worked up the courage to ask my crush out, better than any other impossible thing I’ve been so fortunate to have experienced. Things made sense in that car in a way that almost never make sense in my normal life, and this is the true magic of what racing is. It’s why it’s so addictive. It’s the complete control over your own fortune (at least, when it’s going right), and the flood of mind-altering chemicals that only comes from competition. And it’s a completely different level to the simulator.”
Racer explains how simulators prep IMSA teams and drivers. “It’s proven incredibly valuable as far as setup work and correlation and everything else, but as far as I’m concerned it’s not quite the same,” Bourdais said. “I can turn 500 laps on the simulator and get to the track and still feel like it’s different. It speeds up our preparation a bit, but when I get in the car, I hit the reset button.”
Have you been waiting for an entry into high performance driving or you are ready to make the jump from virtual to real? Pit Lane Sim Racing’s HPDE is a focused high performance driving school aimed at putting instruction and building good habits first, pace and speed second. Whether you have been driving for years and looking for ways to improve your driving or you are just looking to get started, they can help you reach your goal with a focused agenda and one-on-one instructor seat time whenever you are on track. More details can be found here.
Competitive Sim Racing News
The MotoGP eSport Championship is back for a seventh year in succession and looks to build on its success with an action-packed, streamlined series for 2023. This season, three Online Challenges will provide a pool of players in the Draft before 11 finalists battle it out for the crown.
The format of the 2023 MotoGP™ eSport Championship will follow on from previous editions. This season, the three Online Challenges whittle the competition down to a Draft of 22 names from across the world, plus the winner of last year’s Rising Stars Series. More details can be found here.
Drive Sports Marketing explains the power of Esports and Gaming Sponsorships. “One of the key advantages of esports and gaming sponsorships is the ability to reach the highly coveted millennial and Gen Z demographics. These tech-savvy generations have a strong affinity for gaming and esports, spending significant time engaging with the content, streaming platforms, and esports events. By aligning with esports and gaming, brands can establish a meaningful connection with these demographics and build long-term brand loyalty.”
Here are more headlines from the world of competitive sim racing:
- Motorsport UK-backed British F4 Esports Championship set for 2023 return
- Guild Esports raise £622,000 after launching Guild Simulator Facility with Fanatec, will invest in Guild Racing team roster
- “We Are Racing for Almost $1,000,000”: Mercedes’ Sim Racer Bashes F1 for Forcing Sub-Standard Resources to Compete in the Championship
- Veloce: the biggest racing name in multi-billion pound Esports industry
- Alfa Romeo F1 Team KICK Esports Joins Forces with R8G e-Sports Sim Racing Team for F1 Esports Pro Championship Pursuit
- Your guide to supporting your mental health through sim racing
Sim Racing Tips & Techniques
In Ross Bentley’s latest Speed Secrets newsletter, he explains how to sense the limit of a race car on track, contrasting the differences between someone who has done sim racing and someone who has not.
“Sim racers, because they can’t feel yaw (the rotation of the car as seen from directly above the car), tend to “drive the car off the front tires.” They initiate understeer so they can sense the car’s limit. They create that limit, then drive it. They sense the limit through the steering wheel. Many, but not all, real-world drivers who have not used sims, “drive the car off the rear tires.” Rally drivers, sprint car racers, drifters… definitely drive off the rear tires, but so do many road racers. They sense the limits of the car more by the car’s yaw angle than by what they feel in the steering wheel.”
In the video short above, Suellio Almeida shows you how to learn a TRACK FAST in Sim Racing.
In the video above, Dave Cam explains how doing this is guaranteed to make you a quicker Sim Racer.
The above poster on overtaking is courtesy of Davin Sturdivant, league owner of the North American Sim Racing Series, an Assetto Corsa Competitzone league, hosted in SimRacing.GP. They offer rookie coaching for new, and racers looking to learn, so these posters are a part of what they provide to the community.
Sim Racing Tech Roundup
Here is a roundup of the latest sim racing tech news and reviews from around the world.
- Interested in Sim Racing? Here’s Our Favorite Setup for Beginners
- How Tobii builds eye tracking that changes the gaming world
- Asetek SimSports’ Invicta Quick Release Adapter Kit launches this month
- D-BOX partners with Advanced SimRacing, a North American leading gear company in Simulated Racing
- Fanatec CSL DD “Ready2Race” Bundle Now Available for $399.95
- Moza R5 Bundle review: What I wish I had when I started sim racing 1 year ago
- Step Up Your Digital Driving With the Best Sim Racing Wheels
General Sim Racing News
- All RaceRoom content free to try until 25th June
- Codemasters actively working on F1 23 anti-cheat
- F1 23: How To Change Teammates
- Forza Motorsport’s New Car Building-Focused Career Actually Sounds Great
- The future of racing: Turn1 Sim Racing puts Guelph on the esports map
- Put the Pedal to the Metal with the Best Sim Racing Games
- 6 Sim Racing Games That Put You Behind the Wheel
- Forza Motorsport (2023) Guide: Car List, Track List, Videos, Screenshots, & More
- Forza Motorsport vs Gran Turismo 7 Graphics Comparison
- F1 23 review – A fantastic racing sim that stops short of the podium’s top step
- Is F1 23 available on the Nintendo Switch?
- Covers pulled off Le Mans Ultimate Game at Centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans
- Forza Motorsport preview: cars are ‘built not bought’ as Xbox’s sim racer goes full CaRPG
- Forza Motorsport Impressions
- F1 23 review – a podium finish
- The Goodwood Race Simulator Experience
- Norris delivers F1 23 video game verdict
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.
