How eSports Have Influenced Motorsports
Motorsports are loved across the world and while they might vary from one region to the next, the appeal of watching fast cars race around a track is universal. It’s perhaps the greatest test of speed, skill and engineering excellence, requiring incredible levels of expertise and endurance to win championships and create lasting dynasties.
However, the sport looks set to change faces and enter a new era, thanks to the rise in popularity of esports. Sim racing, as it’s widely known, has revolutionized motorsports and created a new generation of fans wanting to immerse themselves in this fast-paced world. In this article, we’ll look at the relationship between the two and what the future holds.
Sim racing’s rise in popularity
Despite once being seen as a hobby reserved for hardcore enthusiasts, sim racing has become incredibly popular in recent years and this is largely thanks to the huge advancements made in gaming technology and how we interact online.
Unlike traditional video games, sim racing is far more immersive. These virtual cars handle like the real cars we see racing around the most challenging tracks in the world, allowing racers to adjust their settings to account for changes in factors such as aerodynamics and tire degradation.
While racing simulators have been around for a while now, they’re becoming increasingly sophisticated and can cost thousands of dollars, looking and feeling like those used by the best Formula One and NASCAR drivers. To fund this improved technology, many racers now compete for huge cash prizes offered by esports competition organizers, which attract the best and brightest talents in the sim racing world.
As we’ve said, this isn’t anything new, but during the 2020 lockdown, sim racing rose in prominence due to many professional racers being forced to switch from the cockpit to their at-home racing setups. For the first time, many racing fans were able to watch their favorite drivers sharpen their skills in settings that looked much closer to their own, adding a sense of realism to a sport that has always been somewhat exclusionary.
Developing real-world talent
Racing at home and being excellent on a real-world track are very different, but it’s easy to see how one can prepare a driver for the other. While it’s a long journey from being a hobbyist to becoming a professional driver, the increased interest in esports has created another entry point for those wanting to try and reach the very top of motorsports.
A prime example of this is Jann Mardenborough, who, in 2011, won the GT Academy, which was a competition run by Nissan and PlayStation with the intention of testing the most talented Grand Turismo drivers to see if they had what it takes to become professional. From playing his favorite racing video games at home to then progressing to real-world circuits, Mardenborough eventually reached the big league, where he competed in GP3 and Le Mans.
While sim racing and esports are still relatively young in comparison to the long history of motorsports, it makes sense that virtual racers are able to adapt to professional racing. These reasons include:
Precise handling and intense focus
Much like real-world motor racing, virtual drivers need to be able to concentrate for prolonged periods of time, especially on challenging tracks or during tough conditions, such as when there’s rain or ice on the track.
Understanding how to race
It’s one thing to know how to navigate a track, but to really be a great racer, it’s vital to be able to visualize racing lines and how to maximize each opportunity, such as mastering braking points, corners and overtaking.
Reading the data
In the modern era, racers need to be as good with numbers as they are with handling the steering wheel. Virtual racers should be constantly analyzing real-time track data in order to continually improve their lap times.
While motor racing was once a sport reserved for only the rich and well connected, sim racing has considerably lowered the barrier to entry. While it still isn’t cheap, by any stretch of the imagination, the door is certainly a lot more open than it once was.
How professional teams are taking esports more seriously
As you’ve probably seen on Drive to Survive, real-world racers are now turning to sim racing as a way to get extra practice in when they can’t get on the track, which is especially important following the recent changes to regulations.
This increased interest has also seen many racing teams look to professionalize the world of sim racing further by bringing them into the fold. A great example of this is how each Formula One team now has an official esports team that competes in the F1 Esports Series.
Because motorsports racing has become a lot more popular in recent years, there are more ways for fans to get engaged. For those wanting to put their money where their mouth is, we’d recommend looking for a guide to betting on motorsports, as this can help make it a lot easier when gambling on the biggest races on the motorsport calendar.
A new era for motorsports
The growth of motorsports is undeniable, and with the increased interest in esports and sim racing, this only looks set to increase further. Despite once being dismissed as being just a hobby for those with too much time on their hands, esports and virtual racing are now ingrained in how we interact with our favorite racing teams and drivers.
