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Scott McLaughlin says the acquisition of a state-of-the-art simulator is keeping him sharp in between Supercars races while fuelling a desire for a possible run in the championship’s new eseries.
McLaughlin is among group of Supercars drivers that have regularly raced on simulators, and is a big advocate of their advantages for real world racing.
The reigning Supercars champion admitted he could feel the benefits of the extra virtual running completed in the comfort of his own home during a test day at Queensland Raceway last week.
“Simworx has hooked me up with VR (Virtual Reality) and all that sort of stuff and it’s amazing,” said McLaughlin.
“It really helps with keeping sharp. Going to the track (for the test day last week), I felt like I was ‘on’ straight away. I felt fresh.
“It’s kind of like going in the go-kart. I’m doing a lot of different things. I’m not necessarily racing, but I’m having goes in different pieces. The sim is a good tool.”
A long time fan of simulator racing, McLaughlin will be keeping a close eye on Supercars’ new six round eseries that will be broadcast on Fox Sports.
The Gfinity Supercars Eseries, which will begin in September, will see the nation’s best gamers compete, while Supercars teams are also encouraged to field entries, with Boost Mobile Racing the first to confirm its participation.
“I’m excited to see what the eseries looks like for our category. I think it will be quite cool,” said McLaughlin.
“They’re predicting that esports is going to be one of the biggest sports in the next few years, so it’s something our sport is doing well to be a part of.
“I’ll be watching to see what goes on. I used to race all that stuff back in the day. I got myself into trouble a number of times hitting people off! But it’s bloody fun.
“There’s some really good people, good drivers on there that haven’t got opportunities before, but they’ve got the opportunity to race in esports. It’s a very cool platform.”
While keen for an outing in the eseries, McLaughlin admits he will need to improve his virtual skills.
“I’m no good in a V8 on there so I need to get better, but I’d like to have a go,” he added.
“Just as long as I don’t get taken away from the real job; I’d much rather win the actual Bathurst 1000. But we’ll see what happens.”
McLaughlin will return to the real world race track this weekend for the Century Batteries Ipswich SuperSprint, which begins on Friday.
Oh yeah! Can’t wait to get back into my sim racing with this rig at home! @iRacing #simworx #esports pic.twitter.com/d89KwdsgfV
— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin93) 9 July 2019
