Grass Roots Motor Sport – UK

Introduction

I had intended to write about e-motorsport and sim racing at some point, but did not think that this Blog would come quite so early in the schedule. However, with worldwide & national motorsport coming to a halt – albeit we hope temporarily, the only motorsport that is currently running is either repeats of past glories and classic races on TV and other media or that of e-sport.

For some years now many kids – large and small – have cut their teeth on such platforms as Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation series; both offering a wide range of motorsport applications. With recent developments and the lockdown, some kids may find to their horror that dad is now hogging the settee and the console…

The lockdown has led to a proliferation of e-sport and Sim racing as the only sport in town and with little personal experience of gaming – motorsport or any other; I decided that there was no better time than now to find out what it is all about. My piece that follows is a layman’s guide to sim racing and e-motorsport and I am seriously considering trying it for myself.

Sim (Simulator] Racing

So what exactly is sim racing? In its simplest terms sim racing describes a computer program used to accurately simulate auto racing complete with real-world variables such as car set-up, weather condition and race and track condition. The physics of vehicular behaviour are a key factor in the experience. Those that participate in sim racing are as serious about their sport as are the most dedicated of real-world motor racers and in truth a commensurate degree of skill is required. The software used to provide sim racing often licenses real cars and racing leagues.

Each sim racer may be located in his own sitting room but with clever software they are placed in an on-line environment whereby a whole field of drivers can race each other. The racing is very realistic and on-screen the drivers appear as if they are in a real-world race.

Skilled sim racers at the top of their game have, on occasion, made a successful transition to auto racing and many top-line racing drivers have proved their worth in sim racing. Of course, in real-world a racing driver is at risk of physical injury or worse if he makes a serious on-track mistake whereas the sim driver in a similar situation will escape with little more than a bruised ego…

In a sense, a sim racer must understand all of the real-world variables that enable a racing driver to extract the best performance from a given racing car including type of car, suspension settings, fuel usage, tyre wear and grip, weather conditions and car damage sustained in on-track incidents. Successful sim racing drivers must fully understand the principles of all aspects of car handling and the racing environment that make real-world racing so challenging. Not only does he need to understand the principles, but he needs to ‘drive’ the simulator as if he is in the real-world; but without the physical feel of a car that is close to the limits of adhesion. There are aids available such as a ‘force feedback’ steering wheel and perhaps motion sensors which can give indication of a car ‘on the limit’ but a good innate sense of feel is an essential attribute. As the race progresses and fuel loads reduce and tyres provide less grip, just as in a real-world race, the sim racer will need to adapt his driving to maintain control of his car.

In addition, race craft including qualifying, driving in close company with other drivers and accomplishing overtakes without colliding or taking out other competitors must be mastered.

It is this level of difficulty that distinguishes sim racing from Arcade driving games where real-world variables are taken out of the equation and the principal objective is to create a sense of speed as opposed to a sense of realism.

Sim racing, of course, has been running for some years and has a very enthusiastic following amongst its participants. It is also true that most high profile racing teams use simulation programs to develop their cars and most professional racing drivers are familiar with these types of programs. In fact some real-world racers regularly do sim racing to refine their skills. All of the Formula One teams employ a test driver and with the lesser amount of testing time available in recent years, the test driver probably spends more time on the team’s simulator than he does on the track. Many amateur drivers also grew up with the ubiquitous PlayStation or Xbox and may even have developed their interest in motorsport because of this participation. Some drivers, including professionals, find that basic learning of a new circuit on a simulator or even a console is a boon before driving the circuit first off in real time.

Nissan GT Academy

Nissan GT Academy was a program organised by Nissan from 2008 to 2016 to take sim racers using the game Gran Turismo on PlayStation 3 from gamer to international racer. The program was very demanding and required full commitment from participants and was ultimately very successful with many successes for Nissan at the highest levels in Sports and GT class races.

Equipment

Motorsport gaming and sim racing is an extremely wide-ranging subject and I was surprised to discover just how widespread is the following and of the cottage industry that has sprung up to support it. This article will only be able to give a basic guide to the subject.  At the outset it is important to know that motorsport sim racing is not a cheap ’sport’. At the minimum it will cost about £250 for a gaming console and upgrading by adding other pieces of equipment will start you on a slippery slope that could easily lead to penury… costs that I quote are drawn from the PlayStation https://store.playstation.com/en-gb/home/ and https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/ On-line Stores, Amazon, eBay or other typical sources and must be an approximate guide – the market is a fast moving place and costs, discounts and special offers are constantly changing. It is also possible to pick up second-hand gear on, for example, Ebay and put a sim racing system together for a more realistic price. This article is not meant to be a buyer’s guide even though I will often mention the name of manufacturers and details of particular pieces of kit. Also, because this article is written during the coronavirus lockdown, supplies for some items have dried up as many factories have temporarily shut down.

Sim Platforms

Games Consoles

Both Console systems should be viewed as being ‘entry-level’ to e-motorsport and the pros include less expensive to purchase and ease of set-up. Cons are that you may only use racing games dedicated to whatever system you have bought and although a good selection of popular e-motorsport titles are available, some top-end e-motorsport titles such as iRacing, rFactor2 and RaceRoom are not available for use on the console platform. However, Formula One-2019 and previous incarnations and the excellent Assetto Corsa are available and you may decide that the ‘entry-level’ set-up is quite satisfactory to your needs. If you wish to play games over the internet as a multi-user [i.e. with other gamesters], then both Sony and Microsoft currently require that you pay an annual subscription of  £50. In addition you cannot use the free gaming distributor ‘Steam’ [more about ‘Steam’ under the PC heading]. Having labelled consoles as ‘entry-level’, both systems are quite capable of building an extremely sophisticated sim system that is extremely worthwhile to the average sim racer and only those that are challenging for top honours may require something more substantial.

Which of the two Console systems you choose is mainly down to personal choice as technically there is little to choose between them. PS4 is more popular than the Xbox with many more sold and in general use; but of course the majority of gamers will be using their consoles for many other gaming purposes than e-motorsport which must be viewed as a niche sport. Currently Xbox1 tends to be available for about £100 less than PS4 at about £250 as against £350.

Both systems come with a gamepad [otherwise known as a controller]. In a recent virtual rally competition, a competitor with a controller finished 25^th out of over 500 competitors… As in real-world with almost anything that involves skill; a talented driver with a controller using a PS4 or Xbox1 is quite capable of putting in an above-average performance and could beat a less skilled adversary with the best PC system available…

After purchasing a game or two and much practice, if you find that you are good at the games or it is an enjoyable pastime then you may hanker for something more. There are many ways to enhance your enjoyment of the console games or you might wish to swap over to the PC side. We will look at ways of moving forward after we have examined what the basic PC set-up has to offer.

PC

Your PC or laptop will need to be suitable for gaming and contain a fast processor, high end graphics card and [preferably] a 4k monitor etc. If your PC falls short in these areas then it will need to be upgraded in order for you to run the racing games software. It is beyond the scope of this article to give advice on PC technical upgrades but the cost of upgrading may be prohibitive to your budget or it might be more worthwhile to simply invest in a new gaming PC. Upgrading may cost several hundred pounds, but expect to pay £800-1000 for a middling gaming computer and around £1500 for one with a decent spec. Going the whole hog for a topline gaming PC could cost over £3000. Laptops with the same spec as a PC are about 50% more expensive and also tend to run hotter. Otherwise they are more portable…

It is quite easy to check out your PC to determine if it is gaming ready. Go to https://www.howtogeek.com/ and the page ‘How to Quickly Check If Your Computer Can Run a PC Game’. There is plenty of advice available. Also, type in https://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri  In the search box, type in a title such as iRacing or Assetto Corsa or any other title that you wish to check and hit Return. You will be presented with a report on how your PC or laptop shapes up for gaming including any area where it falls short.

Go to https://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/ . This company specialises in gaming PCs and Laptops and you can use their PC Builder page to virtually custom build your own gaming PC by adding and removing components. It will give a good idea of cost and what are suitable components and you don’t have to buy from them…

If you already own a suitable PC or laptop that is games ready then probably the least expensive method of joining e-motorsport is to purchase a games controller or joystick [it is possible to use a joystick, but they are not ideal and are more useful with Flight simulator games] for between £20 and £40 and then buy the appropriate Games Program.

Actually, you can play many games with just a keyboard and mouse, although there are dedicated gaming keyboards and mice that make gaming just a little easier and more intuitive. If you moving on from a gaming console then you must be prepared to buy the games again. Titles bought for PS4 and Xbox are not transferable to PC – nor for that matter are they transferable between the two console systems.

Upgrading from basics

Whether you have a games console or a PC the first upgrading steps are fairly similar. Ultimately you will be able to build a much better system with a PC but initially the route follows a similar path. Whatever you choose, think about compatibility; you’ll find that Logitech, Thrustmaster and Fanatec – to name three of the most popular accessory manufacturers are generally incompatible with each other and so choose the one at the outset that has all of the accessories that you might need and stick with their products…

Wheels and Pedals

Although using a controller is a feasible and relatively straightforward method of driving the car onscreen; control is far better with the use of a steering wheel and foot pedals and you are spoilt for choice here. For the PS4 or PC then the Logitech G29 wheel and pedal set at about £270 is a good first choice. It is a feedback wheel – which means that it feedbacks road conditions and gives you more feel for the road surface and cornering limits. The G920 is the Logitech choice for the Xbox1 and is also compatible with the PC. The G29/G920 are gear driven wheels, whereas belt or direct drive give much better ‘feel and feedback’; however, they are more expensive too!

A better alternative to the G29/G920 is the Thrustmaster T300RSGT wheel and 3-pedal set [not T300 which is a 2-pedal set] that is belt driven and costs around £300. Expect to pay upwards of £500 for direct drive wheels which would include the Fanatec range.

Wheel Stands

Essentially, a wheel [steering wheel] stand is a simple stand not dis-similar to a walking frame – including castors in some cases – you clamp or bolt your wheel to the top platform and bolt your pedals to the lower platform. All you then need is a chair [or sofa!!] and you are away. The main disadvantage is flexing during operation of the steering and brakes and it is less stable than a full sim rig. When finished it packs away into a smaller space than a full rig.

Sim Rig [Cockpit]

If you are considering a wheel and pedal set then you need to decide on how best to fix them in your garage, play den, third bedroom or even your lounge. Driving a game is actually a bit physical and turning a wheel and braking etc requires a stable foundation. Fortunately, there are various bits of kit available to accomplish this. If you are practical and have the facilities you could source a suitable seat from a scrap car and make a simple DIY rig to support the seat, wheel, pedals and monitor etc out of wood, pvc piping or metal [there are plenty of You-tube videos on how to go about making all of these types of rigs].

Otherwise, there are many sim rig manufacturers to whom you will pay anything from less than £200 for a Playseat Challenger [more like a deckchair, but foldable, takes up little space and is surprisingly effective] to £275 to £600 for a rig with varying degrees of sophistication.

Manufacturers include, Next Level, Playseat, Open Wheeler, GTR, GT Omega, RSeat, Speedmaster, Sim Lab, Symdeck, Trak racer, Upshift et al. I see that Playseat Store https://www.playseatstore.co.uk/ are currently offering a bundle including G29 or G920, pedals, rig and seat for £426.60 which sounds like a bargain. On the other hand you can purchase complete rigs of a high standard from about £3000 to £5000 although a professional rig may cost much much more…

Professional rigs

Ultimate professional rigs using the finest and fastest PCs and Formula one grade components cost from about £14000 to £41000; an example is Cool Performance which is used by Formula One McLaren team drivers. On the other hand the professional simulators used by the Formula one teams cost upwards of £100.000…

Headphones

A headphone and microphone set is a necessity to join in the conversation when you are ‘racing’ other competitors. Expect to pay £50-100 for this piece of kit and there is a wide range available.

Gear Shift Stick

Standard wheels are equipped with paddle shifters for gear changing. If you drive a game car with a conventional gearbox then a manual ‘H’ pattern gear shift is required for best performance. These are available for around £50-155. The Thrustmaster TH8A at £155 is said to be a good choice and it has the advantage of doubling as a sequential shifter where required. You will need a mount to support the gear stick and if you are using a sim rig then this might be an optional extra. If you are not using a sim rig then a small suitable table at the correct height might do the trick…

Handbrake

Thrustmaster, Fanatec and Heusinkveld amongst others all make sim handbrakes. The handbrake is only useful in Drift or Rally games where you might want to slide the car through a hairpin or tight bend using the handbrake. The Thrustmaster handbrake has a dual purpose and also doubles as a sequential shifter for cars that need that feature. The Thrustmaster costs £258 but you might find others such as the Toogoo for about £56.

Advanced Upgrading

Moving on from our fairly basic system – it may be time to add some serious accessories. Even if you have a PS4 or Xbox, it is still possible add many of these extra features although the ultimate system really ought to be PC based.

Monitors

If you are using a TV with your console then an HD monitor will improve your display. An HD 4k monitor of 22-27” with 144hz and a refresh rate of less than 4ms is a good spec that will tolerate future upgrades. Expect to pay from £100 to £300 depending on quality. A single monitor is the best way to start. You can mount a single monitor on just about anything plonked in front of your sofa, rig or table or you might plump for a free-standing or integrated monitor stand. Be aware that an integrated stand will vibrate if you use any kind of motion platform…

Triple Monitors

Another alternative is to use a three screen display. This set-up is favoured by top sim racers as giving the best display possible – other than VR. It may be like stating the obvious, but the three monitors should really be identical or you might experience set-up issues. If you decide on a three monitor display then a choice of monitor mounts are available from the many rig manufacturers for between £100-200. Monitor stands may stand-alone or slot into the main stand. The warning above about vibration for integrated stands is even more relevant to triple monitors.

Upgraded Steering Wheels

Most top sim racers use Fanatec direct drive wheels for best force feedback. Some high-end Steering Wheel/Pedal sets are incompatible with console systems. Expect to pay from £390 for a wheel alone and £600 to more than £2000 for a wheel and pedal set. With Fanatec it is possible to select a Wheelbase [direct drive unit] and then purchase a range of wheels separately so that you might keep a Formula One type wheel and another type of wheel – swapping them over for the different types of applications… if you go this route then you are a really committed sim racer; most players will be quite content with just one wheel. With some wheels it is also possible to change just the rim.

Pedals

Heusinkveld pedal sets are a high performance type often seen in pro set-up – expect to pay more than £600 for a set of three. Most pedal sets are three pedals yet the standard set-up has a paddle shift steering wheel which is aligned with the semi-automatic two-pedal system of many modern high performance cars. However, the third [left] pedal is a clutch pedal and is used with a manual gear shifter that must be purchased as an extra. Some racers swap the clutch and brake pedals so that the brake pedal is on the outside when driving a two-pedal car; this makes left-foot braking more easily accomplished.

Speakers

A pair of Speakers to blast out the driving noises will probably go down well with your neighbours… A wide range of speaker are available and a stand fixed to the back of the rig or separate speaker stands behind the cockpit are the usual methods of mounting them. Costs depend very much on your budget – but a set can be obtained for less than £50.

Virtual Reality [VR]

Adding a Virtual Reality headset will vastly improve your perception of things although you will need a powerful computer for it to work properly. Check whether your PC is VR ready with the SteamVR Performance Test. It has been suggested by some top sim-racers that a VR headset gives a more realistic view of proceedings than a multi-screen set-up. Prices of VR systems vary from £189 to £2000+ and popular manufactures are Oculus and HTC. Sony manufactures their own system for the PlayStation at around £300 and many VR systems will fit all three platforms of PC, PS4 and Xbox.

Motion sensors

The fitment of a Motion sensor will add to the realism by simulating g-forces as you negotiate the circuit.

Symdeck

Symdeck manufacture a range of Motion Platforms that use hydraulics to simulate surge, sway, pitch and roll and are compatible with PC, PS4, Xbox and many of the most popular cockpits and wheel systems. Prices range from about £1800 up to £3000. Oddly enough, Symdeck require you to purchase more than one module to accomplish all of the different movements…

Butt Kicker

A lower cost item is the Butt Kicker that costs around £229 from Upshift [since the cost in USA is $169 this seem very expensive in UK; however quoted prices from other suppliers were from £266 to £355!] and which gives a ‘seat of the pants’ feedback feeling to your driving. It is usually attached to the seat rear and converts sound into vibrations. However, although it can be used as supplied, the experience is much better when third party software i.e. Sim Vibe is used to drive it. A second or third Butt Kicker may be attached to, for example, the steering wheel or the pedals to further enhance your experience. Technical knowledge is required to set-up this item correctly, but there are plenty of video help on You-tube.

Button box [Stream Deck]

Sim-racing button boxes make additional in-game functions easily accessible during competition. Button boxes, range from mini-boxes that strap to the steering wheel to full-size programmable boxes that have real race car switches. The functions of checking position, laps completed and your competitor’s lap times may be accomplished while driving. Save your onscreen antics with GIFs, images, videos and audio. Tap to switch scenes, launch media, tweet your feats, and more. Mappable buttons make these tasks easier while letting the driver focus on racing. On sim games like iRacing, even pit stop strategies can easily be altered at the push of a button. A PC USB button box, whether it’s on your wheel, dashboard or on your console, makes it simple.

Equipment Summary

Almost all upgrade accessories can be fixed on PS4 and Xbox systems – the main weakness for console systems are not being able to run top sim racing programs such as iRacing, rFactor 2 or Race Room and they may not be capable of running the more sophisticated accessories. Ultimately, the faster PC processors will eventually outperform the humble console…

Gaming Programs

We are mainly looking here at sim racing titles that usefully reflect the art of sim racing. So called Arcade games i.e. games for amusement are being disregarded which will rule out titles such as ‘Euro Truck Simulator 2’, ‘Forza Horizon 4’, all of the ‘Need for Speed’ titles, ‘Grid’ and ‘Grand Theft Auto’ etc. The following titles including some off-road titles are loosely reviewed in order of how useful they are to a beginner leading eventually to the best and hardest to learn Titles. A few off-road titles have been thrown in for those that like to do it in the dirt… the reviews are necessarily brief and we may expand upon them in a future Blog… just bear in mind that games are not perfect and they all have weak areas where the game designers could ‘do better’ and a beginner might struggle.

Features in some games are that cars can be tuned or set-up to improve handling and performance, the livery can sometimes be changed to reflect your personal style. Driver licenses can be upgraded to reflect level of ability; the weather can be changed to reflect almost any kind of driving condition.

Many of the games have a basic cost and some have DLC which stands for Down Loaded Content and is a program patch where additional cars or tracks are available for downloading at extra cost. 

Most games have a single player mode which can expand to include one or two friends at the same off-line location and an on-line multi-player mode where you compete against other on-line players in competitive races. The single player mode is useful to familiarise yourself with the game, track(s) and your own set-up before you venture into the world of sim racing and where you may also race against Artificial Intelligence [AI]. It is also useful to learn a new circuit or familiarise yourself with an old one before you drive it in real-world trackdays or competition.

Gaming programs are available from many sources including Amazon and eBay but well worth considering is to download gaming programs from the gaming distributor Steam. https://store.steampowered.com/tags/en/Racing/ Although registration is free, you will need to purchase the games. The advantage of using Steam is the convenience of finding all the Gaming Race Programs listed ‘under one roof’ as it were’ and that once you have purchased a game it will always be yours. This means that you can download a game to any PC [not just your main PC] anytime and use it for as long as you wish, remove it from your PC [you might want to save space] and then download it again when required. Generally, the cost of the games are similar to what you would pay everywhere, but from time to time Steam puts some titles on special offer and substantial savings are possible. You might not have the inclination to wait though…

Forza Motorsport 7

Forza Motorsport 7 is a good starting choice for beginners to sim racing. It is described as a video game with sim-like qualities but is only available for Xbox and PC. It covers some great tracks such as Nurburgring Nordschleife, Silverstone and  Laguna Seca and many others and you have a choice of 700 different cars – just about everything from road to track – too numerous to list and dynamic weather condition are available.

Gran Turismo (GT) Sport

GT Sport is another good choice for beginners to sim racing. It is only available for PS4 and PC and supports VR. The title includes 327 mainly sports cars and 82 track configurations in 32 locations. It has an Arcade mode and a Sport mode. Tracks available include Spa, Goodwood, Barcelona, Fuji, Red Bull ring, Le Mans, Nordschleife, Monza, Interlagos, Brands Hatch, Bathurst, Suzuka and several Oval and USA dirt tracks.

Sport Mode consists of three daily races that reset every week. Players are assigned a Driver Rating (DR) and a Sportsmanship Rating (SR). The highest generally available levels are A+ for Driver Rating, and S for Sportsmanship Rating, with the lowest being E for both. There is also a special S Driver Rating reserved for players ranked in the top 200 worldwide. Car performance within each category is equalized using Balance of Performance adjustments to weight and power.

The game also features two championships, held simultaneously throughout the year: the Nations Cup, in which players represent their country, and the Manufacturers Cup, in which players represent their favourite car manufacturer. The FIA manages the series directly as they would with any of their other race series. The winners of the championships are honoured at the FIA’s annual prize-giving ceremony in Paris. This title is said to be Lewis Hamilton’s favourite.

Project Cars 2

Project Cars 2 is also a good choice for beginners to sim racing. It is available for all platforms of PS4, Xbox and PC and supports VR and Triple Screens. The title includes 180 cars of Formula, LMP, Group C, GT & GT3 modern & classic race and road super cars, 140 track layouts at 60 different locations and Circuits include: Monza, Bathurst, Brno, Brands Hatch [both], Cadwell Park, Barcelona, Spa, Daytona, Donnington Park, Hockenheimring, Imola, Indianapolis, Knockhill, Le Mans [both], Lydden Hill [Rallycross and GP?], Nurburgring, Oulton Park, Red Bull Ring (Austria), Silverstone [5 Circuits], Snetterton (100, 200 & 300 Circuits].
It includes IndyCar, Oval and Rallycross and loose surface racing (ice, dirt, mud). There is changing weather conditions for all four seasons and DLC is available. The player may select multi-player or single-player for racing against AI.

F1 – 2019

F1 – 2019 is available for all three platforms and has DLC. Everyone wants to drive a Formula One car and here is the opportunity. The Title is the eleventh instalment of the franchise, and features the ten teams, twenty drivers and twenty-one circuits present in the 2019 Formula One World Championship with some special add-ons; cars and drivers for some previous years and the FIA Formula 2 Championship are also included.

DLC includes 18 Formula One cars from the 1972–2010 seasons, focusing on the careers of Ayrton Senna & Alain Prost. The DLC also includes the 2010 McLaren MP4-25, driven by Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, and the 2010 Ferrari F10, driven by Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa. Other year games are also available separately.

NASCAR Heat 4

NASCAR Heat 4 the official video game of NASCAR and simulates the 2019 NASCAR season. It supports PS4, Xbox and PC via Steam. Features include the ability for Players to ‘Draft Like a Pro’ – team up and draft with other drivers with the drafting features. The AI runs multiple racing lines and utilizes new controls to adjust its skill range, stability and spread. Players in career mode for the first time can start in any of the four series (NASCAR Cup, Xfinity, Trucks, and Xtreme Dirt). Additional updates to the game included different tyre compounds for different track types and a track map. Also, custom cars now have an open number choice from 0-99 (including 00-09) for both quick race and career mode. DLC includes the ability to race Martinsville Speedway at night.

Assetto Corsa

Assetto Corsa is a proper simulation Racing game and is very popular amongst sim racers having a wide variety of cars available to include race cars of many types, road cars, sports cars, supercars, classics, Formula One classics, and some oddball stuff. It supports PS4, Xbox and PC and a whole range of peripherals like mouse, keyboard, steering wheel and pedal sets, gamepads [controllers], triple-displays, virtual reality head-sets and motion systems. The software can also be extended through third-party content.

A variety of session modes and session settings are available for offline and online play which include special events, custom championships, hot lap, quick race, drift, drag and race weekend sessions which can be played alone or against AI or against other players online. It is probably the best quality racing simulator program available for the console systems.

Tracks include some UK and worldwide hill climbs and tracks including Goodwood FOS, Pikes Peak, IOM TT course, Monte Carlo stage 3, Cadwell Park, Castle Combe, Croft, Donington Park, Goodwood, Knockhill, Oulton Park, Snetterton, Thruxton, most F1 circuits, Kyalami, Circuit de la Sarthe [Le Mans], Red Bull ring Austria, Nürburgring Nordschleife, Watkins Glen, Daytona, Sebring, Fuji, Jerez, Daytona, Paul Ricard, Suzuka, COTA, Indianapolis, Spa and many others.

Assetto Corsa  Competizione

Assetto Corsa Competizione is a racing simulator in some ways similar to Assetto Corsa in which players can drive race cars against AI offline or against other players online. However, the game is an officially licensed simulation of the 2018 and 2019 Blancpain GT Series season Sprint and Endurance Cups and the Total 24 Hours of Spa and is set to serve as a platform for e-motorsport. It includes offline career, custom championship, custom races and special events gameplay modes as well as online multiplayer, with session types consisting of Free Practice, Hot Lap, Superpole, Hot Stint, Quick Race (one race up to one hour), Sprint Race Weekend (with up to two practice, two qualifying sessions and two races up to one hour in length) and Endurance Race Weekend (with up to two practice, four qualifying sessions and a top-ten superpole. Races can be made into single-make sessions, allowing creation of series such as Porsche Carrera Cup, Lamborghini Super Trofeo or Audi R8 LMS Cup.

Off-road Racing Games

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Off-road Racing Games include Dirt 2 and 4, WRC and Dakar 18. Dirt 2 and 4 encompass Rallying and Rallycross, WRC7 and WRC8 are the official games of the 2017 and 2019 W0rld Rally Championship and Dakar 18 covers the 2018 Dakar Rally held in South America and includes five categories of vehicles including cars, trucks, motorcycles, quads and UTVs. All Titles are available on PS4, Xbox and PC platforms. The Dirt series tends to be better regarded than WRC7, although WRC8 has been better received by critics… Dakar is said to be very difficult to play and is mainly about navigation – but very ‘satisfying’ to get right. DLC is available for some of these games.

Really Serious  Games

The last three titles are not available on the console platforms and here you will find serious competition and dedicated sim racers. All of these games have been used as the engines to drive one or more of the e-series played by professional motorsport racers side-lined by Covid-19. However, one serious game already mentioned is Assetto Corsa and this game is available for both consoles and PC.

Automobilista 2

Automobilista 2 is a racing simulation game for PC alone and available to download from Steam. It is rated quite highly amongst experienced sim racers for having good physics, good multi-player racing and decent AI racing. Tracks include Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park, Jerez, Monaco, Donington Park, Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Oulton Park, Suzuka, Mount Panorama Circuit, Snetterton and others. DLC includes Hockenheimring 1977, 1988, 2001 and Silverstone 1975, 1991, 2001. There are a reasonable range of cars but nothing too exciting.

Race Room

RaceRoom is a free-to-play racing simulation for PC alone and is home to official race series like DTM, WTCR, WTCC and ADAC GT Masters. Tracks are mainly European with a smattering of Asian and American. Cars, of course, are mainly GT type saloon cars. RaceRoom is available to download through Steam or through http://game.raceroom.com/store/ .

RaceRoom offers many different game modes such as Practice, Leader board Challenges, Single Races, Multiplayer and Online Competitions Races and Custom Championships et al. The simulation also includes an online portal that keeps track of player statistics and leader board entries for the convenience of the players. The ‘Free’ part includes 5 track and 5 cars and there is a whole range of DLC tracks and cars that may be purchased. Costs can soon add up… The Adaptive A.I. automatically adjusts opponent difficulty based on the player’s performance or can customise opponent difficulty to his liking.

R Factor 2

rFactor 2 is a racing simulation for PC only that offers great graphics, vehicle and race customisation, single and multiplayer racing play. A player may race against a field of AI cars, or others in multi-player mode against others. The simulation supports a full day-night cycle as well as dynamically varying weather conditions such as rain. Tracks feature “real-road” technology that changes the grip as more cars drive on it. In multi-player mode, driver swaps are also supported, allowing players to run full 24 hour endurance events. Everything can be customised by the community, including adding new tracks and cars, and a wealth of DLC is available on-line. There is a free demo mode that may be downloaded through Steam so that a player may ‘try before buy’.

It is often modified and used by professional racing teams for driver training and race car development. Much of its source code is derived from rFactor Pro which is also used by professional racers and most of the Formula One teams and NASCAR manufacturers. rFactor 2 is designed to simulate any type of multi-wheeled vehicle of any era including four-wheeled and six-wheeled vehicles with either two or four steered wheels. It features an advanced physics, suspension, and tyre model.

Cars are mainly sports racing cars with a number of Formula type cars including Formula and tracks include some Formula E tracks, the 2020 version of Zandvoort and a number of other interesting venues.

iRacing  

iRacing is a racing simulation for PC, MAC and Linux based computers that is arguably the definitive on-line racing game. Although certainly the widest known and most popular it also has its detractors. It is available through Steam, but to take advantage of iRacing’s discounts, it may be better to buy direct.

iRacing can organise all your racing with over 150 cars and tracks and 40 official series, or a player can choose to host their own race or race in one of over 800 private leagues. iRacing can offer open practice, qualifying, testing, ghost racing, time trialing competition or team racing where several players share driving and race in events up to 24 hours long.

Although many say that it is not for beginners, a player has to start somewhere and I guess it makes sense to play some of the less demanding games before moving onto iRacing.

After registration and payment of your first subscription, the player starts with a Rookie-level license in all categories. In order to advance onto the “D”-level license and beyond, the user must complete a number of races with little to no accidents, off-track incidents, or losses of control. As the user achieves the higher-level licenses, they qualify to compete in more official series. The licenses categories are Rookie, ‘D’, ‘C’, ‘B’, ‘A’ and Pro and Oval and Road Licenses need to be earned separately.

For the standard official series managed by iRacing, each calendar year is normally divided into four 12-week seasons, with all driving sessions in a series taking place on one track for each week during the 12-week seasons. Drivers can participate in practice, qualifying, license time trials, and race sessions.

The week between each season is referred to as “week thirteen”, and has its own set of series which change track each day. During Week 13 drivers cannot complete time-trials, and so cannot add to their licence level. Week 13, in general, has a more relaxed attitude, with an emphasis on fun, rather than competition. Races that are organized by members do not have to follow any official schedule. The series are divided into two main categories, oval and road, which are further divided into several license level series from Rookie to Pro, and a driver must earn each license to be eligible to participate in official race week sessions at their license level. If not qualified for the correct license for a series, drivers can still participate in practice sessions. Earning a higher license involves both participation in competitions on a driver’s current highest license level and achievement of a minimum safety record. The requirements for advancing and the licenses themselves are category-specific — in other words, a driver has a separate license for road and oval categories.

There is a basic monthly subscription and although the basic cars and tracks are included in your subscription at Rookie level; extra cars and tracks must be purchased as the driver advances up the License ladder and this leads to the main criticism of iRacing in that it is very costly to participate in. of course the counter argument is that the money to provide the service has to come from somewhere and anyone participating in real-world motorsport will understand the economics of it all…

Getting through Rookie class can also be a challenge due to the number of trolls and mad drivers who act as if in some kind of ‘banger race’. The best advice is to ‘hang back’ in the early part of a race and let the idiots destroy each other. Just drive to stay out of trouble and don’t even think about winning or doing well… Picking up the points for not crashing or not banging doors or just finishing is the target here.

Racing Games Cost Chart

Please note that the prices are correct at 9th May 2020 and that DLC is usually charged extra.

Game	Steam	Amazon	PS4 Pro	Xbox1
Multiplayer Subs pa [PS4/Xbx1]	–	–	£50.00	£50.00
Steam	£0.00	–	–	–
Forza Motorsport 7	–	£29.99	–	£29.99
GT [Gran Turismo] Sport [VR]	–	£29.99	£15.99	–
Project Cars 2 [VR]	£44.00	£19.99	£47.99	£12.49
Formula 1 – 2019	£44.99	£44.99	£54.99	£54.99
Nascar Heat 3 or 4	£23.79	£27.49	£19.99	£16.74
Assetto Corsa Ultimate	£30.53	£15.49	£34.99	£23.99
Assetto Corsa Competizione	£34.99	£34.99	–	–
Dirt 2	£24.99	£42.00	£15.99	£34.99
Dirt 4	£19.99	£6.00	£24.99	£24.99
WRC 7 – 2017	£34.99	£24.99	£47.99	£44.99
WRC 8 – 2019	NYA	NYA	£49.99	£49.99
Dakar 18	£24.99	£19.99	–	£19.99
Automobilista 2	£34.99	–	–	–
Race Room (VR)	£0.00	–	–	–
Rfactor 2 (VR)	£25.72	–	–	–
iRacing [annual subs]	£109.92	–	–	–

Tuition

 It is even possible to arrange for coaching on your simulator. One such company is iZONE and  a company instructor can coach you remotely in a pre-arranged coaching session or you can travel to their home base at Silverstone circuit. You mutually agree on objectives and numbers of runs to be made; after each run you complete an assessment form followed by a detailed debrief and lap review. Costs run from £95+vat per hour.

Summary

Sim racers have mixed feelings over the current situation reflecting the sudden huge interest in sim racing which is generally good for the sport. But as hi-profile real-world racers and celebrities are joining sim series that replicate current racing leagues unable to run due to Covid-19 restrictions; or joining in some of the established sim leagues and there is concern that they are taking all the publicity which is perhaps not so good. It is also true that some real-world racers do compete in sim racing anyway, sometimes under assumed names….

My Participation

I have just purchase a Sony PlayStation 4 and several e-Motorsport games including Assetto Costa – I’ll let you know how I get on…