Unsurprisingly, karting isn’t the only way you can climb up the Motorsports ladder. Technology has made it much more accessible for budding racers to start their journey into this sport. Early 2020 pandemic saw the rise of sim-racing; so as it turns out, the spirit of competition also exists in the cyber-racing world- complete with Race Officials, Live spectators, and even grand prizes. Just like the real deal. For 3 of these cyber-racers, they’re about to get behind an actual steering wheel of a race car, in an actual race!
Here’s some introduction, if you don’t know. MSF CyberTurismo was an e-racing series that ran last year, played on Gran Turismo Sport on the PS4. The championship series was birthed in the early days of MCO, when races were cancelled and everyone stayed home. Check out a race here.
The championship winners would go through a series of advanced driving training programs, and eventually shortlisted to train in the race car (MSF-TOC SagaCup project).
Finally, after a series of training and a lockdown, those shortlisted were :
- XLR82HELL – M. Rahimi Hang
- Vin4ever – Alvin Chai Ming Han
- Pelpeiro _my – Ahmad Shafril bin Yaziz
Very well deserved! The trio really proved themselves throughout the training, improving car control with every course that they complete.
“I am impressed with the real world driving skills that the selected drivers have shown, given that they emerged from the cyber racing scene. We’re looking forward to giving them this opportunity to race in the hottest, maddest real life race of all: MSF Saga Cup, and hope to see them thrive in the environment and become an icon for other cyber racers” says Adian, MSF Principal and also instructor in the training program.
WHAT IS THE MSF-TOC SAGA CUP?
As part of the MSF-TOC Apprenticeship Program, students of TOC were tasked to build a complete Saga Cup race car under the supervision of MSF instructors. After a hiatus due to the pandemic, the project has finally resumed.
UP NEXT
Sim racers are naturally equipped with at least some advanced driving skills. Translating it into real-life racing, however, requires some work. The goal is for them to race in the 88 laps of MSF Merdeka, but they’d first have to go through the first round of MSF SuperTurismo, 18 July. The task now is getting themselves and the car ready for a shakedown by the first race.
“They’ve been given the opportunity, now they also need to improve their own fitness and skills, and not just depend on the training program. The drive to improve and Winning must come from each individual,” said Rashid, MAM Advanced Driving instructor.
Stay tuned to see their progress, on MSF Series.