Are racing games on the verge of becoming the next big thing in eSports? Joe Barron speaks to the iRacing grand prix world champion Greger Huttu to find out.
Whenever eSports are mentioned, specific games come to mind: League of Legends, Starcraft 2 and fighting games like Street Fighter IV that are featured in tournaments such as EVO. Professional gamers have flocked to these titles for sponsorship deals and the opportunities to win big money, but there's another genre that's growing in stature, and it has a much greater connection to real sport.
iRacing is a multiplayer-only PC racing simulation that recreates motorsport in meticulous detail. The game uses real-world rules and regulations in all of the major racing categories, from Formula One to NASCAR and sportscar racing. The tracks are the most accurate ever created for a game, using advanced laser scanning techniques to perfectly match the virtual tarmac to the real asphalt. Real racing drivers throughout the world use iRacing to practice, and the service has over 40,000 competing members.
The racing is brutally realistic. Drivers are punished for dangerous driving, encouraging a level of fair and clean competition that's unheard of in other racing games. The pinnacle of the iRacing scene is the Grand Prix World Championship and its greatest champion is Greger Huttu, a mild-mannered speed freak from the tiny town of Vaasa in Finland. He has won this prestigious title twice and he is the fastest virtual racing driver on the planet.
The tracks are arguably the most accurate ever created for a game, using advanced laser scanning techniques to perfectly match the virtual tarmac to the real asphalt.
"I guess I've always been interested in cars and especially driving, not so much the mechanical side of them," says Greger. "When I was a kid I wasn't that much into motorsport, instead I used to play football and sports like that. In the early nineties I remember reading a review of the Formula One Grand Prix game by Geoff Crammond and it seemed really interesting. It was one of the most realistic racing games back then and I was pretty much hooked the first time I tried it. I really enjoyed the challenge of what was needed to drive the car well. Of course if you look back at it now, it wasn't realistic at all, but the challenge of hitting a good lap was still there."
Greger's continued interest in racing was inspired by another flying Finn who was climbing up the ranks of real motorsport at the time, on his way to two Formula One World Championships: legendary McLaren driver Mika Hakkinen.
"Playing F1GP got me more interested in real motorsports and it didn't hurt that Mika Häkkinen was just starting his career in F1, so I started to follow F1 very closely. One nice thing with realistic racing games is that you can learn about real racing, and that makes it more enjoyable to watch the races. It can be something simple like just knowing the tracks inside out or something more complex like car setup and handling."
Though Greger was enjoying his first experiences with simulation racing, he had yet to take on the challenge of racing against human opponents. Once he did, he showed a natural talent for going very, very fast.
"I'd say I started sim racing properly when Grand Prix Legends was released in 1998 and I was winning races pretty much from the beginning. There were guys at the time that I thought were better than me but I had just gotten my first wheel and pedals back then. As I got used to them I started winning more regularly. I never could have imagined what would happen in the future when I bought my copy of Grand Prix Legends on a rainy autumn evening. I was still doing my real driving school back then! I never thought I'd be as successful as I have been or that sim racing would be what it is now. I had never done any online racing or online gaming before either, so just doing that was magical itself. It's pretty funny to think about it all now."
Greger's first online races showed promise, but he was still entering into the unknown. Today, getting started in a title like iRacing can be incredibly intimidating for new players. The level of realism is far more intense than in console racing games, even when compared to Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo.
It's all the more difficult in tournaments like the Grand Prix World Championship, which puts all of the drivers in the type of same car, the Williams-Toyota FW31 from the 2009 Formula One season. Sharing the same machinery makes for incredibly close racing, which makes Greger's wins all the more impressive. In the 2012 season he had an intense battle with 2011 champion Hugo Luis. The two drivers dominated the season, winning all but two of the sixteen races between them. Luis managed six wins, but Greger took the title with eight victories. In fact, Greger was so consistent that by round eleven he was in a position to take the championship, even if he finished behind his rival at every one of the remaining five races.
The key to victory, Greger says, is understanding the physics system, and good old-fashioned practice. But, he admits, some decent racing gear helps too.
"Definitely get a steering wheel and pedals. You can get a decent set for $100 but if you want something better the new Fanatec Clubsport Wheel offers great force feedback and you can buy different wheels for it which resemble steering wheels found in real race cars."
"You can learn a lot by just watching replays of faster drivers and analysing what they're doing differently. I wouldn't worry about car setups at first. The main thing is to have an easy setup and slowly working on your driving. We're also hoping to have a driving school in the near future on our Team Redline website."
"The school is still in the planning phase but there will be different stages and options. A lesson could start with the basics of setting up the wheel and pedals and other settings and then move on to analysing a student's replay and comparing telemetry. Finally, a live online session could be used to teach some finer details and race-craft. Nothing is set in stone at the moment and I'm sure things will change even after we get this going as we learn how to do things most effectively."
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