derBayerische March/April 2022 - 11

N C C S I M R A C I N G P R O G R A M 2 0 2 1 R E C A P
the whole year.
As the year progressed, our skill
level drastically improved. Initially, we
were spread out by a second between
each position, but nowadays we are
within a second from top to bottom!
Not only have we been attracting top
talent, but the drivers who started with
us from the beginning have gotten so
fast, it is a tight grid from start to
finish. Some of the notable winners
include Chris Hill, who had been
dominating our series for the most of
the season, then Steve Ficcaci in the
fall season. Steve, who has been
battling Chris Hill and Darin Treakle
for the year, took the season championship
with his exceptional driving as
well as fuel-saving pit strategy, which
saved a lot of time. He single handedly
rewrote our pit strategy book in that
season, during which we lowered the
fuel limit to oblige 2 pit stops, but the
way Steve drove resulted in his only
having to stop once. This caused
everyone else to copy some of his
moves, with some success. It really
came down to how you drive without
sacrificing lap time - when to lift,
when to coast, etc. and yet maintaining
fastest lap times each week.
Although sim racing is not real,
it teaches so much about driving techniques
that directly transfer to realworld
track driving. From my personal
experience, as someone who was
totally new to sim racing two years
ago, it has completely transformed my
driving. In addition, my situational
awareness is incredible - I no longer
get flustered in side-by-side situations;
I'm able to constantly focus on
my driving regardless of what is
happening around me. These are
some of the invaluable skills that
would take me decades to learn in
real-world driving. I'm able to not
only accelerate, but learn something
new every week with my fellow
drivers. The Sim Racing Program that
we use, iRacing, is probably the most
advanced simulated racing program
out there, and it is constantly updated
with better physics and better modeling.
It is simply too good not to do
this! It is also an invaluable tool during
the off-season, maintaining your
skills, even teaching yourself new
■ A strong turnout for our Le Mans race!
tracks, figuring out how fast you can
learn, etc. Many of our members have
been utilizing telemetry data to collect
our data from races, comparing with
other top drivers in our league and
learning from it. We actually teach
and help each other and share our
methods all the time. Since we utilize
fixed setups and we are on the track at
the same time and in the same conditions,
it is a perfect venue to see who
is doing what correctly and correct
your mistakes and any bad habits.
Sim racing is more than just a simulation,
it opens up a whole new ecosystem,
providing opportunities for data
analysis and learning car dynamics
(especially tire wear), aerodynamics,
racecraft, and mental focus. Most
importantly, we also create a friendly
atmosphere in which you can join and
chat with other fellow drivers all the
time. Many of our drivers have not
met each other in person, and yet we
talk about cars and other things every
week. It's an incredible atmosphere
and we all look forward to our weekly
practice and races and of course trash
talking!
For 2022, we have made numerous
changes to the program. We have
gotten a new broadcaster, VSPEED,
who has been covering oval races
over the years. They were glad to help
us out with GT-racing cars on road
courses! We have been very busy,
and we crafted our first rule book
including a points system. We
emphasize no-contact, clean driving
in our league. Therefore, we even
introduced a penalty system in an
effort to reduce mistakes. Finally, for
2022, we are introducing a prize pool
for the first time. We are going to
reward the top three season finishers
and two additional drivers with gift
cards for their hard work. We are
going to start small in terms of the
prize pool, but with additional sponsors
we will continue to increase that,
hoping to attract more drivers thereby
increasing our talent pool. The possibilities
are endless in sim racing, and
it is never late to join us. Remember,
the cars may be virtual, but the racing
is REAL! Tune into our events every
Thursday night at 8 p.m. EST!
March I April
11
https://www.nccbmwcca.org/simracing/ https://www.beltwaybrewco.com/
derBayerische March/April 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of derBayerische March/April 2022
