Yeah, and considering, he was Sim Racing based before hand, and his family funded and supported him, it was a real life rags to riches in the motorsport world.
Here is pictures of my daughter ( she is 18 now LOL ) sitting in his car
Can a Sim Racer Perform in a Real Race Car?
- Thread starter Paul Jeffrey
- Start date
Here is pictures of my daughter ( she is 18 now LOL ) sitting in his car
Thanx Paul, very decent and deep article. I agree with you in many aspects. Sim racer, in technical and mental aspects may be competitive for the real life racers. But physical aspect of proffessional approach to copete in the real racing car is a significant disadvantage for the simmer. Try to wave your hands through 90 minutes, in the same time, try put your head against lateral forces again and again in the long amount of time. Imagine, the muscles of your torso are in continous pumpin action... Huh, driving proffessional racing car is also a hard physical work which demand deep preparation.
ThatRacingGuy
I drove 88 MPH last night... weird stuff happened
Meanwhile Olli is sitting on the sofa and eating dinner
Brandon Wright
I may not be fast, but I'm wide!
There's two separate and distinct parts, the mental aspect and the physical aspect. Obviously sim racing doesn't do a whole lot to prepare you for the physical aspects, but it does teach you muscle memory which is valuable. But with regards to the mental aspect what you learn in sim racing can directly transfer to the real world. Knowing how to react to cars in front of you, or behind you, knowing to pace yourself early, being able to keep your cool when someone's riding your tail, knowing where to position your car to defend from an attack, all of that can be applied 1:1 to the real world.
Also knowing the basics of car control, like knowing when to feather the throttle, trail-braking, or how/when to apply opposite lock, can carryover too if you're a wheel user. When I do karting or auto-cross I'm always amazed at how my body just knows how to respond to various car behaviors.
But yeah, not much can prepare you for the g-forces or things like extreme neck strain except for the real thing. But all of that is only part of the equation (an important part, for sure).
Ghoults
Lasse Luisu
G-forces are a bit double edged sword too. G-forces in real life generally help you feel the changes in the car before it happens. In sims we need to visually see the car movement, or hear the tire squeel (ffb can help though) before we can react to it even though the suspension and tire deflection and car roll etc. is there. But hard to see especially on stiffly spring cars because there is so little of it. Also I think there are differences between sims here too.
But the g-forces can be a negative as well. In sims we can drive really hard over bumps and kerbs. We can easily go flatout through Schwedenkreutz in nordschleife in f1 car or group c car. In real life the vertical g-forces at the bottom of that valley would make it really difficult to move your foot from the accelerator to the brake. Similarly in monza in sim you can attack the kerbs super hard and when the car lands after going over the kerb you can give it just the right amount of throttle to instantly get at the optimum slip angle which gives you the most grip. In real life when the car bounces you move little in the seat as well and as such you can not but such precise with your steering and pedals.
Agreed. The only missing mental factor is fear
Much as I adore rallying, and much as I have a fairly high threshold for adrenaline-fuelled sports, when I watch the insane in-car footage from WRC in the likes of Finland I just know that I couldn't do that. I could cope with lots of rallies no doubt, but a few of them require you to be clinically bonkers
I see a lot of people talking about the G-forces.
While the G-forces in Formula 1 cars, and in the high caliber open wheelers in general are very high, that isn't the case for most race cars. Most professional racing drivers in the world are cup/GT/touring car racers...and those - with all respect - don't have the highest of g-forces. Driving a GT3 car is not too much different from a modern sports car, quite the opposite, by now there are modern sports cars out there that have more extreme capabilities then GT3...better acceleration, more power, better aero...
I don't have the actual numbers, but i doubt that you get more then 2G in a corner out of GT3 car..that's a lot less then a hard turn in even the simplest of aircraft...and really no deal. 4-5G and more starts to hurt and kill your muscles.
So while i think it takes a lot to race open-wheelers, especially Formula 1 and near classes (probably 99% of Simracers couldn't even set off, let alone warm the tyres enough), i think GT3 is really easy mode when it comes to professional racing, and anyone who is good in simracing can take that over into a GT3 car..fear will of course play it's part furthermore, but since the limits of those cars are a lot more moderate, they are not too hard to reach (at least 98% of the limit). Having driven both racing Karts, and modern high performance cars (600hp), i think even Kart takes more from the body then GT3 racing...Kart racing will give you bruises on your hands, and strain your shoulder muscles with time (no deal when you go in the gym regularly, but still). GT3 with their power steering not so much. I steared a DTM car 2 years ago, while it was standing, and i couldn't believe how light it is...steering wheel feels almost weightless, like FFB put to 30%.
While the G-forces in Formula 1 cars, and in the high caliber open wheelers in general are very high, that isn't the case for most race cars. Most professional racing drivers in the world are cup/GT/touring car racers...and those - with all respect - don't have the highest of g-forces. Driving a GT3 car is not too much different from a modern sports car, quite the opposite, by now there are modern sports cars out there that have more extreme capabilities then GT3...better acceleration, more power, better aero...
I don't have the actual numbers, but i doubt that you get more then 2G in a corner out of GT3 car..that's a lot less then a hard turn in even the simplest of aircraft...and really no deal. 4-5G and more starts to hurt and kill your muscles.
So while i think it takes a lot to race open-wheelers, especially Formula 1 and near classes (probably 99% of Simracers couldn't even set off, let alone warm the tyres enough), i think GT3 is really easy mode when it comes to professional racing, and anyone who is good in simracing can take that over into a GT3 car..fear will of course play it's part furthermore, but since the limits of those cars are a lot more moderate, they are not too hard to reach (at least 98% of the limit). Having driven both racing Karts, and modern high performance cars (600hp), i think even Kart takes more from the body then GT3 racing...Kart racing will give you bruises on your hands, and strain your shoulder muscles with time (no deal when you go in the gym regularly, but still). GT3 with their power steering not so much. I steared a DTM car 2 years ago, while it was standing, and i couldn't believe how light it is...steering wheel feels almost weightless, like FFB put to 30%.
Tume
The unlucky Finn
Yes, of course.
While real racing is still a different world it's still essentially racing. You know how to take driving lines, learn braking points, all that stuff. What truly separates simracing and motorsports is the physical strain. (And physics, obviously. How the car interacts with the road and vice versa).
While real racing is still a different world it's still essentially racing. You know how to take driving lines, learn braking points, all that stuff. What truly separates simracing and motorsports is the physical strain. (And physics, obviously. How the car interacts with the road and vice versa).
I might not be the fastest around, so to say, while raw speed can't really be measured...I mean Greger Huttu is said to be the absolute best but look, Huis beat him in the eSports ePrix event. More to the point, we all have our good qualities and something we're good at. For example, give Greger a "different" car, maybe even Formula E for example, and he can't drive it as fast as an F1.
Where am I going with this? Well, I'm just saying, meanwhile motorsports and simracing have the same idea, they're still different. I said I'm nowhere near the best in the world, but what would happen if I got an opportunity to test a racing car? No one will know until I get that said opportunity. Which I unfortunately don't think is going to be soon, I can only hope. Meanwhile, all I can do is practice with simracing.
EDIT: forgot to add; fear factor. Crashed your car in rF2? Oh that's fine, just Esc back in the garage and try again. In real life? Umm...
Where am I going with this? Well, I'm just saying, meanwhile motorsports and simracing have the same idea, they're still different. I said I'm nowhere near the best in the world, but what would happen if I got an opportunity to test a racing car? No one will know until I get that said opportunity. Which I unfortunately don't think is going to be soon, I can only hope. Meanwhile, all I can do is practice with simracing.
EDIT: forgot to add; fear factor. Crashed your car in rF2? Oh that's fine, just Esc back in the garage and try again. In real life? Umm...
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When people behind a 2D screen really think they can do the same as the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 hours drivers do...i would suggest to see a doctor. We play games and even DCS A-10C is a game...in the end. It is NOTHING(1 G vs 7 G's) compared to the real deal. As i said before: i see it as an big insult to the real drivers when gamers think they can do the same from their chair behind a screen with a FFB wheel crashing into the wall only pressing "restart"....what a joke! We play games period
We play games periodMatheus Machado
Talking Door Racing
My opinion to a general question is no.
Even though it can be a good learning tool for general driving and circuit learning it hasn't reached the point of realism required to properly simulate a racing condition. Not even taking into account the physical aspect there.
On the software aspect: Most of the racing categories involve some sort of contact in their races and that area is very poorly simulated across all sims currently on the market, also, variables like track grip, mechanical failures and fading performance aren't taken into account. Wet racing and off road racing also still consists of low grip surfaces in sims, while irl it is much more than that.
On the mental aspect: If you fear hitting a wall irl you most likely also fear hitting it in a sim, so that "just press restart and you are ok" argument isn't relevant imo. However, keeping concentration in an uncomfortable, hot and sometimes wet cockpit is harder than in a comfortable sim setup. Not to mention the physical fatigue is way higher, therefore influencing on the mental aspect as well.
On racecraft: I see simracing and real racing as completely different forms of racing. Irl bumping (not crashing) is a part of racing in 99% of the categories (exclude open wheelers). If you do it in a sim you are most likely throwing cars into the circuit's parking lot, while in categories where you can't touch other cars you can get away with the same minor contacts allowed in all the games represented classes.
Because of this discrepancy, generally we see far more aggressive behaviour irl and completely different overtaking. Therefore the racecraft you learn in sims don't apply irl and vice versa.
Politics: Chances are you won't be losing millions if you don't perform that overtake, and after the racing is done you don't have to deal with media outlets, finding a sponsor so you can keep racing. In sims it is you and yourself only most of the times, the worst that can happen is starting havoc within your team, most likely ending up in a whatever game match at the end of the day.
Big time real drivers are covered by the media just like any other big sports athletes and money, as always, is above everything in the sport. You aren't making money? Get out.
On the physical aspect: Needless to elaborate sims are the supreme workout right? 25Nm wheels have more torque than motorbikes!
We have some exceptions of guys who made it from sims to RL, just as we have exceptions of RL drivers who are good in sims. But from what I see the general rule is it doesn't translate from one way to another.
Even though it can be a good learning tool for general driving and circuit learning it hasn't reached the point of realism required to properly simulate a racing condition. Not even taking into account the physical aspect there.
On the software aspect: Most of the racing categories involve some sort of contact in their races and that area is very poorly simulated across all sims currently on the market, also, variables like track grip, mechanical failures and fading performance aren't taken into account. Wet racing and off road racing also still consists of low grip surfaces in sims, while irl it is much more than that.
On the mental aspect: If you fear hitting a wall irl you most likely also fear hitting it in a sim, so that "just press restart and you are ok" argument isn't relevant imo. However, keeping concentration in an uncomfortable, hot and sometimes wet cockpit is harder than in a comfortable sim setup. Not to mention the physical fatigue is way higher, therefore influencing on the mental aspect as well.
On racecraft: I see simracing and real racing as completely different forms of racing. Irl bumping (not crashing) is a part of racing in 99% of the categories (exclude open wheelers). If you do it in a sim you are most likely throwing cars into the circuit's parking lot, while in categories where you can't touch other cars you can get away with the same minor contacts allowed in all the games represented classes.
Because of this discrepancy, generally we see far more aggressive behaviour irl and completely different overtaking. Therefore the racecraft you learn in sims don't apply irl and vice versa.
Politics: Chances are you won't be losing millions if you don't perform that overtake, and after the racing is done you don't have to deal with media outlets, finding a sponsor so you can keep racing. In sims it is you and yourself only most of the times, the worst that can happen is starting havoc within your team, most likely ending up in a whatever game match at the end of the day.
Big time real drivers are covered by the media just like any other big sports athletes and money, as always, is above everything in the sport. You aren't making money? Get out.
On the physical aspect: Needless to elaborate sims are the supreme workout right? 25Nm wheels have more torque than motorbikes
!We have some exceptions of guys who made it from sims to RL, just as we have exceptions of RL drivers who are good in sims. But from what I see the general rule is it doesn't translate from one way to another.
Sims can be an important tool for making drivers better prepared (big name teams wouldn't be investing in them if this weren't the case).
If you are fast in a sim (or sims), is there any guarantee you'll be fast in a real car? Hardly.
I think a well modeled car/track combination can certainly help you learn basic reference points (i.e. turn in, apex, track out) and, given high quality opponents (whether they be AI or human), it can also help you with race craft type stuff (like where are the good passing opportunities vs where you absolutely do not want to be side-by-side with someone). This will allow a driver to maximize their wheel time and give them a head start on focusing on finer details relative to someone just coming to the track having done nothing but maybe looked at a track map and cross-referenced it with YouTube videos.
The main shortcoming of sims are always going to be the lack of G-forces. This is the single biggest/most important source of sensory input for real life drives and it's completely absent from our home sim setups (unless you are lucky enough to have a motion simulator, but even those are only an approximation of the real thing). The implication is that, since sensory input #1 has already been taken off the table, sims are left to try to exaggerate (and, in some cases, even invent) other inputs...so the skills you'll develop in a sim will never be sufficient (on their own) to make you fast on a real track.
The other factor that I think is easy for us to minimize as sim racers is the "I shoulda worn a diaper" factor. When many of us daydream about what it would be like to be a real racer, it's easy to place yourself in say a Sebastian Vettel's seat...he's being paid handsomely by a team with gobs of money to drive an incredibly safe (in racing terms) car on incredibly safe (again, in racing terms) tracks. Contrast this with the vast majority of racing seats outside of the big money F1 teams and you'll find it's much more common that either the driver himself (or herself) has "skin in the game" from a financial standpoint AND/OR that the driver is racing for a team that can't really afford to have their ride smashed up (and will decide to find another driver really quickly if they suspect their current driver is at risk of doing so). On the safety side, outside of F1, you'll find a spectrum of safety ranging from "exceptionally safe" to "does my wife remember where I keep my will?"
That's a long winded way of saying "driving a car fast is scary"...we tend to take that for granted as sim racers, I think.
If you are fast in a sim (or sims), is there any guarantee you'll be fast in a real car? Hardly.
I think a well modeled car/track combination can certainly help you learn basic reference points (i.e. turn in, apex, track out) and, given high quality opponents (whether they be AI or human), it can also help you with race craft type stuff (like where are the good passing opportunities vs where you absolutely do not want to be side-by-side with someone). This will allow a driver to maximize their wheel time and give them a head start on focusing on finer details relative to someone just coming to the track having done nothing but maybe looked at a track map and cross-referenced it with YouTube videos.
The main shortcoming of sims are always going to be the lack of G-forces. This is the single biggest/most important source of sensory input for real life drives and it's completely absent from our home sim setups (unless you are lucky enough to have a motion simulator, but even those are only an approximation of the real thing). The implication is that, since sensory input #1 has already been taken off the table, sims are left to try to exaggerate (and, in some cases, even invent) other inputs...so the skills you'll develop in a sim will never be sufficient (on their own) to make you fast on a real track.
The other factor that I think is easy for us to minimize as sim racers is the "I shoulda worn a diaper" factor. When many of us daydream about what it would be like to be a real racer, it's easy to place yourself in say a Sebastian Vettel's seat...he's being paid handsomely by a team with gobs of money to drive an incredibly safe (in racing terms) car on incredibly safe (again, in racing terms) tracks. Contrast this with the vast majority of racing seats outside of the big money F1 teams and you'll find it's much more common that either the driver himself (or herself) has "skin in the game" from a financial standpoint AND/OR that the driver is racing for a team that can't really afford to have their ride smashed up (and will decide to find another driver really quickly if they suspect their current driver is at risk of doing so). On the safety side, outside of F1, you'll find a spectrum of safety ranging from "exceptionally safe" to "does my wife remember where I keep my will?"
That's a long winded way of saying "driving a car fast is scary"...we tend to take that for granted as sim racers, I think.
Great article @Paul Jeffrey and an interesting topic to discuss.
Ive sim raced for close to 19yrs, but @55 I wanted to experience something real, something that was tangible, so I purchased a 2nd hand Rotax Max Kart, along with all the associated safety gear, helmet, gloves, boots and a race suit, which we don't have to wear in sim-racing, with the exception of gloves & shoes for those that use them of course.
The thing I did notice was the weight of my helmet, 3kg, add this to the weight of your head 4.5 to 5kg, and there's a recipe for a strained neck right there, especially since a kart can develop up to 1.5G's through tight corners flat out. Something I had to consider as I have severe arthritis all through my neck, hence I use a helmet support to protect my neck, much like a H.A.N.S device.
On my first outing in my new toy, I wasn't fearful because I knew what it was all about due to my sim racing years, no butterflies no hesitation. After a few laps acclimatizing and learning the track, I started to push and with each lap push harder. But the harder I pushed the harder it became physically, after several laps my hands started to ache, you wouldn't believe how much effort it takes to keep this tiny race kart in a straight line, especially considering the track I was on is quite bumpy (Wanneroo Kart Track) this is an aspect of real racing that we don't have in many virtual tracks, let alone feel.
The other thing that got to me was heat, it wasn't a hot day, about 23C, but you are exerting yourself in ways you never do in a sim rig, so your body temp rises quickly due to all your muscles working against the G's, and there is little breeze getting in to cool you down due to all the race gear you need to wear. Hence after about 15-20 laps I was done, my hands were aching, my arms were pumped, my Gluteus Maximus was also aching as there is no padding in a kart seat, and I'm a skinny guy, no natural padding, lol. I realised that I wasn't as fit as I thought I was.
As far as my speed was concerned, I did okay for my 1st time out in my knew toy, the quick guys were lapping in 52-53 seconds, I was lapping in the 55-56 seconds, they even commented on my speed, which was great for my ego.
So to sum up my above experience in relation to this article, I think sim racing does prepare you mentally to a point, but the physical aspect is on another level. I can understand why physical fitness has become so important in the real world of racing, it takes a lot out of you very quickly, and this is magnified if you lack the fitness and the ambient temp is high.
Cheers.
Ive sim raced for close to 19yrs, but @55 I wanted to experience something real, something that was tangible, so I purchased a 2nd hand Rotax Max Kart, along with all the associated safety gear, helmet, gloves, boots and a race suit, which we don't have to wear in sim-racing, with the exception of gloves & shoes for those that use them of course.
The thing I did notice was the weight of my helmet, 3kg, add this to the weight of your head 4.5 to 5kg, and there's a recipe for a strained neck right there, especially since a kart can develop up to 1.5G's through tight corners flat out. Something I had to consider as I have severe arthritis all through my neck, hence I use a helmet support to protect my neck, much like a H.A.N.S device.
On my first outing in my new toy, I wasn't fearful because I knew what it was all about due to my sim racing years, no butterflies no hesitation. After a few laps acclimatizing and learning the track, I started to push and with each lap push harder. But the harder I pushed the harder it became physically, after several laps my hands started to ache, you wouldn't believe how much effort it takes to keep this tiny race kart in a straight line, especially considering the track I was on is quite bumpy (Wanneroo Kart Track) this is an aspect of real racing that we don't have in many virtual tracks, let alone feel.
The other thing that got to me was heat, it wasn't a hot day, about 23C, but you are exerting yourself in ways you never do in a sim rig, so your body temp rises quickly due to all your muscles working against the G's, and there is little breeze getting in to cool you down due to all the race gear you need to wear. Hence after about 15-20 laps I was done, my hands were aching, my arms were pumped, my Gluteus Maximus was also aching as there is no padding in a kart seat, and I'm a skinny guy, no natural padding, lol. I realised that I wasn't as fit as I thought I was.
As far as my speed was concerned, I did okay for my 1st time out in my knew toy, the quick guys were lapping in 52-53 seconds, I was lapping in the 55-56 seconds, they even commented on my speed, which was great for my ego.
So to sum up my above experience in relation to this article, I think sim racing does prepare you mentally to a point, but the physical aspect is on another level. I can understand why physical fitness has become so important in the real world of racing, it takes a lot out of you very quickly, and this is magnified if you lack the fitness and the ambient temp is high.
Cheers.
Yes, but once you get adjusted to it, it is not as much a factor anymore,the biggest obstacle to being a racing driver is seat time and the cost of it, to learn car dynamics without simulators is very costly and it became an exclusive skill as an result, not because of talent or physical limitations.
Of course once a sim racing gets into a real car, he has to relearn how to build up speed and confidence, while trying to push the limit without the idea of a hefty repair bill pulling you back, those limitations are bigger than any physical ones in my opinion.
I think race driving is one thing that is easily coachable unlike playing music or drawing, many people can lap within three to four seconds within a Pro given proper training.
Argh good old Tristan, seeing his name in the RSR F3 mod brings back memory of the old LFS days.
Or in another way, sim racers have to drive with one crucial sensory input missing, it might actually be advantageous. It is like a blind person will develop ultra sensitive hearing, we develop the ability to anticipate car performance and read change of directions in an elevated way.
Of course the first laps of a real car will probably scare us senseless, but it's the same thing faced by non-simracers, you gradually get use to the veseral assault.
Not everyone overcomes the "fear" barrier, and get used to it. It is not something everyone can do if they want, at all.
Not every Simracer will have the guts to tackle some corners with the necessary commitment, once the fear and physical factors comes into play.
It is not like "after a few laps your forget about it". Most of ordinary people dont forget about it at all!
Not every Simracer will have the guts to tackle some corners with the necessary commitment, once the fear and physical factors comes into play.
It is not like "after a few laps your forget about it". Most of ordinary people dont forget about it at all!
Ghoults
Lasse Luisu
The thing people need to remember is that the question kinda hints about a comparison situation. It is not about whether a sim racer can do it but can sim racer do it better than someone who has no racing experience at all. The answer to that is that a sim racer of course has the upper hand. Unlike all other games sim racing (and flying and chess) use the same input method as the real thing. You steer by steering wheel, you brake and accelerate with pedals and switch gears with a stick or buttons. You learn what those do and how to use them. Similarly in flying sim you learn to use throttle and joystick.
This is totally different to something like playing fps games and then comparing it to marksmanship shooting. Or being john rambo in real life. It is different thing. The point of view is the same but everything else is different. But racing sims are really close. The things you do with your hands and feet are really close. With vr even the head movement is really close.
In my mind there is no question at all whether sim racing would be a help. It doesn't mean just because I say I can drive a car in a sim that I could do 12h gt3 race in bathurst tomorrow. But take a sim racer and someone who has never sim raced with the same real racing experience and I'm sure the sim racer would do better. Simply knowing where the track goes already gives an advantage and we are not even driving anything yet.
There is also the other aspect to all this and that is natural skill. Some people are just better at different things and learn quicker. There are tons of sim racers and real life racers who are hopelessly out of pace all the time. Being able to drive a race car is not difficult. To drive it fast is difficult and to be in the top 0.1% is almost impossibly difficult. But just to perform at that slow poke level everybody can do it. If you have simraced it will definitely help you. Even if it is just about learning the track.
You learn the driving lines, apexes, power modulation. You learn racecraft. You learn to set up a pass, you learn slipstream exists, you learn various overtaking moves and ways to defend. You learn a lot about driving technique. Some people need to be taught what countersteering is. A 12-year old simracer knows what that is and can predict the way the car snaps back when you catch it. You also learn some theory about setups even if you have no idea how to change any of that stuff on the race car. And you probably shouldn't.
There is also tons of stuff you don't learn but the stuff you learn more than makes up for the stuff you get wrong. Because you can race real cars as well and learn bad habits. There are tons of videos in youtube where people race cars with manual transmissions and they have probably never even heard about heel and toe. They brake in straight line, push the clutch in, shift down and slooowly let the clutch up while we can hear the rear tires chirp. One foot on the brake, other on the clutch. A sim racer would know about heel and toe. And I'd like to think the sim racer would have the foresight to learn the theory at least before sitting in the car.
And last but not least. When sim racers think about racing it is usually f1, single seaters, nascar, wrc rally cars or gt cars. Maybe even motorbikes and lemans prototypes. Nobody jumps directly to that level with no real racing experience at all. It is not because it is expensive or because of lack of seats. It is because no racing organization would allow some guy to drive a gt car or prototype in their race event with absolutely 0 experience.
99% of all racing that is done around the world is done in karting or in relatively cheap cars with very wide ranges of skill and money All of those can be entered with no experience at all. If your experience is just sim racing then it will help. It is a lot more than nothing - which is the alternative. If we are talking about whether sim racer can do it then the question alone already proves that it does help. The question in the end is how much. Sim racing doesn't qualify your skills for the gt3 12h bathurst race but it sure does give you a benefit compared to someone who has only watched the race on tv. And similarly it does give you a good amount of base skills and theory about racing if you choose to do some of those other 99% racing events. Most importantly it gives you lots of seat time which in sim racing is free and abundant but scarse and expensive in real life.
This is totally different to something like playing fps games and then comparing it to marksmanship shooting. Or being john rambo in real life. It is different thing. The point of view is the same but everything else is different. But racing sims are really close. The things you do with your hands and feet are really close. With vr even the head movement is really close.
In my mind there is no question at all whether sim racing would be a help. It doesn't mean just because I say I can drive a car in a sim that I could do 12h gt3 race in bathurst tomorrow. But take a sim racer and someone who has never sim raced with the same real racing experience and I'm sure the sim racer would do better. Simply knowing where the track goes already gives an advantage and we are not even driving anything yet.
There is also the other aspect to all this and that is natural skill. Some people are just better at different things and learn quicker. There are tons of sim racers and real life racers who are hopelessly out of pace all the time. Being able to drive a race car is not difficult. To drive it fast is difficult and to be in the top 0.1% is almost impossibly difficult. But just to perform at that slow poke level everybody can do it. If you have simraced it will definitely help you. Even if it is just about learning the track.
You learn the driving lines, apexes, power modulation. You learn racecraft. You learn to set up a pass, you learn slipstream exists, you learn various overtaking moves and ways to defend. You learn a lot about driving technique. Some people need to be taught what countersteering is. A 12-year old simracer knows what that is and can predict the way the car snaps back when you catch it. You also learn some theory about setups even if you have no idea how to change any of that stuff on the race car. And you probably shouldn't.
There is also tons of stuff you don't learn but the stuff you learn more than makes up for the stuff you get wrong. Because you can race real cars as well and learn bad habits. There are tons of videos in youtube where people race cars with manual transmissions and they have probably never even heard about heel and toe. They brake in straight line, push the clutch in, shift down and slooowly let the clutch up while we can hear the rear tires chirp. One foot on the brake, other on the clutch. A sim racer would know about heel and toe. And I'd like to think the sim racer would have the foresight to learn the theory at least before sitting in the car.
And last but not least. When sim racers think about racing it is usually f1, single seaters, nascar, wrc rally cars or gt cars. Maybe even motorbikes and lemans prototypes. Nobody jumps directly to that level with no real racing experience at all. It is not because it is expensive or because of lack of seats. It is because no racing organization would allow some guy to drive a gt car or prototype in their race event with absolutely 0 experience.
99% of all racing that is done around the world is done in karting or in relatively cheap cars with very wide ranges of skill and money All of those can be entered with no experience at all. If your experience is just sim racing then it will help. It is a lot more than nothing - which is the alternative. If we are talking about whether sim racer can do it then the question alone already proves that it does help. The question in the end is how much. Sim racing doesn't qualify your skills for the gt3 12h bathurst race but it sure does give you a benefit compared to someone who has only watched the race on tv. And similarly it does give you a good amount of base skills and theory about racing if you choose to do some of those other 99% racing events. Most importantly it gives you lots of seat time which in sim racing is free and abundant but scarse and expensive in real life.
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Oh yes we can...we even put gloves on.We put an helmet on. My girl in a hotpants next to me with an umbrella (i would get out of the car for some time)@Boby Kim Well you can always get a motion simulator to make things more interesting
All jokes aside, real drivers walk circuits to learn about the track and study every corner.
I own 4 different game versions of Silverstone and none are the same. I own 3 game versions of GTR3 cars and the all game very different.
In the real world there is only 1 version of each!
Only if our pc game could strsss our body as much as real drivers feel (de hydration and G forces), we could be injured very badly during a crash, that same crash would wipe out a full year of dedicated hard work of hundred people and you job as driver would be on the line....u wake up in ur racechair...time to go to bed
Unless the driver is in good physical shape and has taken lessons in IRL racing, he will struggle to be competitive. The games that an average simracer will have played cannot replicate even half of what an actual driver feels and has to deal with. They are improving and getting closer, but are still just games at the end of it all.
