Join Tom Deacon as he welcomes South African sim racer David Perel to episode 5 of Nitro Nights.
This episode of Nitro Night combines the best of both worlds, sim racing and real-world racing. David Perel is fairly experienced in both realms. He also knows the advantages he gains adapting his sim racing practice on the track in real-life.
“Simulators are to the racing drivers what treadmills are to runners.” – A tool to practice
Tom and David discuss the potential sim racing has for the real racing scene. The pro driver does not consider simracing entertainment only, but sees it as a valuable practice tool.
David took his first steps into his racing career when he was 15 years old and began to kart race. His hobby became rather serious and he eventually participated at the Rotax World Finals in 2007 where he finished sixt. But his passion for sim racing actually started before real racing with Gran Turismo 1.
He later used the game to practice other tracks since his local kart place only had one track available. With the additional experience he got from practicing on Gran Turismo, he was more prepared for his real races. The simulations do not substitute racing for him, but are a way to improve his real driving.
“Sim racing is having its moment right now”
Not only racers can profit from honing their skill with esports racing. David explains that due to the coronavirus, the whole motorsport industry would need esports racing right now because its the only thing left at the moment. Drivers had no other way to practice, broadcasters had nothing else to show, so David continues.
But despite the high that virutal racing is currently experiencing, the racing pro also admits that here is a lot to be done since oftentimes, “racers still treat it like it’s just a game.”
“Gran Turismo could be a massive data acquisition tool to make Gran Turismo 7 on the PS5”
Gran Turismo has always been criticised over many aspects, one being the slow implementation of feedback. David has the assumption that Gran Turismo’s developers take feedback in a much more patient and long-lasting process than in the Western world. He also takes a guess that the publisher might be collecting all data on bugs and player feedback to work on a new version for PS5.
If you want to know more, make sure to watch the entire episode!
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