Games
Sim Racing has risen in popularity over the last few years.
Not everyone can beat Max Verstappen, but you can sure as hell try in game. Sim Racing has risen in popularity over the last few years. Verstappen himself is a dedicated sim racer, sending the F1 world into a tizz during the Imola Grand Prix as he was also competing in the Nurburgring 24 hour sim race over the same weekend. He’d go on to win both (with his co-driver claiming the sim victory moments after he claimed Imola).
South Africa is no different to motor racing enthusiasts around the world - sim racing has taken off in a big way locally, with the country producing globally recognised names.
We caught up with local racer Luke Addison, who has been playing racing games for close on twenty years and dedicated his time to competitive sim racing for the last three, to find out how best to enter the local scene and get racing.
What is the appeal, for you, about sim racing?
One of my friends transitioned to PC from PlayStation where he bought the game Assetto Corsa Competizione. He asked me if I’d like to take part in an online endurance race in the game at his house to which I accepted. I really enjoyed playing the game and I was blown away by the game’s force feedback, the car physics and overall graphics. I decided I should also switch, got myself a PC and started Assetto Corsa Competizione in April 2021.
For someone who wants to get into sim racing, what advice would you give them, especially as they’re starting out?
The best advice I could give to someone starting out is to remember to always have fun and remember that equipment doesn’t define how fast a person can go in the sim. When starting out you are not limited in ability with what equipment you use so you can compete at the top level even if you use a controller or even a low budget friendly wheel and pedal set.
Should new racers be sticking to one specific game or can they compete across multiple racing titles?
Trying out different games will give a sensation of how different categories of racing feels from WRC to GT3 race cars to F1 cars to road cars. Playing these different categories of games helps enhance the driver’s overall ability in a multitude of different categories and makes them a better driver overall. So you can drive as many or as few titles as you want. However, if you’re wanting to compete it’s always best to choose one and stick to it. Switching constantly can impact your performance across titles as they have different driving characteristics per racing title.
What gear do you need to start out?
The gear required for sim racing can be as cheap as owning a console or PC to play on with a controller or budget friendly wheel and pedal set with a desk chair.
What costs are you looking at to set up your own rig? And what is the best "starter" rig?
The startup cost for a rig can vary largely depending on whether you build your own rig using your own materials and schematics to build your own rig from scratch or purchasing a well known name brand rig such as a playseat rig or a next level racing rig. The best starter rig would essentially be whatever can make the driver as comfortable as possible while having a stable seating position. This can be a desk chair with something to stop it moving and clamping your wheel onto a desk and placing your pedals in a stable location or having a full rig.
How do new racers find competitions to enter? Are there online platforms they can go to meet the community?
Competitions are mostly run through a range of various sim racing titles such as F1, WRC, Assetto Corsa Competizione and some others. These competitions can be either online where they’d have to find information through their local leagues or mall activations within the country hosted by tournament organisers such as ACGL, The Toyota Gaming Engine and ATK.
The best online platform for fellow sim racers to meet one another is through Discord. Most of the information for tournaments, the tournament or league organisers and drivers participating will be present in that discord server.
So we've got the gear and we want to start competing - what advice do you have for new competitors?
The best advice I can give to new competitors is that there’s always room for improvement and to learn from your mistakes as mistakes can happen. So this means ensuring you practise as much as you can, watch videos of track guides, race against others faster than you to understand what they’re doing better than you and again, practise some more! Mistakes happen, it’s only human to make errors and mess up a strategy or miscalculate an overtake, learn from the mistake and try to prevent it from happening again.
COVID saw this huge interest in sim racing. Has South Africa maintained that interest? What is the local scene like?
I think the interest has remained the same for the most part as some companies have left the sim racing scene as a whole but at the same time there are tournament hosts and sponsors that have remained the same and some new interest from new sponsors in the sim racing scene.
The local scene has plenty of leagues, opportunities and great interest in growing the talent in SA through various sim racing titles which is amazing. I do think we have plenty of amazing talent that unfortunately doesn’t get to see the international side of competing just because of them not wanting to take a leap of faith as you go from top of your league to almost nowhere internationally and build yourself up from there. I feel that once you stop progressing in the local scene you should leap to the international scene as it’s a much bigger pool of talent and it can take drivers to the next level.
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STAY SHARP ON YOUR SIM DRIVES
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