What a Le Mans winner gets out of iRacing

Many top drivers compete in online competition, but it's not necessarily for the reasons you might think - as a trip to Porsche GT ace Nick Tandy's gaming room reveals

Author Kevin Turner

Published Feb 20, 2020, 2:33 PM

The role of simulators in modern motorsport is well established, but what about racing games? Max Verstappen and Lando Norris teamed up to win the virtual Spa 24 Hours last year and real racing drivers are often competitive in the virtual world. But what are the benefits?

Factory Porsche GT driver and outright 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours winner Nick Tandy is one of many active racers who compete on iRacing. His main motivation isn't to try set-ups or even learn tracks - it's much more fundamental than that.

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Author Kevin Turner

Kevin Turner is Autosport’s Chief Editor. While studying History at the University of York, Kevin began covering UK club events as a freelance reporter for Autosport and Motorsport News. He joined the Autosport staff as Editorial Assistant on the magazine in 2006, winning what is now known as the Motorsport UK Young Journalist of the Year Award. He became National Editor in 2008 and over the next few seasons covered a range of international events, including the Le Mans 24 Hours, as well as the British Touring Car Championship and British GT. Kevin became Features Editor before switching to edit Motorsport News in 2014.

He returned to Autosport in 2016 to become editor of the magazine, a dream job that is still part of his role.

He became Chief Editor in 2020, helping to plan content for autosport.com and Autosport’s podcast as well as seeing the magazine through the coronavirus pandemic. Kevin also led work on the special publication celebrating 70 years of Autosport and has been a judge on the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award, formerly known as the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, since 2008. He lives in Warboys with his wife and two children.