Sim Racing vs Real Racing

Sim Racing versus Real Racing

As I write, the global coronavirus epidemic has shut down Motor Sport. Unless you're really averse to social media, you can't have helped but notice that some of the biggest names in Motor Sport , have taken their craft online.




I recently watched the "Not The Bah GP", and I can imagine that if you're a big-name in Sim racing, but have never driven a race car, it must be quite a thrill to compete against the best in the real world. My personal experience of Motor Sport has only been Sprints, where you compete against the clock, rather than trade paint in an actual race. It's always suited my budget, and as I got older, if I'm completely honest, I don't think I've got the courage to actually go circuit racing.  I quite fancy Time Attack, or perhaps a gentleman race series in some classic cars, where the racing might be close, but the respect for the cars and the other drivers takes priority.

Having helped many customers in circuit racing over the years, I've seen many mishaps, and know how easy it is for things to go horribly wrong. There is no doubt it's a dangerous past time. When I drive on a circuit, I subscribe to the smooth is fast , School of motoring. I like to think I have a reasonable feel of the car underneath me, and use the feedback from the tyres and the chassis to drive to the limit of the circle of grip. I won a few trophies, nothing I'd shout about, and only at club level. Nonetheless, experience tells me but I'm not too bad behind the wheel. If I go karting with a bunch of mates, I may not be the quickest, but I'll rarely make mistakes and I'll be quickly on the pace and consistent. Why then, am I so abysmal at Sim racing?

I think the biggest issue is the lack of feedback, even when you have a force feedback wheel, you cannot feel the car underneath you. If I watch a scary sci-fi movie. I'm quite happy for suspension of disbelief, and will get taken in by the plot, hook line and sinker. However in a game I never seem to feel like I'm driving a real car. In an effort to get some feedback, I'm constantly straying way beyond the limit of the virtual tyres. In contrast to driving for real, I grip the wheel so hard my shoulders ache. I become a mass of tension. Frankly, it's exhausting. I genuinely find Sim racing much harder than real racing.

That is not to say that it isn't very enjoyable. Leaving your braking to the absolute last moment, and whizzing up the inside of six or seven cars into the first corner, with inevitable paint traded, is great fun. Unfortunately this only ever happens when I'm playing the AI cars on some pathetically low difficulty level. Real humans it seems are just much too fast. Perhaps that's the problem. Maybe they're not humans after all, some kind of android Sim racing synthetic. A mate of mine is extremely accomplished on Sim racing, and has had some success in real life at Sprints. But racing against him is incredibly frustrating, and just a little soul destroying. Yet I recall a track day, many years ago when things were much closer.

My real issue with Sim racing, is the somewhat draconian penalties that exist in certain games. If it isn't bad enough that it's harder to drive than real life, they make it worse by dishing out penalties where one honest mistake, leads to you ending up so far behind you want to leave the server and pour a beer instead. When you are crap at something, the last thing you need is a penalty system, designed to support experts and prevent idiots like me ruining their rights through my lack of talent. It's telling that in the recent Esports race “Not the Bahrain GP” with Lando Norris and Stoffel Vandoorne that they made a point of mentioning that track limits were not strict as apparently they'd be disqualified in 3 laps without this concession!  In addition they'd left some driver aids on to help the F1 drivers. This does seem to vindicate my position somewhat.

Recently I delved into Assetto Corsa, great game, luscious sounds – try the 312 or 599 racing Ferraris. They are sublime. Setting up games online is fiendishly complex though, and ultimately it's a game designed for good Sim Racers. Really I need a new console or a more powerful computer, but in the end the search made me realise, I'm better off just getting back on the PS3, where the online communities have long gone, and playing offline in Gran Turismo 6 and GRID Autosport – two of best Racing Games ever – that allow a Sim Numpty to shine, up to a point, rather than make you want to throw the towel in early. It must be said though that if you car ends up looking like this and you still finish 2nd - you've been lucky, and you've probably got the realistic damage effects switched off.

If you are reading this and thinking I should just do VR Racing, well I tried that and although hugely thrilling, I find it disorientating and much more difficult than a conventional screen.

Hopefully though, we'll be able to get stuck in to our Motor Sport soon, rather than standing in a huddle to get the trophies, we might as well have a loud hailer read out the results, and then drive the trophies to the 2m spaced podium, on a Nitro Powered RC Pickup Racer.  A whole new award of “Trophy Delivery Style” might even get Drift fans, to try some timed Motor Sport.