Posted By: DBR9
A proper sim experience - 01/08/12 08:16 PM
I haven't posted on here for a while, University life has taken over the last 4 months or so, but for my Christmas Present my Dad brought me a 3 hour session at BPS http://www.baseperformance.net/ which is probably the closest thing to driving a top level single seater you can get. I was introduced to the engineer, who asked me what my previous racing experience once, I said rfactor, which was probably not the answer he was expecting hehe.
Anyway I started off in a Formula Renault around Silverstone, and my first thought was that this was so much better than anything I had done before, the steering was ridiculously precise, you could feel the pitch of the car and exactly what it was doing and when, after my first run, I went back and examined the real time telemetry, in comparison to a top level formula Renault driver around the same circuit, the engineer was impressed with what I had done, but that in some corners I was using the completely wrong braking technique, it is completely different than on any sim I have raced. I went back out and managed to shave 2 seconds of my best lap time leaving me about 2 tenths off the top level formula Renault drivers time, I was over the moon. I found the biggest challenge to be the brake pedal, it was so stiff, especially when I moved up to the GP2 car because you literally had to get use the weight of your whole body and stamp on it, compared to Darren Turner, who owns the place I was actually getting more pressure on quickly, which surprised me.
In conclusion as this is rambling on, I had a wonderful time, and I think even in just 3 hours my progression throughout the day was incredible and it has made me a better sim racer, the engineer said to my Dad while I was in the car, that I was as good as any Formula 3 or Formula Renault driver they had ever had, I just wish I had the budget for that. But hopefully this has proved to my Dad that if he were to lend me some money, I believe I could be competitive in some form of real life racing maybe the Mini Challenge or something. I thought this experience might be of interest to people here, if anyone wants to ask any questions about the experience I would be happy to answer. I also recommend if you ever have the chance to try one of these extreme simulators, you do so, you can learn so much more in 3 hours than in years on rfactor 1. Also I should be racing a bit more when rFactor 2 comes out, so I hope to race against you lot soon.
Anyway I started off in a Formula Renault around Silverstone, and my first thought was that this was so much better than anything I had done before, the steering was ridiculously precise, you could feel the pitch of the car and exactly what it was doing and when, after my first run, I went back and examined the real time telemetry, in comparison to a top level formula Renault driver around the same circuit, the engineer was impressed with what I had done, but that in some corners I was using the completely wrong braking technique, it is completely different than on any sim I have raced. I went back out and managed to shave 2 seconds of my best lap time leaving me about 2 tenths off the top level formula Renault drivers time, I was over the moon. I found the biggest challenge to be the brake pedal, it was so stiff, especially when I moved up to the GP2 car because you literally had to get use the weight of your whole body and stamp on it, compared to Darren Turner, who owns the place I was actually getting more pressure on quickly, which surprised me.
In conclusion as this is rambling on, I had a wonderful time, and I think even in just 3 hours my progression throughout the day was incredible and it has made me a better sim racer, the engineer said to my Dad while I was in the car, that I was as good as any Formula 3 or Formula Renault driver they had ever had, I just wish I had the budget for that. But hopefully this has proved to my Dad that if he were to lend me some money, I believe I could be competitive in some form of real life racing maybe the Mini Challenge or something. I thought this experience might be of interest to people here, if anyone wants to ask any questions about the experience I would be happy to answer. I also recommend if you ever have the chance to try one of these extreme simulators, you do so, you can learn so much more in 3 hours than in years on rfactor 1. Also I should be racing a bit more when rFactor 2 comes out, so I hope to race against you lot soon.
