Gli appassionati più attenti al simracing ricorderanno il trionfo di James Baldwin nel torneo World Fastest Gamer 2, con la finalissima disputata nell'ottobre scorso. Oggi il velocissimo simdriver britannico ha avuto il primo contatto diretto con la bellissima McLaren 720S GT3, gestita dal team Rocket RJN dell'ex campione di Formula 1 Jenson Button, con la quale disputerà il prossimo campionato GT World Challenge endurance in categoria GT3 Pro Am.
Il video qui di seguito ci mostra il resoconto di una giornata decisamente fuori dal comune per James ed anche per tutto il mondo simracing.
EDIT 13 Marzo: segnalo una interessante intervista fatta a James dal team di Project CARS 2:
QuoteHow was the process of switching suddenly from sim-racing back to real-racing during and after The World’s Fastest Gamer? How did you mentally prepare to secure your racing licenses?
The process was two things. It was unbelievably enjoyable and easier than I expected. Sim-racing has made me a better driver, no question about it. You simply relying on eyesight and the feeling through the hands to be as quick as possible and beat your opponents online. When I got back in a real car, I had so much more information coming to me about how the car is behaving, so I felt much more in control. Techniques I had no clue about before I started sim-racing, such as rev-matching, heel & toe, developing setups for single-seaters or GT cars. I learned all of these via sim-racing. It's given me a confidence every time that I drive a real car which I didn't have before, so it was fairly easy to mentally prepare for the races that would secure my racing license. The GT World Challenge is another level though, so I am taking nothing for granted, but I am confident.
Watch the reaction of World's Fastest Gamer 2 winner James Baldwin to seeing the McLaren 720S GT3 he will drive in the 2020 GT World Challenge Endurance Championship. He will get his dream drive with 2009 F1 champion Jenson Button's GT team – Jenson Team Rocket RJN as part of his US$1M prize to race real cars after winning the World's Fastest Gamer competition.
