An indoor pursuit

Browse pages
Current page

1

Current page

2

Current page

3

Current page

4

Current page

5

Current page

6

Current page

7

Current page

8

Current page

9

Current page

10

Current page

11

Current page

12

Current page

13

Current page

14

Current page

15

Current page

16

Current page

17

Current page

18

Current page

19

Current page

20

Current page

21

Current page

22

Current page

23

Current page

24

Current page

25

Current page

26

Current page

27

Current page

28

Current page

29

Current page

30

Current page

31

Current page

32

Current page

33

Current page

34

Current page

35

Current page

36

Current page

37

Current page

38

Current page

39

Current page

40

Current page

41

Current page

42

Current page

43

Current page

44

Current page

45

Current page

46

Current page

47

Current page

48

Current page

49

Current page

50

Current page

51

Current page

52

Current page

53

Current page

54

Current page

55

Current page

56

Current page

57

Current page

58

Current page

59

Current page

60

Current page

61

Current page

62

Current page

63

Current page

64

Current page

65

Current page

66

Current page

67

Current page

68

Current page

69

Current page

70

Current page

71

Current page

72

Current page

73

Current page

74

Current page

75

Current page

76

Current page

77

Current page

78

Current page

79

Current page

80

Current page

81

Current page

82

Current page

83

Current page

84

Current page

85

Current page

86

Current page

87

Current page

88

Current page

89

Current page

90

Current page

91

Current page

92

Current page

93

Current page

94

Current page

95

Current page

96

Current page

97

Current page

98

Current page

99

Current page

100

Current page

101

Current page

102

Current page

103

Current page

104

Current page

105

Current page

106

Current page

107

Current page

108

Current page

109

Current page

110

Current page

111

Current page

112

Current page

113

Current page

114

Current page

115

Current page

116

Current page

117

Current page

118

Current page

119

Current page

120

Current page

121

Current page

122

Current page

123

Current page

124

Current page

125

Current page

126

Current page

127

Current page

128

Current page

129

Current page

130

Current page

131

Current page

132

Current page

133

Current page

134

Current page

135

Current page

136

Current page

137

Current page

138

Current page

139

Current page

140

Current page

141

Current page

142

Current page

143

Current page

144

Current page

145

Current page

146

Current page

147

Current page

148

Current page

149

Current page

150

Current page

151

Current page

152

Current page

153

Current page

154

Current page

155

Current page

156

Current page

157

Current page

158

Current page

159

Current page

160

Current page

161

Current page

162

Current page

163

Current page

164

Current page

165

Current page

166

Current page

167

Current page

168

Current page

169

Current page

170

Current page

171

Current page

172

Current page

173

Current page

174

Current page

175

Current page

176

Current page

177

Current page

178

Current page

179

The new I-Way simulator offers an affordable and realistic F1 driving experience – and allows you to take on five of your mates in a virtual race
By Ed Foster

Most of us don’t have a hope of racing a Formula 1 car. Through the modern world of virtual reality we can get closer to the action than ever before without going anywhere near a circuit, but race simulators – at least those within reach of the general public – can’t recreate the 5g that a driver undergoes through fast corners. They can’t replicate the assault on your senses as you slam on the brakes and decelerate from 60mph to standstill in 17 metres. Or can they?

Well, the answer is yes, near as damn it, because of technological advances that are now within reach of you and me.

It’s all thanks to an ex-professional tennis player whose career was abruptly cut short by a shoulder injury. Back in 2004 Pierre Nicolas asked himself how he could bring a ‘real’ F1 experience to the masses. His only link to motoring was that his father owned a trucking company, but he started work on a project that would involve the most advanced race simulators outside F1. “We wanted to give access to something that was inaccessible,” he tells me over coffee at the new I-Way simulation building in Lyon, France. “We wanted to make sure it was not only for people who have a lot of money, but for everyone. Our aim was to let people drive an F1 car, and actually ‘race’ one for less than 100 euros.”

“We [Benoit Dupre, a friend of Pierre’s, and his father, Daniel Nicolas] are not technical people, so when we started we didn’t immediately go down the simulation route. We didn’t know anything about it; the only thing we knew was that it existed in aviation. That’s it.”

Simulation can mean something as simple as a PlayStation in your living room, but here we’re talking about the top end of the market – what’s called a six-degree simulator. That means the seat/vehicle that you’re ‘driving’ can pitch forward and backward, side to side, and up and down, giving you the most realistic feeling of cornering, braking and accelerating. When you first watch the I-Way simulator from the outside it’s amazing how much the cockpit mock-up moves, and how quickly. Of course, racing cars don’t tip forward when you brake, but this is simulation, not reality. When you’re in the I-Car it feels like you’re braking normally.

So does it work? Well, whether you try the endurance cars (designed by Henri Pescarolo), the WRC cars or the Formula 1 machines, you’ll be amazed. They can simulate up to 2g and are absolutely shattering to drive! It’s like nothing else we’ve tried before.

“Honestly, there is no technology in existence at the moment that is more advanced than this,” Nicolas claims. “In fact, what is special about this project is that this kind of technology has existed for 10 years, but not in race simulators.” Until recently the technology has been limited to flight simulators and even then it certainly wasn’t available to the general public.

So how close are these simulators to the multi-million pound wonders used by the F1 teams, which contribute so much to development in these testing-restricted times? “They are not used for the same thing,” parries Nicolas. “What we know is that the constructors don’t have this kind of movement because they don’t need it. Here, the simulators are used for more than just driving an F1 car – we are here to give the feeling of driving.”

The secrets of the F1 teams’ simulators are strictly guarded. What we do know is that Mika Häkkinen tried McLaren’s a few years ago and out of curiosity he crashed on purpose. The shock through the steering wheel nearly broke his wrist.

I-Way makes no claim to match what the F1 teams need, but the 12 million euro investment seems to have been worth it. Just ask the professional drivers who have made the journey to the outskirts of Lyon to try the simulators. Yvan Muller, Sébastien Ogier, Bruno Saby, Henri Pescarolo, Nicolas Prost and Loïc Duval are just some of the names to have sampled this ‘hyper-reality’ experience. “You really feel the weight and reactions of the car through the steering wheel,” says A1GP racer Prost. “The big curves, the braking and the g-forces are very, very realistic. It’s pretty eye-opening, but you settle in quite quickly and feel very much like a racing driver.”

In keeping with making sure you feel like a driver, you are kitted out in racing boots, helmet and overalls – bear in mind how hot you feel in these when you’re outside – and then briefed on the car and which track you want to race on. There is a choice of three circuits, but all have been created especially for I-Way. This may seem like a cop-out to avoid licensing costs, but it does ensure that every driver starts from scratch. You are then given five minutes to set a qualifying time before being thrown into a 10-lap race with your fellow drivers in the five simulators around you.

If this is all too much, the striking I-Way building offers more soothing amenities. There’s a shop, a bar and restaurant, and a spa, plus for those with business on their mind two conference rooms – although during our visit the meetings lasted for about an hour before all concerned disappeared downstairs to try the simulators. “The first part of the project was the car, but afterwards it was important to include a lifestyle place where people can come to do more than just drive,” says Nicolas.

And it’s not just racing that goes on in the simulators: in under six hours the WRC I-Cars can be dismantled to be replaced by road cars in which you can hone your driving skills on various surfaces such as snow and ice. What’s more, if you have points on your licence you can come to I-Way, which has been given authorisation from the French Ministry of Transport to run a short classroom course to regain a clean licence.

So can you drive an F1 car for less than 100 euros? The simple answer is no, you can’t. But you can ‘experience’ what it would be like.

I-Way proves just how advanced this type of technology has become. Of course, part of motor racing is the smell, the sense of occasion and the feeling that at any moment you could be facing the wrong way, without a ‘reset button’. So even better than the real thing it isn’t. But you won’t find anything closer, especially at this price.