iRacing World Champion Gets a Shot At the Real Thing 168
jamie sent in a link to the story of iRacing World Champion Greger Huttu, who caught the attention of the Top Gear guys and got a chance to drive a real Star Mazda racer. iRacing is a realistic driving simulator that recreates the exact physics of race cars and tracks from around the world, and nobody is better than Greger. Top Gear wanted to see how the virtual champion would do with the real thing. Even though he was eventually unable to put up with the physical demands, Greger drove really well.
Video or it didn't happen (Score:2, Insightful)
WTF wants to READ about something like this?
12 pages!?! (Score:3, Insightful)
They seriously expected me to click through a 12 page slideshow to read a two page article?
Success (Score:5, Insightful)
It seems this was a stunning success. The guy had never driven a car anything remotely like an actual race car, he had never flown on a plane or even ridden a roller coaster. Yet he was able to hop into a high performance racecar for the very first time, and have lap times within 3 seconds of the best and handle 100 MPH turns within 10% of experienced drivers' speed. Yeah, he was totally physically out of shape for anything remotely like racing, the temp was over 110 F inside the car, and he threw up. But he didn't wreck after 15 laps. So I'd call this a total success, and does prove, at least to some extent, that experience gained playing games can directly translate to real-world performance, assuming the game simulation is realistic enough.
Re:Success (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, if nothing else this might motivate him to get fit... I mean, the physical demands aren't that great compared to the skills needed to drive that car.
Re:Irresponsible! (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, but he's Finnish. That means he was taught to drive properly in real life, even if he never went racing.
Knowing how to properly control a car plus knowing the track inside out means he had a pretty good start point, as proven by the actuality.
Re:Racer drivers vs Fighter pilots (Score:2, Insightful)
Do you realize the g-forces involved in doing acrobatics in a fighter jet? Pretty unlikely.
Oh c'mon, the g-forces of doing acrobatics in a fighter jet is no worse than flying a fighter jet! I mean sure, standing on your head or doing a triple flip might *seem* complicated or dangerous in a cockpit, but I think the worst part is trying to avoid knocking yourself out on the controls. Seriously!
Re:Irresponsible! (Score:3, Insightful)
A: He trained in a simulator more extensively than probably anyone else around, so he has the theory.
B: He drives a normal car, so he has the physical side of things.
C: He did these 15 laps at a training facility, with training, under professional supervision anyway. They thought he was good to go. They're not going to risk a million-dollar vehicle on a lark.
A potato cannon isn't going to maim anyone other than the operator, unless you point the damned thing at someone. Then it is basically a thrown rock. An electric vehicle doesn't need to be 1 tonne. The electric vehicle I built weighs about 50 pounds, has an 8 mile range, and isn't any more dangerous on a road than a cyclist.
And EVERYONE should understand mains electricity. The worst you're likely to do is short out your own building, as those things are pretty well insulated from eachother. You could also set fire to something, but you're standing right there, hopefully with an extinguisher handy. Also, you could theoretically bridge across your heart, though with 110 in the US that's not all that common, or you could leave underprotected wiring and rot out your wall plates. But electrical rot generally comes from not knowing about your electrical system, rather than doing your own work. And ignorance of electricity is going to cause you far more problems down the road. A relative refuses to allow me to fix one of her lamps, as she's afraid that the electricity mains boogyman is going to eat me. Yet she has put off getting a professional electrician in for so long that the roof support beam it is built into is basically hollow.
I was a bit shocked the first time I realized that the local archery club allowed anyone to come in off the street and just fire bows at a wall without professional training. But what are you going to do, backfire? The same thing is true of the local gun range. They have rules around safe handling that anyone can understand, but you don't need to be certified to just go in and try things out.
Do you *need* safety training to use, say, a light electric RC plane? No, though you'll probably accidentally destroy 1/2 dozen of the things while learning. And you'll be responsible for anything destroyed in the process.
It just seems like there is a pervasive professionalization of private life these days. "Don't do X! Let a professional handle it!" There are some areas where this is valuable advice. But not all, and probably not most. If you're going to be a full, rounded human being, you've got to be one of the people who leads in the creation of new things. That means understanding how things work, and that means not allowing irrational fears to overtake learning.