You might have heard if you know a bit about sim racing that some consider a sport, that there are numerous competitions being organized around and that some are even arguing that it should be in the Olympics!
Some other people disagree so let’s dive in and see why this is a real sport.
In my opinion, Sim racing is a sport for various reasons:
- the level of competition is crazy, it is really hard to win and sim racers sometimes have a better level than pro pilots.
- the concentration needed to endure long races is huge. Some pro F1 pilots train themselves on simulator for hours on end to test there concentration.
- The equipment you need to buy is incredibly expensive and needs to be professional if you want to stand a chance.
- The sheer physicality of it. If you race on a virtual event for a few hours it takes a toll on you I assure you.
- And many other reasons….
So let’s dive into more in detail with the rest of this article.
1 – The Physicality Of Sim Racing
First first things, sim racing is a physical activity. Let’s assume you have a full equipment (steering wheel, pedals, shifter, etc). This means that while driving you will need to move your arms, legs, and concentrate. Basically, everything that a pro driver does.
The biggest difference between a professional driver and a sim racer in terms of effort when racing comes down to 1 thing: the conditions inside the cockpit. F1 drivers have to sustain a really hot cockpit (above 35°C) for a full 2 hours while racing with their overalls on. For the rest, there are no real differences between a sim racer engaging in a long race and a pro driver. Obviously, a sim racer will consume fewer calories than a pro driver with its overall inside a hot cockpit but for the rest, the movement of the arms and feet are the same, the concentration is the same.
Pedals and steering wheels used in sim racing are created based on their real counterparts. You have force feedback wheels that can simulate for example driving without power steering. You also have load cells inside pedals that replicate the feel and resistance that you have on a real car while trying to push the pedal.
You can see a more detailed article about sim racing equipment here.
To sum up, yes sim racing is physical. It is estimated that you burn 3-4 times the calories that you burn when you are idle when you sim race.
2 – The Strain Imposed By Continuous Concentration
I don’t know if you ever played any sim-racing games, but I’ve tried some and I can tell you racing even for 30 minutes without making a mistake is not easy. Imagine that on some endurance races, sim drivers race for hours on end and every turn can be the occasion to do a fatal mistake.
Their concentration is at its peak all the time during many hours. Personally, I’ve played sim racing games, after 30 minutes I am mentally exhausted.
The toll it takes on your head also multiplies the effects on your body: you feel more tired.
Concentration is also a big factor in what is making sim racing a sport.
3 – The Level Of Competition
If you have ever tried it you know, you think you are at your best but you never quite win. At least it was the case for me. Although I had years of experience in sim racing, I could never win. Guys in front of me were smashing it going 1-2 seconds faster than I could.
I could not understand how they did it and did not bother that much either when I saw the level gap but in any sport, you have tough competition and sim racing is really competitive.
People train day in and day out to be at their best: they eat the proper food, they work out, they train, they concentrate.
4 – The Number of Instances Considering It A Sport
More and more official organizations (and even countries!) are starting to consider sim racing a sport. Just to name a few: FIA. The Olympic committee, etc.
Yes, sim racing will be present at the Olympic Virtual Series (See here), the FIA has created a full e-sport section and Germany is now considering it a sport like handball or kayaking.
So yes, if the germans say so who are we to argue?
5 – Sponsoring
Like in all sport, the e-sport series of sim racing is full of sponsors. There are the big video game or sim racing companies such as Codemasters, Fanatec, Thrustmaster, etc
There is a full new economy around pro sim racing encompassing the sponsors, the diffusion rights, the money prizes and even betting. It is more and more watched and with also more and more economic weight.
For example, the F1 e-sport pro series was sponsored by Aramco with a prize fund of $750,000. Not bad.
6 – The Number of Pro Drivers Switching From Sim Racing to Real Life Racing
Something also tells you that sim racing is a sport. It is the fact the pro drivers train themselves in this support and also that they themselves participate in sim racing events.
For instance, Lando Norris who is a McLaren F1 driver claimed that sim racing helped him refine his skills on the real track. Max Verstappen, a world championship contender, participated in sim racing events and also regularly trains on it.
Pro drivers are literally that there is not much difference between virtual racing and real racing.
Conclusion
In my very humble opinion of amateur sim racers, sim racing is indeed a sport. It is physical, it requires concentration, equipment technical knowledge and it is starting to become very professional.
The professionalization is starting with bigger money prizes, more sponsoring, big organizations making their own sim racing events and an increased level of competition.
So in short, if you want to sweat go for it!
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