Simracing is where I first started “racing” but I started because I had always wanted to go racing for real and it was the closest I could get. I know other simracers who don’t have much interest in going for real - they end up simracing because they’re gamers who like racing games.
The fact that racing sims are at their heart video games played indoors will attract people who would never participate in organized sport outside.
While other sports games can’t simulate the activity in the way that racing can, sports like soccer are far more accessible to the average person with organized recreational leagues available nearly everywhere on earth. Still, many people choose to play FIFA than to participate in recreational, organized sports as adults!
Of course there are also people who want to go racing, try simracing, and find it’s enough to scratch the itch. Simracing has benefits for these people: unlimited track time, high convenience, low ongoing costs. The fact that the amateur racing world is very opaque to outsiders (someone in a racing family is probably already racing) helps keep them from making the jump.
I do not come from a racing family so had no idea where to start or look. No amateur racing org is waving a flag or trying to find me to bring me into the fold. If I was not obsessive about wanting to go racing for real, I probably would not have figured it out.
Simracing is where I first started “racing” but I started because I had always wanted to go racing for real and it was the closest I could get. I know other simracers who don’t have much interest in going for real - they end up simracing because they’re gamers who like racing games.
The fact that racing sims are at their heart video games played indoors will attract people who would never participate in organized sport outside.
While other sports games can’t simulate the activity in the way that racing can, sports like soccer are far more accessible to the average person with organized recreational leagues available nearly everywhere on earth. Still, many people choose to play FIFA than to participate in recreational, organized sports as adults!
Of course there are also people who want to go racing, try simracing, and find it’s enough to scratch the itch. Simracing has benefits for these people: unlimited track time, high convenience, low ongoing costs. The fact that the amateur racing world is very opaque to outsiders (someone in a racing family is probably already racing) helps keep them from making the jump.
I do not come from a racing family so had no idea where to start or look. No amateur racing org is waving a flag or trying to find me to bring me into the fold. If I was not obsessive about wanting to go racing for real, I probably would not have figured it out.