Do Robots Dream of Electric Racecars?

 This lockdown has been hard on all of us. We've all changed in the months since the virus forced all of us to go to ground and wait for all of this to blow over. Me? I got really interested in Formula E, which is peculiar for a guy who is passionate about fast cars and loud engines. My quest to satisfy my curiosity for this electric racing series led me to VRC Modding Team, who sell the Formula Lithium 2019 for $4.50. It's essentially the current Formula E car with the serial numbers filed-off and generic liveries that sort-of resemble the actual teams, but not to the extent of getting them in trouble.

So how does an electric open-wheeler drive? It's certainly... interesting. This car doesn't produce much downforce, so lift-off oversteer is definitely a thing in high-speed corners, and the brakes lock up VERY easily. Also, the instant torque on offer means you have to be very patient with the go-pedal. On the upside, there's no special procedure to start moving; just press the pedal and you're off.

These cars work best on tight street circuits, which is exactly the type of circuit that Formula E races on. After all, what better way to promote low-emission, low-noise racing? These tracks are VERY tight, the kind of track that would also be suited to small hot hatchbacks or go-karts. Combined with the energy management, Fanboost and Attack Mode that have also become key parts of Formula E, it's a challenge that's quite unlike anything else in the motorsport world.

Is Formula E for everyone? Of course not. There will always be those who cave high speeds, wide-open straights and sweeping curves, set to the soundtrack of highly-tuned racing engines (and I'm one of them). Formula E doesn't really provide any of what I just described, but what it does provide is the kind of motorsport we may need to attract a new, always-connected and environmentally-conscious generation of fans. And more people sharing our passion for motorsport can only be a good thing, right?

P.S. I can confirm that I did not hire someone else to drive the car for me while I was taking these photos.

If you are interested in purchasing the car, you can do so from VRC Modding for $4.50.

As mentioned before, this car has a generic name and liveries to avoid copyright, so if you want authentic team liveries, you can pick them up from RaceDepartment. This site offers liveries for Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler Formula E Team, BMW i Andretti Motorsport, DS Techeetah, Envision Virgin Racing, GEOX Dragon, HWA Racelab, Mahindra Racing, Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team, NIO Formula E Team, Nissan e.dams, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team and Venturi Formula E Team. As always, you will need a RaceDepartment account to download these.

As for the tracks, most of them can be found on RaceDepartment, while the Monaco GP circuit I use is by Patrikpat and can be downloaded here.

London Calling

 What I like about mods is that if the correct cars and tracks are available (and chances are, they are available), you can recreate any race or racing series you desire. Equally, you can do something that likely wouldn't happen in reality. For example, how about a touring car race on the closed-off streets of London?

This London street circuit is a convert from Need for Speed: Shift, developed by Slightly Mad Studios (what happened to them, I wonder?), and looking at a map of London, is actually accurate to real life. Let me talk you through a lap. You start off on York Road, where the first corner takes you the wrong way around the Odeon BFI IMAX roundabout. You then accelerate onto Waterloo Bridge, keeping an eye out for the lane divider just before the braking zone. You then loop around and dive down Savoy Street to come out onto Victoria Embankment. Hammer down, get some speed up, try not to get distracted by the London Eye across the river. There's a chicane coming up; get it right and you can carry some serious speed through, get it wrong and you'll end up on two wheels and/or in the wall. Swing onto Westminster Bridge for the third high-speed zone, and then you'll get to the sweeping left-hander at Westminster Bridge Road. Get through that, and it just a right turn to get back onto York Road and the conclusion of the fastest lap anyone's ever done of Westminster.

I feel the layout is great, and I've had quite some fun doing hotlaps with touring cars and entry-level racers. There are a few drawbacks, though: the road can be bumpy (which is to be expected), the AI just CANNOT deal with the divider on Waterloo Bridge and the kerbs can be... slightly vicious. Still, I can just imagine the British Touring Car Championship doing a special exhibition race on this track.

So here is my question. If you could set up a street circuit in any city or on any closed-off bit of public road, where would you set it up and what would you race on it?

If you fancy getting your hands on that Ford Focus that thinks it's a motorcycle (told you those kerbs were vicious), it's part of Shaun Clarke's really-quite-excellent BTCC pack. The London street circuit was sourced from GTPlanet, and can be downloaded here.

Flying Bricks: The FIA ETRC Digital

 I talk about Assetto Corsa a lot on this blog, and that's because it's a great platform for recreating any racing series you want. The range of cars and tracks available is simply staggering, and quite a few real racing series have cottoned on to this in the lockdown period. TCR Europe has hosted an eSports championship on Assetto Corsa. So has the Race of Champions. The forthcoming V10 R-League is another example of a professionally-organised virtual racing series, and let's not forget the Ferrari Hublot eSports Series with that 488 Challenge Evo, quite possibly the most sought-after car in the Assetto Corsa community right now.

And then there's the FIA European Truck Racing Championship.

They, like many others, have had to adapt to the global situation that forced a rethink of the way they organise races. Starting in May, they held the ETRC Digital, a virtual racing championship on Assetto Corsa with the drivers, trucks and tracks of the real series. And just so we're clear, these aren't pickup trucks I'm talking about here; these are 5 ton, 1,000 horsepower purpose-built semi trucks that are limited to 100 miles per hour, lest they punch right through the crash barriers.

Such vehicles don't really exist in Assetto Corsa, so the series has had truck mods specially made for this series. Whether the competitors drive a Scania, Iveco, MAN or Buggyra, those trucks have been replicated in-game. They've even gone to the trouble of recreating the Mercedes-Benz Actros pace truck and Ford Cargo official truck, and the races have all been overseen by qualified officials, race control and clerk of the course.

The final round of this series will be taking place this Sunday, the 16th of August, with race 1 starting at 18:00 CET (an hour ahead of British time), and the track will be Jarama in Spain. I'll be leaving links to livestreams of the previous rounds (and a link to the upcoming season finale), and keeping my fingers crossed that these truck mods will be made publicly available at some point. I really want to experience virtual truck racing of my own, and I'm sure there's quite a few people that feel the same way...

Livestreams:

Round 1: Hungaroring

Round 2: Misano

Round 3: Slovakia Ring

Round 4: Nürburgring

Round 5: Autodrom Most

Round 6: Zolder

Round 7: Le Mans Circuit Bugatti

Round 8: Jarama

My Opinion On... Assetto Corsa Competizione

 I've been digging through my archives, and came across this review of Assetto Corsa Competizione that I wrote back in May (before the release of the console versions and the GT4 Pack DLC). I have rewritten that review below, with a few modifications. I hope you enjoy reading my honest opinion of this game, and keep in mind that I am not a professional game reviewer or critic, but I do try my best.

"

First of all, this is a game that is focused on a single racing series, the GT World Challenge Europe (formerly known as the Blancpain GT Series). That means the game features all of the cars and teams of the series, all of the tracks, and all of the rules and regulations. It's like the F1 or WRC games; if you're not a fan of GT3 racing then this game isn't for you, but if you are, then this game's single-minded focus and pursuit of authenticity means that nothing else comes close.

Part of the game's focus on the GTWC is the cars. All of the cars that were on the grid in 2018 and 2019 are here, from the many, many Audi R8s and AMGS to the oddball Emil Frey Jaguar XK and Reiter Engineering's Gallardo. Each car drives different as well. You can spend hours getting to grips with the AMG GT3, to then jump into the R8 LMS and find you have to learn a new set of quirks and characteristics. Throw around a Porsche 911 GT3 R and a BMW M6 GT3, and you'll find that they are quite different animals. Balance of Performance keeps the cars close in terms of outright performance, but each car works best with a particular track and driving style.

For vehicle handling, the game is realistic, but not to the point of being impossible to control. These GT3 cars are not like classic F1 cars; tamed only by those with other-worldly talent. These cars are designed for wealthy businessmen to live out their race-driver fantasies, but that doesn't mean that anyone can win with one. You still have to know what you're doing, and trying to drive like you're in Need for Speed will end with you in the gravel trap. These cars are more approachable than other race cars, but they can still turn into 500-horsepower pinballs with improper driving.

I feel like Kunos Simulazioni are the masters of vehicle dynamics, and they've managed to capture the driving behaviour of these cars without making them excessively difficult to control. I remember a conversation I had with SimRace1's receptionist about how sim-racing developers and gamers are perhaps confusing realism with difficulty. For example, I could never really get on with Project CARS 2, try as I might, and it always felt like I was driving on a knife's edge. Assetto Corsa Competizione is a different story, and while the cars may be a big part of that, anyone who is used to the original Assetto Corsa will likely be right at home here.

The tracks are also beautifully recreated, having been laser-scanned, and each provides a different experience. Diving through Paddock Hill at Brands Hatch, opening the taps down the long back straight at Paul Ricard (no chicane for the GT layout!), or pushing around Monza's sweeping turns in the ultimate test of downforce; you'll be racing all around Europe in the pursuit of victory.

The sounds are another area in which Kunos excel, and ACC may be their finest work ever. Each car sounds exactly as they do in real life (and having attended the Blancpain GT Series round at Brands Hatch, I can confirm this!), and the in-car sounds are to die for. The screaming V10 Audi and Lamborghini. The howling Porsche 911. The thundering Bentley and Mercedes-AMG. You also have the other sounds: the squealing of brakes, the screeching of tyres approaching the limit of adhesion, the whining of straight-cut gears, the crackle of backfire and anti-lag. Just like the handling, the sound contributes heavily to each car's unique character. It's not just the cars either; each track also has unique atmospheric commentary taken from the actual race events.

Graphically, this game is outstanding. The details are beautiful, and this game has something the old Assetto Corsa couldn't manage without mods: dynamic weather and a full day-night cycle. It is entirely possible to run a full 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, running into the night with the risk of the heavens opening up at any moment. If there is a downside to this graphical excellence, it's the performance. This game is VERY graphically intensive, and while you can happily hotlap with the graphics turned up to Epic settings, even a modest lineup of opponent cars can cause framerate issues and stuttering at this level of graphics, at least on my laptop. A full grid of 30+ cars is something I would only really attempt with a dedicated gaming PC. Another issue I need to acknowledge is Virtual Reality, and while I don't have a VR headset, the performance in VR mode is apparently very poor, so keep that in mind.

DLC? There is one pack already out: the Intercontinental GT Challenge Pack. This adds four new tracks, with Mount Panorama, Laguna Seca, Suzuka and Kyalami all receiving the same attention-to-detail as the existing European tracks. This is probably the most realistic Suzuka I've ever come across, and going full-send through Mount Panorama's mountain section is suitably bum-puckering. You also get the liveries of the teams that competed in these IGTC endurance races, which is good for variety. In the future, we're expecting a GT4 pack, adding entry-level GT cars which will undoubtedly make for very exciting racing, whether on their own or in a multi-class field. This would bode very well for the second incoming DLC pack, adding the remaining tracks of the British GT Championship. Having also attended a round or two of the British GT Championship, and witnessed the simultaneous GT3 and GT4 battles, I am confident that Assetto Corsa Competizione could become one of the finest GT racing simulators available.

My conclusion to this rather long review? I'm going to go back to what I said in the opening part. You've really got to be into GT3 racing to like this game, but it's single-minded focus on the GT World Challenge Europe delivers an authenticity that no all-in-one racing game could hope to match. If you have a system capable of handling a large number of cars with great graphical detail, then this is the best-looking, best sounding and best-driving GT3 racing simulator you'll come across, and if that's the kind of experience you're looking for, then you won't regret picking this up.

"

And so that concludes my rewrite of the ACC review I wrote in May. I wrote another review of the GT4 Pack DLC for this game soon after it released in July, and I will be rewriting that review for this blog as well. Stay tuned!

SimRace1 Swansea

 Hi everyone! If you came here from SimRace1 Swansea's Facebook post, then chances are you already know who I am and who they are. In any case, welcome! I'll try to stop recycling my Bucket List content and bring some actual stuff on here instead of rambling on about what I did last summ... this spring. In the mean time, I reckon it's my turn to give SimRace1 a little promotion.

They have what's called their Fast & Furious events. Now, I must point out that they have nothing to do with a certain blockbuster movie franchise, but that's the name they've decided upon... Anyway, they have two such events occurring this month, both catering to different levels of racing skill. The Pro event is happening on Saturday the 22nd of this month, and is for highly-skilled drivers who want to test themselves against the best. Racers will compete in a tournament event, with the highest-place finishers from each race going on to compete in the final. Meanwhile, the Intermediate event, taking place on Saturday the 29th, is all about the rookie racers and the rising stars not yet ready to turn Pro. This event uses a team-race format, with two drivers per car taking it in turns to drive stints. Both events start from around 19:00, and run for about two-to-three hours.

Both of these events still have seats available (as far as I'm aware), so if you live in or near to the Swansea area and reckon you're: a) a hotshot who counts themselves among the top racers in the area, or b) a rookie looking for an introduction into the world of simulation racing with other people, then be sure to get in contact with SimRace1 Swansea to register your interest. I can personally attest to the people at these events being friendly, welcoming, and passionate about sim racing, and I myself will also be present. I look forward to seeing you there, and on this blog!

What's The Deal With... The WeatherTech SportsCar Championship's Car Classes

 In my previous post (The Bucket List at Daytona), I talked about the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and briefly went over the car classes. I figured I'd post a more detailed explanation of the classes you'll find in the championship, including pictures, details that set the cars in each class apart, and an overview of the cars that compete in each class. So, let's get on with it, shall we?

[GTD]

The Grand Touring Daytona class is open to GT3-class cars, based on production models. These GT3 cars are the same type that can be found in the GT World Challenge, Japan's Super GT series, the British GT Championship and numerous other GT championships worldwide. As these cars are designed to be driven by amateur race drivers, they are equipped with anti-lock brakes and traction control, and the performance of each car is carefully controlled to keep the variety of cars on a level playing field.

In the WSCC, the GTD class is open to privateer customer teams, with a mix of professional and amateur drivers. Each car in the class has a green windscreen banner, mirrors, wing endplates, car number boards and lumirank boards (the board on the side of the car that illuminates to show the car's race position). This is also the only class that uses yellow headlight lenses. The cars that are competing in the GTD class this year are the Acura/Honda NSX GT3 Evo, Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3, Audi R8 LMS Evo, BMW M6 GT3, Ferrari 488 GT3, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo, Lexus RC F GT3, McLaren 720S GT3, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo and Porsche 911 GT3 R.

[GTLM]

The Grand Touring Le Mans class consists of GTE cars, the GT cars that are also eligible to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship and at Le Mans. Compared to the GT3 cars, GTE/GTLM cars are also production-based, but with a different set of regulations. While GT3 cars can use any engine from the manufacturer, GTE engines can be no larger than 5.5 litres or 4.0 litres for turbocharged engines, and can have no more than eight cylinders. While the engine size is more heavily regulated than with GT3, the position isn't regulated, so the manufacturer can reposition the engine as they see fit (for example, the current Porsche 911 RSR has a mid-engine layout, with the engine ahead of the rear axle rather than behind). The aerodynamics are also different, particularly with regards to the rear diffuser, and anti-lock brakes are not allowed.

In the WSCC, GTLM teams are all manufacturer entries or privateers with factory support, and the drivers are all professionals. Each car in the class has a red windscreen banner, mirrors, wing endplates, car number boards and lumirank boards. The cars in this year's GTLM class are the BMW M8 GTE, Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, Ferrari 488 GTE Evo and Porsche 911 RSR.

[P2]

The P2 class is for prototypes that comply with the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's LMP2 regulations. As such, each P2 entry is also eligible to compete in the World Endurance Championship and at Le Mans. LMP2 cars are closed-cockpit designs with stabilising fins, and every LMP2 uses the same spec engine, a Gibson-built 4.2 litre V8 with around 600 horsepower.

In the WSCC, P2 teams are privateer teams, with both professional and amateurs represented in the driver lineup. Each car in the class has blue mirrors, wing endplates, car number boards and lumirank boards. While there are four manufacturers that produce LMP2 cars, all of the teams in the WSCC use the Oreca 07.

[DPi]

The Daytona Prototype International class is the top class in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The cars are all prototypes that are based on LMP2 chassis from Dallara, Oreca or Riley-Multimatic, with automobile manufacturers providing the engines and restyling the bodywork to match their preferred design language. The cars in this class are the Cadillac DPi-V.R (Dallara-based with a 5.5 litre V8), Acura ARX-05 DPi (Oreca-based with a 3.5 litre twin-turbo V6) and Mazda RT24-P DPi (Riley-based with a 2.0 litre turbo inline-4).

In the WSCC, DPi teams are either manufacturer-supported or completely-independent privateer teams, with only professional drivers allowed to compete. Each car in the class has black car number boards and white lumirank boards.

The Bucket List Episode 7: DAYTONA!

 Say what you will about American motorsports, but if you're a fan of endurance racing and looking for something a little bit different from the World Endurance Championship, then the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is where you'll want to look. The championship visits some of the most iconic tracks in North America, including Sebring, Laguna Seca, Road America and Long Beach. The season-opener, meanwhile, is none other than the 24 Hours of Daytona, and that's where I headed for this episode of the Bucket List.

If you're looking for a variety of cars, then you'll also find it in the WSCC. For GT cars, you have customer teams in GT3 cars (GTD) and manufacturer teams in Le Mans-spec GTE cars (GTLM), while other teams compete in LMP2 cars (P2) and the IMSA-specific DPi class. Based on LMP2 prototypes, but with manufacturer-specific styling and engines, these cars represent the pinnacle of endurance racing in the US.

I'd be driving a BMW M8 GTLM for this race, with a field comprised of GTLM and DPi cars and a full day-night cycle. From the off, I pushed hard to pull out an early lead, leading to a couple of high-speed lockups. I soon settled into a rhythm, however, and focused on maintaining my class lead while making way for incoming DPis. You know that feeling when you get into that rhythm? That's the best feeling, when you're no longer consciously driving the car, when time goes into a blur as you're just in the zone. That's what I look for every time I load up a race.

I used the Rollovers American Endurance Pack for this event, containing DPi and GTLM cars, which can be downloaded here. As I have stated with the Le Mans post, I have since switched to using other GTE cars, including URD's Bayro (BMW M8), Detroit (Ford GT) and Porsche 911 RSR 18, and the Ferrari 488 GTE "upgrade kit" from RaceDepartment (registration required).

I used the Terra21 Daytona circuit from RaceDepartment for this event. Since this event (which was in late-March), the Reboot Team has released an improved Daytona, which I highly recommend. You can download it here.

The Bucket List Episode 6: BTCC

Being a Brit, I've naturally gone to watch a few rounds of the British Touring Car Championship. I'm not really going to repeat what I said about touring cars a couple of episodes ago, but really, if you get the chance to watch a touring car race, do it. Those guys always put on a show!

This time on the Bucket List, I set up a race at Snetterton, the site of the BTCC's 60th Anniversary race weekend in 2018 (one of the races I spectated). Well, I say a race, but it was actually two races with a reverse grid (and some rain, and some success ballast) for the second. The cars would be Shaun Clarke's BTCC pack, featuring touring cars from Alfa Romeo, Audi, BMW, Ford, Honda and Toyota, allowing me to replicate a good chunk of the BTCC grid. These cars are great fun to drive, and Shaun Clarke has clearly settled into his niche of British racing car mods, as each one of his cars are among the best free mods available in my opinion.

In case you were wondering how I did in the races, I won the first race, got sent to the back with a 60kg success ballast for the second race, and ended up finishing third. I think I should probably have cranked up the AI difficulty just a little bit...

If you're interested in driving the BTCC pack (and I reckon you should), you can download it from Shaun Clarke's site here. Meanwhile, the Snetterton Circuit I use is by Terra21, and can be downloaded here.

The Bucket List Episode 5: Le Mans

I may be interested in racing simulators (so much so that I started a blog to talk about them), but I am also interested in racing games on the less realistic side of things. One of the best I've played is the original Race Driver Grid. One of the highlights of the career mode in that game was that you could be invited to enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans (for a twelve minute race, but still...), and that is something I wanted to replicate for the Bucket List.

For my first attempt at Le Mans, I would be entering into the GT Am class, driving a Ferrari 488 GTE, for a thirteen-lap race (about an hour of real time). My opponents would also be in the GTE class, although there would also be LMP2 prototypes running their own race. True enough, I would get lapped by most of the P2 cars during the race. It's definitely an interesting experience; running a race through the night, focusing on the road ahead while also glancing at the mirror to try and see a faster car approaching. I did lock the brakes up a couple of times (GTE cars get traction control but not ABS) and went off-track, but ended up finishing second in-class. Not bad. Not bad at all.

I used the Rollovers Endurance Pack for this event, which can be sourced from here. This includes the Toyota TS050 Hybrid from LMP1, the Oreca, Dallara and Ligier P2 prototypes, and the GTE class Aston Martin Vantage (both 2017 and 2018 specs), BMW M8, Ferrari 488 and Ford GT.

The Rollovers cars are decent, but I have since switched to the United Racing Design EGT cars, which I believe are vastly superior to the Rollovers GTE cars. If you are willing to pay for mods, I'd highly recommend picking up their AMR (Aston Martin Vantage), Bayro (BMW M8) and Detroit (Ford GT). There is also a freely-available 2018-spec Porsche 911 RSR.

Someone on RaceDepartment has created an "upgrade kit" to create a 488 GTE from the Kunos 488 GT3. As usual, you will need an RD account to download, and you will also need the 488 GT3 from the Red Pack DLC.

As for the Circuit de la Sarthe, I use this one from RaceDepartment. You could also use this Forza Motorsport 7 conversion, which has more detail but is also more framerate-intensive.

The Bucket List Episode 4: Lick the Stamp

If you've seen a Touring Car race, you'll most likely agree with me when I say that they are brilliant and so much fun to watch. These cars are quick and agile, and also relatable; looking just like the hatchbacks or saloons that you probably have on your driveway. Not to mention, the racing is pure close-quarters combat, with drivers not afraid to rub panels to get ahead. If I were to come up with a motto for touring car drivers, it would be this: "If you haven't got a dented or scraped panel on the car by the end, you haven't been trying hard enough."

For this entry on the Bucket List, I wanted to experience the fury of a touring car race. The original plan had been to go to the Macau street circuit, infamous for its narrow streets. And when I say narrow, I mean really narrow. Unfortunately, the mod I picked up for Macau had red tarmac, which would've broken the immersion just a little. Not to matter, as I took a look at the FIA World Touring Car Cup calendar and found that the German round is held on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, in particular the Endurance layout that is also used for the 24 Hour race. So this is a class of car that's all about licking the stamp and sending it, on a track where you want to be very careful about going full-send...

For my run, I lined up ninth on the grid in an Audi RS 3 LMS TCR for a two lap race. The thing is, these touring cars don't have anti-lock brakes or traction control, and so I locked the brakes into the first corner. By the time I got back on track, I was down in thirteenth. It was time to mount a comeback drive, and that would have to involve going full-send. In those thirty-one-and-a-half miles, I pushed the car as hard as I dared, fighting my way through the pack and passing opponents where I could. At the end of it all, I finished third, which considering my shenanigans at the start, was better than I could hope for. It also convinced me that touring cars are brilliant no matter where they race.

I used the 2018 WTCR pack by maki123 and Delpinsky, featuring seven cars and authentic liveries from the 2018 FIA World Touring Car Cup season. You can download them here.

Also, I am aware that the driving line is visible in this photo. It's a habit that I have since grown out of on Assetto Corsa...