James Baldwin is perhaps the epitome of the often-travelled sim racing to motorsport path. His story is well-trodden at this point, but he is living proof that you can succeed in virtual racing and directly translate those skills to the real world track.
Despite not currently competing professionally in an esports capacity – not something that he’s ruled out should the right opportunity arise – years of competing at the vanguard of sim racing have netted the 28-year-old race wins in the Le Mans Virtual Series, an eRace of Champions title and a gold medal at the FIA Motorsport Games.
Simultaneously, he’s been forging a path in motorsport, competing in the 2019 Race of Champions, finishing fourth in the 2020 British GT championship, completing the 24 Hours of Spa and this year, a class podium in GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.
He still regularly trains using his simulator setup, and in fact, attributes Simucube equipment to some recent learnings.
“For Nürburgring earlier this season in GT World Challenge, I used the Simucube ActivePedal Pro to prepare for driving the McLaren 720 GT3 Evo in the real world again,” explains the World’s Fastest Gamer champion.
“Using the memory I had from competing last year, I tuned them to feel like that just in case I got a call-up this season, helping me get back into the flow of what the real pedals feel like.
“The day after I came back from the Nürburgring this August, I went straight on my sim rig, tuned the pedals to how it felt once more because my memory was a lot fresher. Now they literally can’t be far away from feeling one-to-one.
“That’s in terms of throttle distance and then the amount of brake pedal travel, the stiffness of the brake and the amount the ABS kicks in, because it’s quite light on the McLaren. I can mimic how light the McLaren throttle is, too, every little detail replicated on the sim.
“If I get called up again, I’m building up that muscle memory, and when I get into the real car, I feel like I’ve already driven it at home.”
Upgrading to turn pro
Baldwin has been using Simucube equipment for the past five years, starting out with a Simucube 2 Sport wheel base before upgrading to the 2 Ultimate three years ago. This was then paired with the aforementioned ActivePedal.
His focus in recent years has been primarily on using simulation to train for motorsport participation, and he attributes his Simucube equipment to assisting in his race-readiness.
“I remember going from entry-level sim racing equipment to the Simucube 2 Sport, and it was again a big step up in terms of the detail and the type of force feedback you’re getting,” Baldwin explains.
“Then from the Sport to the Ultimate – yes, you receive more force feedback, but for me, there is also more detail. I just feel a little bit more going over various bumps and kerbs, even when I’m loading the tyre, I feel a little bit more.
“On top of that, preparing for motorsport, the coolest part is the ActivePedal adjustability. I think that’s one key advantage it has over every other pedal set is the amount of adjustability.
“A lot of pedal sets you can adjust the travel and the stiffness, but you can’t do it all in one software very quickly. And through the effects, like ABS or brake lockup, or even you can mimic the chassis vibrating as the engine’s rumbling, all those little details, they’re just a step ahead of everything else.”
Exciting year ahead
Baldwin is now just over six months into working with Simucube as both an ambassador and as someone who can provide the Finnish company with feedback on potential upcoming new products.
It’s something he is relishing so far, and he’s looking forward to what the company will announce next.
“There’s been quite a lot of open dialogue between us both; we’re chatting pretty much every day,” he explains.
“Whether I’m feeding back things about the software or the equipment or talking about the next video we’re going to do together. We’ve done a fair amount in the last half a year, but we’ve got a lot planned actually for the end of the year because there’s a lot of cool stuff coming…”
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