Inside the world of sim racing, the next best thing to Formula 1

When the first lockdown hit the U.K. in 2020, Matt Alexander, an associate director at an IT development company, turned a spare room in his Essex, England, home into an office. The centerpiece was a three-monitor setup.

The multiple screens were meant to make it easier for Alexander, now 42, to address work emails, juggle spreadsheets, and keep track of developments his team made to software. “I made sure I made something quite nice,” he says. “I had them set up so you couldn’t see the gaps between them.”

His mind quickly turned to extracurricular activities. “My brain thought, when I looked at that, This would be brilliant to play racing games,” he says. Alexander loves cars, and he loves driving fast — though admits that’s difficult to do legally. “I thought, I could strap a wheel to my desk, and I’d have this ultrawide gaming setup,” he says. “That would be fantastic.”

 

Matt Alexander in his sim racing rigMatt Alexander

He bought a steering wheel gaming peripheral from a local computer store for £180 ($210) and put it on his desk. Alexander began by playing popular racing games, but soon graduated to a more advanced level of computer-based racing called sim racing. He bought a subscription to iRacing, which was exactly what Alexander was looking for: It gave him the ability to test his racing prowess against others online in a realistic environment.

Unlike basic racing video games popular on home consoles, which allow users or computer-controlled players to catch up to each other if one player tears away too fast, iRacing is designed to mimic as accurately as possible the realities of racing on an actual track.

There was just one problem: Alexander’s racing wheel wasn’t going to cut it. “It kind of escalated from there, and my rig’s now sophisticated,” he says. It includes haptic feedback that helps him feel his way around the track, and more accurately mimics the machinery involved in a real car steering wheel. Alexander even wears a VR headset to more deeply immerse himself in the races. Overall, it has cost him £6,000 ($7,000).

“You could go up to £50,000 or £100,000 if you wanted to be serious about it,” Alexander says. The sim racing equivalent Pimp My Ride exists on YouTube, where high-end racing rigs are presented in awe-inspiring videos. Top-end simulators include hand-stitched seats; 200-degree wraparound screens; feedback on wheels, seatbelts, and pedals; and mechanics that move the driver around within the rig.

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