Topic

Performance

Autosport Plus

General News

How to have high-tech driver training at home

By:

James Newbold

May 8, 2017, 10:04 AM

When it comes to driver development, there is no equal for pounding round and round an empty track. That isn't always realistic though, and one British driver believes the golden bullet is home simulation

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Preparation is everything in motorsport, particularly when for varying reasons - cost, logistic or strategic - opportunities for testing at all levels are limited.

Take Formula E, for example. Practice, qualifying and the race are all held across one day on street circuits (and, in the case of Berlin, an airport), and the only collective test venue available for the past three seasons has been Donington Park, which bears little resemblance to any of the tracks the teams will face.

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James Newbold Autosport Plus Editor

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James Newbold is Autosport's Plus Editor, responsible for coordinating website feature content.

In a sign of things to come, having completed his Politics and International Relations degree at the University of East Anglia in 2015, he left his graduation ceremony early to catch the last train to Brussels for the following day's Spa 24 Hours.

After a period as a freelancer, he joined the Autosport staff in 2018 and won the Motorsport UK young journalist of the year award. He initially edited Autosport magazine's Performance and Engineering supplements before joining the website team in his current role in 2020.

A keen enthusiast of anything that can be categorised unusual or niche, he enjoys unearthing little-known stories across all branches of motorsport, but has spent most of his career covering sportscars and is a regular part of the Le Mans 24 Hours reporting team.

He lives with his wife and children in Plymouth, England.