There are many kinds of simracers, in the same way that there are many types of cyclists, Internet users or sudoku lovers. And although getting a classification that groups them by type is daring and always yields a debatable result, I am going to do it as a way of reflecting on this modality and to find out your opinion.
I have classified the simracers into seven basic categories, identifying each one with a name that was short and meaningful when it came to understanding each group. Some are widely known and frequently used, others are not. Obviously, there are other variants derived from the nuances that you want to introduce or the degrees of overlap and combinations that can occur between groups. Age and objectives also introduce differentiating variables. With all this combination of elements, these are the seven basic groups defined:
– Simracer Driver
– Former-driver Simracer
– Aspiring-driver Simracer
– Professional Simracer
– Simracer Gamer
– Amateur Simracer
– Occasional Simracer
The Simracer Pilot
professional pilot (“real”, traditional) that uses the simracing as a complementary tool in their training or training, and that, normally, they already have a coach or a certain support structure. This pilot simracer You may also participate in online competitions, but its main objective is, as I say, in traditional competition. Nowadays almost all, if not all, drivers of a certain level, in F1, DTM and other categories, use simulators. Carlos Sainz o Max Verstappen, who we see in the image watching how they set up the simulator, are pilots, but driver It simply does not enter our classification because it would be for those who have never used a simulator.
The Simracer Ex-pilot
As its name indicates, we would be talking about a simracer who currently uses driving games/simulators, but that comes from driving racing cars and participating in real races in the past, and that he has this hobby to continue savoring those sensations that his real piloting once gave him. It can be said that it has become a simracer due to one/some of these reasons: lack of money to continue competing, family and/or work commitments, theme of age, health or for having had some injury.
They could be perfectly included in Simracer Pro or Amateur, but having come from real competition, we thought it appropriate to add this category.
The Simracer Pro-pilot
Who still he is not a pilot profesional in “real life”, but yes pursue that goal or dream, using simracing and online competition as a mere springboard to publicize their skills. An example, the one that appears in the foreground in the image, Lucas Ordóñez Martín-Esperanza, Spanish motorsport driver who entered the world of conventional competition by winning a virtual competition, the first edition of the GT Academy, con Gran Turismo for PlayStation.
Simracer Pro
It's a professional simracing driver, simulation lover. Not necessarily is part of a team, but it is the most common. In any case, the most common thing is that he is not alone, that he has a certain support structure, with a coach, advisor or someone who helps him strengthen or enhance his skills, prepares the car and/or who sponsors him and goes with him seeking to win championships to obtain in exchange some type of direct or indirect remuneration, recognition, positioning, etc. The simracer Pro is in turn a faithful defender and careful lover of simulation, in the sense of discipline that seeks to simulate as much as possible the physical and optical sensations of driving. Your mind may in some cases be focused on becoming a Simracer Pro-pilot, but not necessarily, and that is why it has been given its own entity in this classification.
Simracer Gamer
It is, like the Simracer Pro, a professional simracing driver, but although there are many similarities between them, what makes the difference between the two is that The Simracer Gamer is not so concerned with the aspects and refinement of the simulation sensations. Look for other things, and to get them It is enough to be fast almost at any price. He participates or intends to participate in e-sport competitions, he is usually what is called a gamer, more geeky, and his focus is less purely automotive. This does not have to be understood as something negative, it is simply different, part of another approach and seeks other objectives, and that is why it falls into another group, as valid as any other. In this sense, a Simracer Gamer can race in almost any simulator or game, whatever the event demands, but, yes, it shows a special predilection for those who take care of the graphic aspects, let's say, contextual, that is, the exterior and interior appearance of the cars, the pits, mechanics, and the public.
Simracer Amateur
It is a simracer pro, but without pro, so we could also call it simply Simracer. However, the tagline 'amateur' reinforces that This is a simracer that is not professionalized, which in most cases does not have support structures or resources. You can compete online and have perfectly quantifiable objectives in that field, but your perspective and purposes are not to become professional. Another thing is that you stand out and without looking for it, a team or sponsor arrives tomorrow that encourages you to become professional, but, honestly, you don't have that objective. Furthermore, it is the classic simracer that can only be on the track doing runs and testing different car configurations or track conditions with the sole objective of improving their times and driving. It's a simulation lover, busca with your hardware sensations and physics faithful as much as possible to reality, a reality that in most cases he does not know because he has never driven and much less competed with a racing car, but that he can intuit from his experience as a driver. Only use simulators that take care of these aspects, not only those related to the competition (penalties, organization of the series, etc.), but also those that work on track physics, tire wear, grip variability, etc. The Simracer Amateur and the Simracer Pro share many things and sensations in this sense of simulation, but their objectives and resources are normally different.
Those would also have a place here or in the Simracers PRO expert users in telemetry and car setups, who help their teammates in making the setup as good as possible.
Simracer Occasional
Very similar to Simracer Gamer, but without the professional player component. He spends very little time running, time that is also sporadic, occasional. He casual simracer basically looking for fun, distraction, pass the time. Taking references to an extreme, a clarified example of this type is that of the simracer that I could perfectly run without major complications with a console controller if it allows you to have fun. He also shares with the Simracer Gamer his special predilection for games/simulators that take care of the visual and contextual spectacularity of the game; They love the immersion that enters especially through the eyes, since it is the one that most quickly and easily brings them fun.
As a corollary, point out that the Simracers Amateur, the Pro, the Ex-pilots, the Pro-pilots and the pilots they usually search in the simulators those more purely automotive aspects, for example the perception of the “mechanical and physical sensations” of the car, or the graphics related not only to the spectacular nature of the circuit, but to the plausibility of the topography, scale and visual references of the track. This normally leads them to use more complex simulators in the settings section: of the car, of the track, either due to the number of parameters that we can modify via the interface or by admitting Mods, which allow all aspects of the simulation to be refined and personalized in great depth. In this sense, the Most Gamer Simracers and Casual Simracers do not value, or directly reject, these types of simulators are so complicated to handle.
As we said at the beginning, there are always nuances, and as they say, generalizations are hateful. Sometimes they are explained from the extremes of each group, since that is where the differentiating nuances are found. Be that as it may, I hope it serves as a reflection and allows us to put into context and better understand some other things that we will talk about in other articles. And you, what type of simracer are you?