What Skills are Transferable from Simracing to Motorsport?

Lefthook · Mar 21, 2023

In all seriousness I definitely think some things transfer well:
1. Racecraft is almost 100% transferrable.

2. Learning the circuit to a reasonable level and having at least a decent idea of where braking points are and whether a corner is a blind apex or off camber (assuming an accurate track)

3. A better sense of how speed affects a car when cornering. This one isn't all that transferrable but at least a little.

I don't think sims will ever get much closer to life than they are now but the good ones offer a reasonably realistic experiece that you can do anytime in the comfort of your home. I feel like if you took two people who had never driven a real vehicle in their life, but one had significant sim experience, that the sim driver would adapt much quicker. Now that doesn't mean 2 years down the road that the sim driver would still be better though.

Jan Larsen · Mar 21, 2023

Yeah, there's loads to learn.

1. Racecraft. It may be simulation but its real drivers you race against and gain real experience in how your competitors race, as humans.

2. Learning the circuit, although most race drivers already knows the circuit to some extent. Line choice can be perfected if the track is accurate enough.

3. Keeping reflexes sharp and your mind in a state of racing.

SvenUilhoorn · Mar 21, 2023

Being a douche.

RichardHessels · Mar 21, 2023

Turn 1 incidents, or how to try to avoid them.

RichardHessels · Mar 21, 2023

BillyBobSenna said:
Can you explain how you provide games with much more accurate content? How do you know it is much more accurate?

Obtaining car data Motec-GPS, lidar scans, extreme resolution aerial photos, and very important, driver feedback.
All the data we can get our hands one, This info helps to get "normal" content much more accurate.
Or when the track is totally not accurate enough, do a scratch build.
Every year tracks change, sometimes 1 corner or even 1 curb that's not right can make the difference for being a useful training or a waist of time.
Can happen that curbs need to be higher to react like the ones in real life, or they are to high in the sim and need to be lowered.
Bollards that get added, or removed, just to name a few.
Or putting in new track parts, or changing the state of the asphalt (smoothing and resurfacing).
Jeddah for instance had a whole page of updates compared to last year, while it looked like the same track as the year before, for most of us mortals.
Even laserscanned tracks are not accurate, mostly they are not recently done, but bought from a company that made one some time ago.
So when that scan is 2 years old, it might be tracks been drastically changed (Barcelona for instance).
So that's how you get more accurate content.

metalnwood · Mar 21, 2023

Anyone that has done any real sport at a higher competitive level has had to endure hours of drills and seemingly unrelated activities designed to hone in on small individual elements that relate to the sport.

We know for real athletes all that other training help immensely, knowing this its very difficult to suggest that areas in sim racing wont help in real racing. If plently of pro's says it has helped them then whats the point debating people that never really properly raced IRL who say otherwise?

jgf · Mar 21, 2023

Very little beyond learning a track layout (many RL drivers have done this over the years). There is so much input you receive from actually driving that cannot be replicated in a sim that there's no comparison. A good driver feels the car, every vibration, twitch, flex, all the g-forces, all the things you subconsciously process while driving, whether on a track or on the street, are completely lacking in even the best sims.

Not to mention at your sim you're sitting in the comfort of your home, not wrapped in layers of nomex with a helmet and gloves, on a track that may be well over 120deg(F), sweating profusely while being shaken and bounced... and with (for most players) no knowledge of what it's like doing that with your butt on the line, where the least lapse of concentration, the slightest mistake, can mean they send you home in a shoebox.

XilefHD · Mar 22, 2023

Whining about bad BOP.

BrunoBæ · Mar 22, 2023

Peter Winkler said:
if i need to select 3 items
- track preparation (in case the track is not known or ontrack training is not possible)
- gear usage (eg very interesting when preparing cars like xbow)
- focus and concentration

It would be reasonable to agree with this - mainly because these 3 areas are way more humble than people who are more or less convinced that about 80-90% of the skills from sim "racing" is transferable.

CatsAreTheWorstDogs: Something that make it hard to answer this transfer question (thread headline) is the scientific proven fact that placebo does work. Because if you convince yourself about something your interpretation(!) and reaction does change to sustain your convinced oppinion.

Motorsport Prospects · Mar 22, 2023

The column that I write on Motorsport Prospects deals extensively on this topic with plenty of examples of drivers who discuss what skills are transferable to real world motorsport with the latest being F1600 driver and Formula Ford Festival winner Max Esterson. I also interviewed Jann Mardenborough on this very topic. There are plenty of things that don't transfer (fear factor, temperature in a cockpit, G forces, etc) but plenty that make it worthwhile to use, especially if you are a racer on a budget that restricts testing. I will link to this discussion in this week's column. You can read the columns here: https://www.motorsportprospects.com/category/sim-racing/

markie44 · Mar 22, 2023

Peter Winkler said:
as long the driver sees a benefit from his trainings he will achieve better results.

I fully agree with this statement be it learning a track, racecraft, muscle memory or whatever they get out of it.

Motorsport can be intimidating, and if a driver feels more confident on track as a result of lots of SIM time - that will most likely be beneficial even if the benefit is small.

On the flip side, I wonder if overconfidence based on trust in flawed virtual dynamics could actually be detrimental (i.e. driving beyond the limits - driver or vehicle)...

Crawdad97 · Mar 22, 2023

That both the car AND the sim have a steering wheel and pedals

Peter Winkler · Mar 22, 2023

markie44 said:
Motorsport can be intimidating, and if a driver feels more confident on track as a result of lots of SIM time - that will most likely be beneficial even if the benefit is small.

fair point - my last sim coaching, it was for the creventic 24h of dubai this year - the driver was amazed - his track performance was unexpected good - and based on his final feedback, i am no longer sure (which i was until this race), if we talk about small benefits.

Richard Wilks · Mar 22, 2023

Here it is, what happens when you go from sim to reality:

And this is not a dig at Steve, i like him and i think he has hability, but people thinking you can catch a huge slide like that with whatever you learn in simracing are just kidding yourselves, you need seat time for that, and plenty.

turbo86 · Mar 22, 2023

I wouldn't say that simracing increases your "skills" or teaches you any "skills" transferable to real life because real life driving and racing is a completely different experience.

Being a good driver is all about perception. Sharp senses and a quick brain. To be able to perceive things and understand things that will in turn help your brain anticipate other things. This is a "skill " that's very useful in simracing as well. But simracing "champions" that eventually make it to real racing, already have this "skill", and that's why they're good at simracing in the first place.

And this is something most simply refuse to or can't understand. It's not something videogames teach you. It's something you already have. Well, IF you have it that is because we're not all made the same.

turbo86 · Mar 22, 2023

SwannyUK said:
From my experience with my track day kit car back in the day and the Ginetta experience I did there are a lot of transferable skills.

https://www.racedepartment.com/news/racedepartment-members-racing-a-real-ginetta-g40.551/

You already have these "skills". You didn't get them from videogames.

SwannyUK · Mar 23, 2023

turbo86 said:
You already have these "skills". You didn't get them from videogames.

Maybe skills is the wrong word, more of a basic understanding of what is required to drive around a track, weight transfer, being smooth etc. So in that sense yes, I did get these from sim racing.

BernL · Mar 23, 2023

Reaction time , reading the play

Mekonrider · Mar 24, 2023

This from Max Verstappen
"It keeps me ready to go, because I'm spending a lot of time also then on the setup. I'm not racing a F1 car on the simulator, but it's like GT cars, so it's also a different technique of driving,”Verstappen said.

“I just keep testing myself, and especially these sim drivers... they're so quick!

“It's very interesting to see them drive because they have no real experience of a car but, somehow, when you look at how they're braking, how they're controlling, it is how it should be.”

AlessioCampigotto · Mar 25, 2023

There's a lot. Pretty much everything you encounter in simracing is transferable to the real world, to a degree. Realistically, the most directly transferable skills are driving lines and racecraft, alongside building a base for all the core skills like brake use, throttle application, and steering inputs.

What Skills are Transferable from Simracing to Motorsport?

The most transferable skills from simracing to motorsport​

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The most transferable skills from simracing to motorsport