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Race Report 1: Buttonwillow SCCA US Majors January 14 – 16 2022

Fully loaded team for SCCA weekend at Buttonwillow

2022 is going to be a busy and exciting race schedule for the Racer on Rails crew and the first stop was this past weekend at Buttonwillow Raceway Park.

Note, originally we were supposed to be at Sebring International Raceways for the SCCA Hoosier Super Tour but the beautiful white Christmas we had in the PNW overstayed its welcome and by the time we need to have the trucks on the road to the SE, all the passes out of WA were closed due to blizzard conditions and the alternate route going down the west coast and across the SW was riddled with freezing or snow conditions in New Mexico, Texas and even parts of Alabama.

So with about 10 days’ notice, we made the change to instead to go sunny southern California where last year, we attended this same race but it was held at Autoclub Motor Speedway in Fontana, CA.

The Team

For the first race, we had three Spec E46’s running in Touring 3 (T3) trim and one Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport running in GT2 class.

Racer on Rails drivers - 3 Spec E46's and one Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport
#44 Dave Orem, #81 Simon Asselin, #109 Gama Aguilar and #4 Ann Doherty

The normal crew of Jordan, Bryce and Gama were on hand but this was also the first official race weekend with our new Motorsports Director, Memo Calderon and our service advisor, Reid Morris.

The Fog

Not going to mince words here, it was a tough weekend and mostly due to dense fog that rolled in each night and resulted in each morning’s scheduled run groups to be postponed due to low visibility conditions.  One of the locals at one of the on-site race shops with a retail space mentioned that it had been close to 27 years since they had seen such thick fog and turns out that the volcano eruption in Tonga might have contributed to the fog conditions.

In the end, each day we didn’t get started on-track until 11am – 12noon. On the Friday test day, the run groups ran per the schedule as the organizer simply picked up when we started and had the 3 run groups doing 20 minute sessions each hour, until 5pm.

Racer on Rails cars ready to go on-track but under a fog hold on the Friday test day
Racer on Rails cars ready to go on-track but under a fog hold on the Friday test day

Thank You Safety Equipment!

There is never a shortage of reasons to not skimp on safety equipment choices, design and preventative maintenance as we never plan on having an issue where safety equipment is needed but we’re always glad when it’s there and it works.

We had two incidents on the test day:

  1. Failed front-right lower ball joint in the control arm (SE46): The #109 SE36 running in T3 trim got a near complete overhaul prior to the 2021 SCCA Runoffs at Indy, which included brand new lower control arms. Unfortunately it got taken out on lap 1 of the race which resulted in a front end impact with at least energy going through the suspension components but not a direct hit or contact. All in, the control arm and lower ball joint had 1-1.5 hours of run time prior to this weekend. On the very first session when the fog broke, lap 2, braking for Sunset corner (the last corner before s/f), the inner lower ball joint failed and the car went plowing through the corner and came to a stand still on the exit of the corner. On top of needing to make repairs to get the car back up and running, it also caused a black flag which ended running for everyone else.
  2. Rollover on the exit of the kink before Phil Hill: With the fog and being in mid-January, the track was not just green each morning from fog moisture but also stone cold. It was 38F on Friday morning and barely broke 50F once the fog cleared for the afternoon. This meant really tough conditions in terms of finding grip and in the 3rd session of the test day, the #44 took the same line as in previous laps with maybe a tiny bit more steering angle, hit the curb of the kink like normal but this time it upset the car a tad bit too much and the backend came around. The car slid off-track and when it hit the dirt, which with the moisture and temperatures was more like mud, the wheels hooked into the dirt and the car barrel rolled. We’ll have another post in the future to dissect and share how the cage and all the safety equipment faired.

Making Lemonade Out of Lemons

New track, very limited run time and low grip conditions – what do you do? Make the most of it and work on the learning process! Expectations for big results are low, so instead focus on developing and that’s exactly what each driver did, with the help of driver coaches Seth Thomas and Ray Phillips!

Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport driver, Ann Doherty, studying the track notes and areas of improvement.
Ann D studying her track notes and mentally preparing for the next time on-track.

Through the coaching from Seth and Ray, each driver made progress across the limited running and culminated in a podium position for each driver! Below are some areas that were focused on throughout the weekend:

  • Squaring off corners better in low grip/wet conditions and to setup exit of the following straights
  • Timing of transitions from brake to gas and vice versa
  • Establishing a connection or translation layer between what driving Buttonwillow in the simulator felt like relative to real life
  • Mentality to have when going into a race with changing conditions (both getting worse and getting better)
  • How to explore grip when conditions are improving
Ray Phillips doing a quick debrief after a session while in post-session tech.
Ray Phillips doing a quick debrief after a session while in post-session tech.

Moving forward to COTA in February

So we came out of Buttonwillow with 3 of the 4 cars running, 4 trophies, 1 race win, 5+ second improvements in dry running lap times from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, a new T3 track record for Buttonwillow CW14 configuration with a 1:55.376 and ready for the next round at Circuit of the Americas February 4 – 6, 2022.

  • Simon made gains across both races and had an epic battle with a T3 Porsche Boxer, having led a good part of Race 2
  • Ann made a massive step from Saturday to Sunday, dropping 8 seconds in one day and snagging two podium positions in GT2
  • Dave had limited running due to the incident but was fully healthy after being checked out by medics and will be back on track for COTA
  • Gama won race 1, broke the track record by multiple seconds and was leading race 2 (and in a battle with an STU car) but the coolant expansion tank failed, resulting in an overheating engine which forced him to retire the race but not before improving on the track record

With one new track for most of our drivers under our belt, we can adjust the preparation in the simulator and the development plans for the test day and each of the on-track race sessions.

Thanks to the team, Ann, Dave, Simon, Ray, Seth and everyone from the Cal Club who made this weekend possible and making the most out of a pretty tough first race of the year.

  • Gama and Simon on the podium for Race 1
  • #81 with a P2 Finish
  • #109 with a win on Race 1
  • P2 finish for Ann in the Cayman GT4
  • P3 in race 2!
  • Waiting in impound post-race
  • Simon strapped in and ready for a race
  • Fog fog go away!

Stay tuned for more of our adventures in 2022!

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2022 Race and Track Support Schedule

Racer on Rails 2022 Race and Track Support Schedule

2021 was a great way to bounce back from 2020 and while COVID isn’t behind us, we’re thankful that we were able to make it to all but one of the planned competition and racing events that we originally planned and even added in a couple of extra race weekends.

Thank you to everyone who was a part of our journey in 2021!

2022 is shaping up to be an even more jam packed with track action and while we’re mostly booked up for each event, we have limited available capacity to have you join us at the local .

If you aren’t already driving with us, consider this an open invitation. We are here to help!  Our current SCCA, ICSCC (Conference), NASA, Revolution Racing League and GT Celebration events are listed below. 

If there are any race weekends you would like some crew and coaching support for, please feel free to contact us via e-mail, phone or messenger – raceronrails@gmail.com – (206) 475-1114

2022 Race and Track Schedule:

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Andy Porterfield Memorial SCCA U.S. Majors @ Auto Club Speedway

Not even a couple weeks into 2021, we kicked off the racing season with a trip to Southern California for our very first SCCA race weekend and a U.S. Majors Tour event at that!

We love the Spec E46 class and series because it’s a national class where these cars can be raced all over the country in a variety of series. In 2019 we did a NASA National Championship run, racing in California at Sonoma and Thunderhill to qualify for the National Championship at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. We were all set for a similar campaign and with more cars and the national championships at Utah Motorsports Park but COVID threw a wrench into those plans (and everything else in the world).

With the 2021 NASA National Championships to be held at Daytona International Speedway, we decided to instead participate in the SCCA Run Offs (SCCA’s National Championship) which is set to be held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. To be able to compete in the Run Offs, you have to qualify by competing in a minimum number of US Majors/Hoosier Super Tour events (minimum 3 weekends and finish minimum of 3 races in the same class) or participate in 4 Divisional race weekends and finish in the top 3 of the divisional points race in that same class.

This race weekend would be the first of our “winter” Southwest road trip, followed by a Hoosier Super Tour event at Circuit of the Americas in February, Buttonwillow in late February and Thunderhill in March. With this “trip” we should have all the races taken cared of to qualify for the Runoffs before the PNW racing season gets going.

New track, trailer and tires

By the time the cars hit the track on Friday mid-day, we had gotten through three new firsts:

  1. New track: This would be a new track for everyone on the team but being able to get some simulator time on iRacing in the Mazda Global MX-5 Cup Car helped us get up to speed on the track and some sense for braking points and a rough setup direction.
  2. New trailer: With a few cars to transport and what is looking like a packed racing year, it was time for us to invest into the shop and buy a larger trailer. This was our inaugural outing in the new truck and trailer. We’ll still be seeing our trusty individual trailers for other weekends but the new trailer made this trip much easier to manage.
  3. New tires: This also was the first time we strapped on Hoosier tires for T3 competition on any of the SE46’s in our fleet. While the Hoosier’s are technically more narrow in diameter 225/45/17 versus the 255/40/17 spec for the Toyo RR’s. We measured them and the Hoosier is still wider than the Toyo RR. 😮

Learning a new track and an roval

Having some time on the simulator really helped out and after a couple sessions, each of the three drivers started developing a rhythm and we were able to start focusing on specific sections of the track. While a decent sized track, it ended up being relatively simple. Kind of like Portland International Raceways, it felt like figuring out how to get the first 85-90% came relatively easy but that last 10-15% took a good amount of discipline and intestinal fortitude.

The track is made up of a two chicanes which are similar to the PIR chicane, one very tricky decreasing radius right hander, a deceivingly simple final sector that leads to oval section and longest full throttle sequence and a turn 1 and 2 on the oval that requires a good amount of commitment to stay full throttle the entire time. It wasn’t until after Saturday’s qualifying and race sessions that we were convinced it was possible to stay 100% full throttle through the whole oval and bets were laid out to see who the first one was to stay flat on Sunday AM’s qualifying.

Gama Aguilar in the #209 Full Throttle in the Oval Section

Saturday Podiums and Progress

The story of the day on Saturday was to keep learning and bring back some hardware. With a limited field in T3, podium spots were almost guaranteed but there were other cars from other classes that qualified amongst the T3 runners, which were made up of our fleet of 3 BMW E46’s and the #12 BMW SpecE46 of Brian Ghidinelli.

Racer on Rails customers John Hennessy and Russell Seewald had an incredible battle the entire race where Russell was able to hold off a late race charge from John to hold on for P3 in T3.

Gama Aguilar (person writing this article 😁) got behind Brian Ghidinelli, who qualified on pole and stuck behind him for the majority of the race, waiting for an opening to make a pass. About 3/4 of the way through the race there was an opening going into the last chicane of the track. I came out of his draft right before going to brakes, moved into the inside and got side by side. As I started trailing to turn in, I looked at the body language of Brian’s car and it looked like he didn’t see me so I started backing out of the move but he turned in too quickly and we ended up making contact with Brian spinning out.

I made sure the car was still working (it was) and while I thought it was a clean move, I didn’t want any questions or discussions with stewards so I backed off and waited for Brian to catch up. Once he did, I waived him through to give the position back and resume racing. The goal is to qualify for the Runoffs. Winning every race is a goal and would be awesome but that’s not the ultimate goal.

Saturday Race Results: 1. Brian Ghidinelli, 2. Gama Aguilar, 3. Russell Seewald, 4. John Hennessy

Sunday AM Qualifying and Final Race

After getting the bets on the table for who would got flat through the oval first and John Hennessy strapping on some sticker tires, we went out for qualifying. Gama and Russell both went out on scrubbed but still fresh Hoosier A7’s and with qualifying time of 8am PST, the track conditions were going to be near perfect.

Everybody improved across the board, dropping at minimum 1.5 seconds. John Hennessy put in a MEGA lap of 1:52.106, less than 1 tenth of second behind Brian Ghidinelli with a 1:52.048 – both of which broke the previous T3 track record. Gama came in with a 1:52.652 and Russell came in with a 1:54.655.

With the starting grid for Sunday’s race based on fastest lap from all officially timed sessions on Saturday and Sunday so far, we ended up being gridded across multiple cars from other classes.

The start of the race was a bit faster than of us expected as the overall pole setter had us well into 4th gear before the green flag flew. John got caught off guard a bit with that start and missed opportunities to tuck into the inside lane and lost some spots by the time we were braking for the chicane.

Russell took advantage of that and stuck behind John but on the second lap going into braking for the first chicane, he had a spicy downshift into 3rd gear which locked up the rears and sent him on a ride. Fortunately, no walls or bumpers were hurt during the spin. Russell got back on the track, finished the race and made the most of some flat spotted rear tires.

John got into a rhythm but the lost positions at the start created a gap to the P1 and P2 battle that was unfolding.

Gama (err… I) got a couple of positions on the start of the race and was behind Brian by mid-way through lap 1 but an out of class Corvette was getting around me on the big straight aways and getting in the way for the braking zones. It took a couple of laps but eventually created enough space to not have to worry about it.

I started putting my head down to eat away at the gap Brian had created (probably around 3-5 second gap) and around lap 4, a spun out Mazda Rx7 GT2 car almost took me out in the first chicane. Was able to put down some fast laps and eventually, the Rx7 got around me and while it slowed me down a little, it eventually went out of sight and caught up to Brian.

About half-way through the race, the RX7, Brian and I were all bunched up and it became apparent that the RX7 didn’t have the braking or handling performance to hang with us in the corners and while it would motor away on the straights, the lap time gap wasn’t big enough to create separation. It would turn into who would be the last person to have a lap or a sector screwed up by the RX7 and giving the opportunity to the other driver. We both benefited and took hits from managing the RX7 but unfortunately for me, it ended up being on the second to last lap (as I was leading) that the RX7 parked it on the sequence that leads on to the main start/finish straight. I had to lift and adjust my line to not take us both out and by the time I was back on throttle and had cleared the RX7, I looked to my left to take the inside line (and thus make Brian go around me on the outside to overtake), he was already tucked in with some overlap.

This turned into the most exciting sector of the weekend where we went side by side through the entire oval sector for the last lap and I stayed flat for as long as possible to try to keep the position but Brian had the inside line for the chicane and unless he completely over slowed, it would have been near impossible to keep the position by going around him on the outside.

#12 pulling away on the final lap as the RX7 refuses to go away.

From then on, the RX7 hassled me on another two corners which sealed the deal for Brian. Overall, was a great race and incredible time at our first time as a Racer on Rails team, going to a super speedway and roval course.

Sunday Race Results: 1. Brian Ghidinelli, 2. Gama Aguilar, 3. John Hennessy, 4. Russell Seewald

Thank you to everyone at the SCCA Cal Club, Hoosier Tires and all the volunteers who made this race weekend happen without a single issue and in the middle of a pandemic. THANK YOU!

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Speed Nerd Bonus Content: What changed over 1 day?

From Saturday to Sunday, the qualifying laps, average race laps and fastest race laps all came down by at least 1.5 seconds. So what happened? Below is a comparison of the fastest race lap time on Saturday versus Sunday. Here’s what we think happened:

  1. More seat time: Saturday was only the third or fifth time any of the RoR drivers had ever driven on the track in real life. Each session would help find more speed.
  2. Staying flat on the oval: Every little bit counts and as we got comfortable with the track, it became clear that you could take it flat every lap and while a little sketchy, it was possible. Just had to believe and trust that it was possible and it appears to have resulted in almost .75 seconds gained before hitting the brakes for the chicane.
  3. Patience on the exit of corners: This is likely tied to #1 but as I understood the track more and more, I started focusing on corner exits – do anything possible to not need to lift or hesitate too much when ascending to full throttle. Still not perfect at all but I think it got much better.
  4. Use that purple crack: The additional grip of these Hoosier A7’s relative to the Toyo RR’s is significant. For example, on sticker tires in the Toyo’s, coming out the hot pits I can drop it into 1st or 2nd gear and light up the rear tires. That was near impossible with the Hoosier tires. I think we got more comfortable with the tires and what they could take under all aspects of a corner. I think we still left grip on the table but that just gives us something to look forward to.
#209 Gama Aguilar Fast Laps from Saturday and Sunday Races

Next up: Circuit of the Americas February 6-7, 2021

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2021 Race and Track Support Schedule

Well, 2020 was a bit of a weird year. So what’s the best way to forget about it? Look forward to an awesome and packed 2021 racing and driving calendar.

We are in the business of making smiles and lifetime memories and one of the main ways we do this is by helping people get onto a track. We can help you with the car set up and care, as well as trying to improve the performance of both you and the vehicle. 

We want to announce and extend an open invite for those that are interested that we are here to help.  Our team has a calendar of events planned with room for additional support for each weekend as needed!  Our current SCCA, ICSCC (Conference) and Global Time Attack events are listed below.  If there are any race weekends you would like some crew and coaching support for, please feel free to contact us via e-mail, phone or messenger!  Let us help you be your best on track!

Give us an E-mail or call to discuss options! raceronrails@gmail.com – (206)475-1114

2021 Race and Track Schedule:

  • January 15 – 17: Auto Club Speedway SCCA Majors Tour – Fontana, CA
  • February 5 – 7: Circuit of the Americas SCCA Majors Tour – Austin, TX
  • February 19 – 21: Buttonwillow SCCA Majors/Hoosier Super Tour – Buttonwillow, CA
  • March 19 – 20: Thunderhill Raceway SCCA Majors Tour – Willows, CA
  • April 2 – 4: The Ridge Motorsports Park Global Time Attack – Shelton, WA
  • April 30 – May 2: Portland International Raceway Cascade Sports Car Club – Portland, OR
  • May 14 – 16: Pacific Raceways IRDC Tribute to the Volunteers – Kent, WA
  • May 28 – 30: Pacific Raceways SCCA Majors Tour – Kent, WA
  • June 4 – 6: Spokane County Raceway Park ICSCC – Spokane, WA
  • Jun 18 – 20: Portland International Raceway Cascade Sports Car Club – Portland, OR
  • July 16 – 18: Pacific Raceways IRDC Summer Classic – Kent, Washington
  • July 23 – 25: The Ridge Motorsports Park Global Time Attack – Shelton, WA
  • August 13 – 15: Portland International Raceway Cascade Sports Car Club Dash for Kids – Portland, OR
  • August 27-29: The Ridge Motorsports Park IRDC – Shelton, WA
  • September 28 – October 3: Indianapolis Motor Speedway SCCA Runoffs – Indianapolis, IN
  • October 16: Portland International Raceway 8 Hour Endurance Race – Portland, OR (tentative)
  • November 12 – 14: Buttonwillow Global Time Attack Final – Buttonwillow, CA
  • December 4 – 5: Circuit of the Americas World Racing League – Austin, TX
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v1.3 Assetto Corsa Spec E46 Now Available

Today, we’re excited to release another update of the BMW Spec E46 mod car for Assetto Corsa.

There is only one update to the car but it’s an important one, we’ve updated the suspension geometry to be based exactly off a real-world SE46 race car. Below you’ll see that we took measurements of every component of the chassis and suspension geometry down to the millimeter (while we were building a new SE46 race car), so the virtual car could handle as closely to the real-car, as possible.

The end result? Generally the car feels easier to drive and we found an additional .5-1 second almost immediately (after playing with the setup).

All existing owners will get this update and all future customers will get v1.3 moving forward. Let us know what you think!

Get the updated BMW Spec E46 for Assetto Corsa, here!

Check out a lap around Pacific Raceways with the new suspension geometry below!

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2019 Race Support Schedule

The staple of what we do is provide service to the racing community.  One of the primary aspects of that is to be at the track, to help you with the car set up and care, as well as trying to improve the performance of both you and the vehicle.  We want to announce and extend an open invite for those that are interested that we are here to help.  Our team has a calendar of events planned with room for additional support for each weekend as needed!  Our current ICSCC Conference as well as intended NASA NorCal events and SOVERN events will be listed below.  If there are any race weekends you would like some crew and coaching support for, please feel free to contact us via e-mail, phone or messenger!  Let us help you be your best on track!

Give us an E-mail or call to discuss options! raceronrails@gmail.com – (206)475-1114

ICSCC Conference Event Schedule:

  • April 19-21 (Fri-Sun) – Mission Race Way Park – British Columbia
  • May 3-5 (Fri-Sun) – Portland International Raceway – Portland, Oregon
  • May 10-12 (Fri-Sun) – Pacific Raceways – Kent, Washington
  • May 31-Jun 2 (Fri-Sun) – Spokane County Raceway Park – Spokane, Washington
  • Jun 14-16 (Fri-Sun) – Portland International Raceway – Portland, Oregon
  • July 19-21 (Fri-Sun) – Pacific Raceways – Kent, Washington
  • Aug 16-18 (Fri-Sun) Portland International Raceway – Portland, Oregon
  • Aug 23-25 (Fri-Sun) – The Ridge Motorsports Park – Shelton, Washington

SOVERN:

  • June 7-9 (Fri-Sun) – Spokane County Raceway Park – Spokane, Washington
  • July 5-7 (Fri-Sun) – Pacific Raceways – Kent, Washington
  • July 26-28 (Fri-Sun) – Portland International Raceway – Portland, Oregon
  • Sep 7-9 (Fri-Sun) – Portland International Raceway – Portland, Oregon
  • Sep 27-29 (Fri-Sun) – Pacific Raceways – Kent, Washington
  • October 5-6 (Sat-Sun) – Maryhill Hill Climb – Mary Hill, Washington

NASA NorCal:

  • Mar 15-17 (Fri-Sun) – Sonoma Raceway – Sonoma, California
  • Aug 2-4 (Fri-Sun) – Thunderhill Raceway – Willows, California
  • Sep 14-16 (Fri-Sun) – Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – Lexington, Ohio

Current Unavailable dates:

 – Mar 3-4 (Sat-Sun)

– April  25-29 (Thus-Mon)

 – June 6-10 (Thurs-Mon)

 – June 22-25 (Sat-Tues)

 – July 11-15 (Thurs-Mon)

 – Aug 29 – Sep 1 (Thurs – Mon)

 – Sep 19-23 (Thurs-Mon)

 – Oct 17-21 (Thurs-Mon)

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v1.2 of the Assetto Corsa Spec E46 is now available

Thanks to everyone for the support on the SE46 car for Assetto Corsa.  We have an updated build to share!

Here’s what is new:

  • Front and rear anti-roll bars are now adjustable.
  • The car now comes with additional base factory colors for the car.  The sponsored race car livery is still the same and the default but now you have new options.
  • The .zip file now contains a new folder called “Templates”.  This folder contains a Photoshop file (.psd) that you can use to create your own livery.
  • The passenger side cage tube now goes in the proper location (aesthetic change only).
  • Wheels now have motion blur.
  • Enhanced levels of details and interior is now optimized for low resolution graphics cards/monitors
  • The rear-view mirror has been adjusted down so it is more easily viewable when not in VR mode.
  • The description, power figures and graphs have been updated.
  • Dyno graphs are based off a real-world chassis dyno and 15% added to torque and whp for drive-train losses.

How to get the update:

For those who already purchased the car, an email has been sent (including initial contributors to the build) where they can access it and all new purchasers will get the new build in the download link.  Click here to check out and buy the car!

How to install the update:

  1. Download the update
  2. Make sure Assetto Corsa is not running.
  3. Right click the .zip folder and select “Extract All” – do not just double click into the folder.
  4. Find the “contents” folder and copy that folder
  5. Go to this path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\assettocorsa\content\cars
  6. If you already have the previous version, delete the previous version of the car, which should be a folder called “bmw_m3_e46”.  If not, skip this step and go to step 7.
  7. Go up to levels in that director to: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\assettocorsa\
  8. Paste the “contents” folder you copied above
  9. Close the file explorer window
  10. That’s it!

Over the next couple months, via our friends at Track Attack, we will have the capability to log telemetry data from Assetto Corsa and compare it with the real world data we already have from several tracks.  We’ll use this data to further fine-tune the physics model.

As always, let us know what you think and thanks again for the support!

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Building a Sim: I Want to Drive Better in Real Life!

With the explosive growth of simulator driving for not just training but actual competition, big time dollars and rewards attached, we get more and more questions about how to get started building a simulator setup and specifically, what to get.

Still wondering if simulator driving is really that worth it?  Check out this podcast from Speed Secrets and this video about William Byron – now a driver for Hendricks Motorsports, who didn’t grow up driving karts or cars but rather, simulators.

This can be a complicated space because there are a lot of options.  In this second post, let’s go down one specific path base on what we think is the most important question.

Why do you want a simulator setup?  I want to use simulators to accelerate my driving or car in the real world.

eSports is exploding in popularity with games like Madden, Fortnite and Halo being at the center global gaming tournaments.  Gamers from around the world train and compete against world-class gamers at in-person and virtual tournaments all over the world and for real money.

This is not a spoof! That is a real picture of thousands of people watching gamers compete on-stage!

There are even several universities who have athletic scholarships for student-gamers.  Racing competitions in eSports is no exception – competing and winning real money for simulator driving is real and it’s here.

This post is focused primarily for those who want currently or are planning to drive in the real-world and want to use simulators to accelerate their development.  Getting to the track in the real-life to get quality seat time, driver coaching, and car development is not cheap.  Simulators are an excellent path to do all of those things more often, at a lower cost and increasingly with direct correlation to what happens in the real world.

Recommendation: Go with a PC-based simulator like iRacing, Assetto Corsa (PC edition), Assetto Corsa Competizione or RFactor 2.  Yes, Gran Turismo and Forza have had tournaments where the winners compete in real life for chances to be race car drivers as a profession but those are the exceptions.

It’s time to get serious with triple monitors and the very best components you can buy.

Things to get:

There is no way to get around it – this will be more expensive because you are trying to replicate real life, of which a lot of what happens in real life is about how the car and track sound and feel of your inputs.

  • A quality PC that can keep up with the display you want. The main thing here is a decent processor and ram but the beefiest graphics card you can get and the bar at this level is a little higher than at the ‘simulator only’ level.  Here are a couple options:
    • A PC desktop with a decent i7 processor, 16GB+ of RAM and a 6GB Nvidia GeForce GTX1070 or equivalent from AMD. Get the absolute best graphics card you can get – it will be worth it.
  • iRacing, Assetto Corsa, Assetto Corsa Competizione, RFactor 2 or Project Cars 2.
    • Yes, there are a ton more simulators out there, but these are the heavy hitters.
  • The best peripherals you can buy because you want motorsports grade hardware:
  • Display that will give you the best field of view (FOV) you can afford. Here are my preferences, in order:
    • 24”+ triple screens – I personally have an older version of this model but it doesn’t have pre-drilled holes for monitor stands, which sucks.
    • 27”+ curved screen
    • Virtual reality headset (e.g. Oculus Rift or HTC Vive Pro)
    • 40”+ single monitor/TV: this is not really an option. If you want to really focus on improving your real-world driving, you need an immersive experience.
  • Sim rig with a seat
    • A sim rig/cockpit is no longer optional. You need the seating position, field of view and access to the driver controls to be as close to real-life as possible and you can only really do that with a proper and sturdy sim rig.  Here are a few options:
  • Motion platform
    • Yes, it’s now close to a requirement. Driving in race cars on tracks is a rough experience where you’re getting tossed around as you go over bumps and curbs.  The feeling of the car pitching forward when you hammer the brakes, the car getting upset as you take too much curb or the backend coming loose when you carry too much speed into a corner or get on throttle too quickly – you need to feel that.  All of those things in real life tell you what’s going on and they remind you of the mortal consequences of having more bravery than talent.
    • Want everything integrated and ready to rock?  There several companies who sell fully built and ready to rock motion simulators.  Here are a few:

Gama’s Motion Simulator

Pros:

  • There are few other things that will accelerate your driver development than quality motion simulator seat time.
  • The quality of your experience is completely dependent on the components you put into your PC and peripherals. If you want better graphics, get a better graphics card.  Want better FOV, change your display setup.  Want an even more immersive motion experience with real-time data streaming and coaching?  You can do that too!
  • The force feedback and vibration capabilities of the steering hubs and transducers on the market are amazing. You can buy components and configure then so that you feel everything on your feet, butt, abs, legs and hands as you do in real life.     You will have a generally authentic steering input and feedback experience.
  • There is a growing number of retail locations where you can rent seat time on very high-end simulators and get coaching from top-level coaches.

Cons:

  • No longer “welcome”, you are right in the middle of the slippery slope! It is now the cost of a small car to get a decent motion simulator up and running.  It starts in the $5-10k range and goes into the $50-75k range.  There are simulators well above those ranges but those are reserved for commercial applications.
  • Driving consistently well in a simulator is hard and even more difficult with motion. Most people are lucky to end their first 30 minutes in a simulator simply not crashing or losing control.  Stick with it!
  • Pretty much everything is more complicated to setup. There is almost no plug and play experience for any component.  You need to connect them, install drivers and configure/calibrate.
  • The physics and tire model are better than the console world but vary across simulator platforms.
  • There is even more you can buy, which can be good – for example, buttkickers are sound based vibration devices that give even more feedback to the seat, pedals and generally corners of the car.

Example setups: I’ve only built one motion rig and would be considered “entry level” for a quality motion experience.

  • Example 1: Entry level, motion with a rig: Everything here is exactly what I have on my current motion sim but my graphics card cost a bit more a year ago than they do today.
    • Total Cost: $8,741.39 (doesn’t include taxes or shipping)
      • Custom built desktop gaming PC w/Nvidia GTX1080Ti: $1,200
      • iRacing subscription: $80/year
      • SimXperience Accuforce Hub and steering wheel w/button box: $1,299.00
      • Fanatec SQ Shifter: $199.50
      • Derek Spears Design (DSD) pedals: $895.00
      • OMP Racing seat: $799.00
      • Logitech 5.1 Speaker system: $49.95
      • Next Level Racing Ultimate Cockpit: $800.00
      • Next Level Racing V2 Motion Platform: $2,999.00
      • 3x AOC 24” gaming monitors: $139.98 x 3 = $419.94

If I knew then what I know now, what would I do differently?

The Next Level Racing cockpit is pretty good, and I don’t entirely regret my purchase decision, especially because their motion platform integrates seamlessly BUT if I were building another rig (which I will in the next 6 months or so), I would try the DOF motion cockpit because I don’t love the following about the Next Level Racing cockpit:

  1. The flex in the chassis, especially under heavy braking. First, it flexes and since it wasn’t designed to flex in the first place, the amount of flex is variable.  This isn’t great when you are trying to hit your marks lap after lap or making minor adjustments to brake application to shave off tenths of seconds.
  2. Lack of adjust ability. Having the seating position, steering wheel, shifter and pedals in the perfect position for your body is critical to driving fast and driving consistent.  Any unnecessary mental energy used to figure out where things are or having to adjust to not having the controls in natural/intuitive positions will make you go slower.  The NLR rig is essentially fixed in place after you set things up and for me personally, we had to add a wood block to the pedal box so that my heels could stay planted and reach properly.  The manual shifter position is okay, but I really wish I could move it another inch or two closer to me.  Lastly, with the motion set, the slider doesn’t work.

You listed the Fanatec pedals but you have some other fancy looking pedals.  What gives?

Yes, when the Thrustmaster wheel hub failed after about a year of use, I upgraded to the Fanatec hub but I wanted as close to the real-world race car pedal feel as possible.  On this rig I currently have the Derek Spears Designs pedals which are amazing and use real Wilwood racing pedal box components.  You don’t need these if you are only simulator racing.  I also have two other rigs with the Fanatec V2.5 Clubsport pedals, both the floor mounted and the hanging configurations.  They are solid and when you add the bump stops for the brake pedal, they are close to the DSD pedals but still substantially lower cost.

 

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Building a Sim: I Just Want to Have Fun!

With the explosive growth of simulator driving for not just training but actual competition, big time dollars and rewards attached, we get more and more questions about how to get started building a simulator setup and specifically, what to get.

Still wondering if simulator driving is really that worth it?  Check out this podcast from Speed Secrets and this video about William Byron – now a driver for Hendricks Motorsports, who didn’t grow up driving karts or cars but rather, simulators.

This can be a complicated space because there are a lot of options.  In this first post, let’s go down one specific path base on what we think is the most important question.

Why do you want a simulator setup?  I just want to have fun!

I want to have fun: Many people simply want to drive some awesome cars and a variety of tracks, without taking things too seriously.  You don’t care or want to bother with dealing with things like tire pressures, spring rates, shock settings, etc.  You want to jump into a simulator, start driving, sliding and maybe even trade some paint with others or barriers, on your own.  Best of all, it’s the cheapest way to get into simulator driving.

My brother and I getting some laps in on Gran Turismo.

Pros:

  • Console-based simulators are generally of super high-quality graphics in the cars and the tracks.
  • The tracks are essentially what they are like in real-life, it’s a great way to learn a track.
  • Tons of cars. Everything from high-performance street cars to Formula 1 cars.
  • The force feedback capabilities of the Fanatec and Thurstmaster lines are great and good, respectively. You will have a generally authentic steering input and feedback experience.
  • A great tool to focus on your getting your eyes to look far ahead and get ahead of what the car is doing.
  • Getting a console is much less expensive than building a gaming PC and the there are some lower cost peripheral options from Fanatec.  See our shopping list below, where you can get started for under $1k USD!

Cons:

  • Relative to iRacing, the quality of online racing against other real people is not great. People complain about getting crashed into at the rookie and lower levels of iRacing but online racing, outside of some of the bigger tournaments on Forza and Gran Turismo can be downright horrible.
  • The physics and tire model are simply not as good as iRacing, RFactor and Assetto Corsa.
  • Limited triple screen options. It is doable to get a triple screen setup but it’s much more complicated and expensive.  A better option would be a large curved screen or virtual reality headset.
  • Aside from the Fanatec Clubsport V2 and newer pedals, the pedal options are not great. Specifically, is the feel from the brake pedal.  Braking is what separates the good from the great and having a realistic and consistent braking feel is critical.  Most of these console game quality pedals have limited resistance and you essentially train your braking based on the position of pedal, not the pressure and feedback from the pedal.
    • There are options to add a rubber bump stop to the brake pedal (of which I did to my Thrustmaster setup) which makes things better but still not as great as some of the high-end PC only brake kits.
  • Quality – this may have improved but just simply the quality of the components is not great. I was using the setup pictured below to really work on my driving, so I was put on hundreds of hours on the components per year.  If I recall correctly, the Thrustmaster steering wheel base lasted just over a year before it just stopped responding one day.  That was when I decided to upgrade to Fanatec and shift to a PC simulator and iRacing.

Example setups:

  • Thrustmaster, Forza and Xbox One: This was my first “simulator” setup going back to 2012 or so. I felt a little intimidated with getting into PC-based stuff, so between a Christmas present from my in-laws, my wife and my own purchases, I had a decent Forza based setup.  I spent hours working on fixed setup time attach competitions, primarily in a Mazda Miata and trying to build the cars I had in the real-world, in the game (Mitsubishi Lancer Evoluiont 9).  All in, this setup cost about $1,200.
    • Total Cost (assumes you already have a TV): $1,428.76 + S/H + Tax w/PlaySeat.  Under $1k w/out Playseat.
      • Xbox One S Forza Motorsport Bundle: $389.99
      • Thrustmaster  VG TMX PRO Wheel, Base and pedals: $321.81
      • Thrustmaster TH8 shifter: $217.96
      • Playseat sim rig: $499

Yes, that is the pedal set taped down to the floor base.

Memories of me working my tail off to move up in the leaderboards.

  • For about a 3-month period I had a Gran Turismo and PS3 setup with a Logitech setup but it wasn’t any better than what I had with Forza so I sold everything off. Total cost was right around the same as the Forza.

Do you have an awesome console based sim set up?  Post some pics in the comments!

Check out future posts on two other paths:

  • I want to get serious about simulator driving: This means you don’t care at all or much about driving in the real-world. You are all-in on simulator driving.
  • I want to use simulators to help me be a better driver in the real world: This means you currently or plan to be driving on track in the real-world and you want a simulator to help with driver and car development

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Track Walk: The Ridge Motorsports Park

Welcome to The Ridge!  The Ridge is the newest track in the Pacific Northwest that is generally available to the public (Vancouver Island Motorsports Park opened recently but is a private track).

Similar to the Portland International Raceways (with a Chicane) track walk, we’ll use the Track Attack #209 PRO3 race car, a relatively low powered “momentum” car, to illustrate how to get around the track.  The session data we are  using for this is available here on Track Attack – feel free to request it.

We’ve also broken the track down into 6 segments, each segment is defined right before the major major braking/slowing down zones.

Braking a track down into sections, makes it easier for people ‘consume’ it and prioritize where to get focus.

Before you read on, watch this complete lap from a dry race in September of 2017.  Read the article and the re-watch the video.

YouTube player

Segment 1: The Uphill

This segment starts at s/f and goes all the way up to the first major braking zone (not including braking for T2) entering the Carousel.  The first thing here is that this segment is a 76ft climb in elevation.  The equivalent of an 8 story building.  Yeah.  So every single loss of mph as you make your way up the hill, will be penalized with a multiplier as you go uphill – keeping the momentum going is a top priority.

Momentum is important – check!  Turn 1 – get ready for a trouser check.  Turn 1, in some cars, can be taken flat, without lifting.  This is similar to T1 at Spokane but the distance between T1 apex and turn-in for T2 is not as long, so in cars that are faster than a Spec Miata, experiment with caution.  Personally, the most I’ve ever been able to get away with is a ~4/10 braking effort – just a tad more than a brush of the brakes, go back to tad of maintenance throttle and then back on the brakes, about the same amount for the downshift to 4th gear and then going back up the hill.

As you get the car past the apex of T2, it’s really important to get close to the curb of T3 but don’t take too big of a bite off of it, as it will send your car back to track-left, which is not the ideal line for the remainder of the complex.  Once you get to full-throttle, you absolutely cannot lift.  After T3, stay track-right, to setup a wide arch into T5 and then release the car to driver’s-right.  This whole time between T3 through T5, when you’re pinned to full throttle, you will feel the back end wanting to step out.  That’s ok – simple counter steering corrections (small ones), while staying flat, will take care of them.

After this, it’s smooth sailing to The Carousel – find a straight line to follow, that will set you up on track-right, for T6 (The Carousel), which is a long, flat left-hand sweeper.

Segment 2: The Carousel

This segment is just one corner.  Why?  It’s long and hard to get right.  This corner can be taken many ways but here is one that has proven well in racing and qualifying conditions.  Set yourself up track right but not necessarily right on the edge of the track.  Brake a little later than feels comfortable with a solid 6-7/10 effort and after the initial bite, start trailing off and turning into the corner, like if you were trying to double-apex the corner.

The backend may start to come out as you turn-in so get ready to catch the backend with some maintenance throttle.  Try to keep the car tucked in tight to the inside edge of the corner and if it washes out a little mid-corner, that’s ok and that just means you can back on throttle even more aggressively for corner-exit, because you don’t need as much steering input.

Don’t mind what looks like me driving off the course, that’s just a natural occurrence of margin of error of GPS signals and the stitching together of satellite images for maps.

About 35-40% through the corner, you want to be on-throttle and free here on out, you don’t lift.  Start your ascension to full-throttle and as you feel the backend come out, pause the throttle application and give it a steering correction but DO NOT LIFT!  For me, there is a single, tall tree out in the horizon of this corner and the instant I see that tree, I go full-throttle, no matter where I am.

From here, let the car release all the way to track-right, the very edge if needed.  A lot of people don’t get out here because they want to setup far left for the next segment and that’s a trade-off you can decide to make.

Segment 3: The Thumb

This is one of the trickiest parts of the track.  It combines a big compression and low-speed traction event at 8a and 8b but also a super hard, decreasing radius turn at T11 (aka The Thumb).

As you come out of The Carousel, it’s ok to stay driver’s left and then draw a straight line as you go downhill at 8a.  Stay on throttle until right before you feel the ground fall away, lift and synchronize the compression event with your braking.  When you do this right, you don’t need to brake as hard because the compression event gives more bite to front-end.  Downshift (if you have to), wait for the car to rotate a tick and then get back to maintenance throttle.  You want to get on full throttle here as quickly as you can but the sliding plus the acceleration means that it will be really easy to get on-power over-steer, so be aggressive but careful with your throttle application.  After you get to full throttle, it’s a full throttle ride all the way up the hill, which is another 36 foot climb (almost a 4 story building).  Every mph you unnecessarily drop or every split second of having to lift from throttle, will make you pay dearly at the top of the hill.

Where you brake for the thumb will be determined by the car and how fast you’re going.  In a PRO3 car, the engine is spinning at 6,500RPM and ~103mph and we wait to come off throttle just before the curbing on the left and are well into the brakes at those curbs.

You don’t need to track all the way to driver’s right to setup for the thumb, about mid-track is fine in most cars.  Next, is one of the hardest corners to get right – find the late apex and make it your job to hit that curbing with your LF tires.  Getting on those tires, in 3rd gear (in many cars, 2nd gear in Spec Miatas), means you can get on the throttle hard and have plenty of room on the exit of the corner.  Be ready for the car to wash out and go on the exit curbing and maybe even drop a rear tire on the exit of the corner but that’s ok – DO NOT LIFT!

Segment 4 & 5: The Ridge Straight

I’ve broken this segment into two segments because it contains two corners, which are taken very differently and I wanted to leave the last segment being the last corners before the front straight away.

First is the very deceiving Turn 12 right-hander.  It’s deceiving because you can actually car a good amount of speed here and the corner opens up quite a bit on the exit, which means there is a plenty of room for corrections if you maybe got on-throttle too early.

The trick here is to get to the apex and be on full-throttle at the apex.  There is a bump or bulge right at the apex, which will feel like it kicks your car away as you hit but get to full-throttle, stay in it and ride it out.  You’ll almost for sure have the car sliding a little just past exit – a simple steering correction will get it back under you and you can keep going.  Then start making your way over to track-right, to setup for the Ridge complex.

As you approach the corner, you’ll see that the ground starts falling away in the middle of the braking zone – YIKES!!!  This means you have to have your heavy braking done before the ground starts falling away.  Looking at the data, the drop-off is a 7 foot decline in elevation over a 150 foot distance.  150 feet when you’re travelling at 75mph, goes by pretty fast, so this is a split second decision.

As you approach turn-in for the corner, stay on the brakes ever so slightly, so that when you turn in full, the noise is loaded up and will help rotate the car.  It’s ok to bite off a little bit of the curb but don’t get over zealous.

Give it some throttle as soon as you get past the corner, turn for the right hander and stick to track-right as much as you can.  If at all possible, stay off the brakes but you might need to brush the brakes to help the front-end bite.

Segment 6: The Front Straight

The lap is almost over!  You’re barreling down the Ridge Complex, a nearly 80 foot drop and you need to decide what to do for the last corner before the main straight away.  There are couple school’s of thought:

  1. Geometrical fastest line: Swing out wide, carrying more speed because you have a wider arc, a single late apex at Turn 15 and then pin the throttle down until start/finish.
  2. Shortest distance line: Stay a little closer to the inside, use the banking in the corner, travel less distance and hit the apex of Turn 15 at the same spot.

This really depends on what kind of car you have and the track conditions on the outside of Turn 15.  In race weekends, that wide line isn’t used much, so there ends up being a lot of marbles out there.   Great for the rain but not for the dry.

At least in a PRO3 car, we have more grip than power, so as is with many of the other corners, the less distance we have to travel, the better so Option 2 is what you’ll see in the data.

Now, I can totally see an argument even for a PRO3 car to setup for a single flying lap to go super wide, throwing away the lap time for that current lap and setting up for a higher top speed going into Turn 1 or even setting up a competitor for a pass at the end of the straight.

You’ll see in the data that I’m on throttle about mid-corner and full-throttle at about 3/4 of the way of the corner.  After that, it’s about finding the straightest line possible through Turn 16 and the least amount of steering input all the way down the front straight away.

Conclusion: The Ridge is awesome.  Go drive it!

The Ridge is really a fun track.  Newer and well take cared of pavement and plenty of run off room in most corners.  You can get in trouble and it makes you pay but most of the time, it’s dirt and rocks on your car to go along with a bruised ego.

The facilities are constantly improving and with a motocross and a kart track that is a mini version of the big track, there’s few places that can compare.  The downside is that it is located about 30 minutes northwest of Olympia, WA and Shelton has limited hotels but coming out in an RV or camping, is an absolute blast.  Best of all, there are no drag races so every evening, you can do a complete track walk.

Check out the The Ridge Motorsports Park website and Motorsportsreg.com for upcoming events you can sign up for, to drive the Ridge!