Latest / BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show / Screen to Speed No.35: Emma Galasso; Taking the next step with confidence

Transcript

Screen to Speed No.35: Emma Galasso; Taking the next step with confidence · BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show

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Welcome to Screen to Speed powered by INIT eSports.
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In this podcast, we dive into the journeys of remarkable individuals,
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making waves in sim racing and bridging the virtual with the real.
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From the thrill of digital circuits to the roar of real life racetracks, we explore
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the passion, Dedication and innovation that drives the world of motorsports.
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We'll hear from athletes, creators, and pioneers sharing their stories,
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insights, and the powerful ways sim racing is connecting communities and
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creating pathways into motorsports.
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So buckle up screen.
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The speed starts now.
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Hello everyone.
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Welcome to new talks.
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Uh, happy to see everybody here on the channel.
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Uh, today we got.
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Emma Galasso with us, uh, she is a brand partnership coordinator in the
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automotive industry and also sim racer.
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And she took a part in the last, uh, screen to speed event,
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which we had, uh, this weekend.
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And also she's going to share any talks in 2025 with me.
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Welcome Emma.
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Thank you so much for having me.
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It's so exciting to be here and I can't wait to, uh, embark
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in 2025 and do it some more.
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So thank you.
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Yeah.
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Thank you for taking your time and, uh, have this show with us.
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Uh, so let's start with, uh, how did you first get into some racing and, uh,
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what actually inspired you to start?
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Yeah, so my journey started a little later than a lot of people in sim racing.
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I was 26.
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I'm dating myself here, but I was 26 and I really wanted to learn more about
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motorsport in a way that was not just watching it on TV because I love watching
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Formula One and I watched racing since I was a kid, but I didn't understand it.
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And for me, the best way to understand it is to actually do it.
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But you know, I don't have half a million dollars lying around to go By a
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Porsche 911 to go take around the track.
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So I got into sim racing instead.
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I started on my PlayStation actually on F1 2021 and had a grand old time on that.
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And then, uh, My brother is really good at building PCs, so I got his help to build
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a PC, and then I made the transition over to Assetto Corsa, have a really amazing
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league there, um, and that league helped me really get into sim racing, because it
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was fun to hot lap by myself, but, Having a lead really pushes you to be faster and
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better and actually race other people.
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So since then, I've been racing on a set of Corsa and then recently
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making the switch toward iRacing, uh, to do more events like this
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and just joining new communities.
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I also am on TikTok, uh, talking about my racing journey.
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So if you ever want to really scroll back in the archives, you can see me being
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really proud of some really slow laps, but it's all about documenting the journey.
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So.
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Mm hmm.
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Yeah, that's great.
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Yeah.
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So that's cool that you started from console.
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So many people, you know, starting from really basic entry
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level things like console and really simple sim racing wheel.
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How's your sim racing setup looks like right now?
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So how it's involved?
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Yeah.
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So right now, I would say I still have I mean, it's definitely a pretty good setup.
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I have a Fanatec wheel.
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I have a, um, DD Pro wheel with the boost kit.
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So I have eight new meters of force, you know, all that I have
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a boost, sorry, a load cell pedal.
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Um, but I don't have an actual aluminum rig or anything.
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I'm still in a place seat challenge with my direct drive wheel.
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So, uh, I was just, we were talking before this call.
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I just lugged my whole rig in the back of my car, 600 miles to come to my
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parents house, which is where I'm at now.
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Um, and that.
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The play state is really great because I just literally fold it up, put it
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in the back of my car and drive it up here and I have only one monitor.
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It's not even a big huge monitor.
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I used to just play with my, um, TV.
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That used to be my TV for everything, but for sim racing, the lag
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time on that was pretty crazy.
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So switching to a monitor was helpful.
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Um, my next.
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Kind of upgrade will be probably better pedals a triple triples monitors,
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hopefully and then actually getting an aluminum rig But I started on a logitech
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g29 with my at the probably the worst possible Amazon buy of a Wheelbase thing
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that I could possibly have gotten and just because of my thing was, I didn't even
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know if I was going to like sim racing.
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I was doing it as a challenge for myself, but I didn't want to, you
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know, spend a ton of money on a rig that I wasn't going to use.
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And I figured, you know, I knew people that were really fast on a lot of G29.
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I said, well, I mean, they're going to learn to be fast in a G29 or I'm going to.
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You know, not like it.
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So thankfully, I end up liking it.
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Oh, that's good.
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You know, when you can try something and start just with entry level
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equipment because you're not spending a lot of money and then the same time
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you give it a try and also think if you would like to continue or not.
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Uh, really funny thing that, uh, I started with G27, uh, back in the
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days also, uh, right now with, uh, Freshmaster, DD, T818, and, uh, low tail
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pedals, and then got triple screens.
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So I started with single screen as well.
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Uh, yeah, that's really cool.
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You know, um, I met a lot of people on the talks and they, Most of the people started
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like from really basic, like G27, G29.
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It's really funny.
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Um, can you tell me what challenges you face, um, as a new sim
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racer in, uh, in Assetto Corsa?
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Yeah, I think that my biggest challenge has just been mentally,
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honestly, because sim racing, I, I wanted to do as a challenge.
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Um, and I equate it to learning a language.
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That's what I always tell people.
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I think I said that I'm on the last time I was in a talk.
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But it's, you have to learn so much.
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There's so much going on in your brain while you're driving.
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You're doing math.
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You're not even thinking about, you know, you're finding the apex of the corner.
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You're looking ahead.
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You have to remember all these things while you're driving and coming from
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nothing, no racing experience, except for a couple laps in Gran Turismo with
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my dad on controller, like I had no idea.
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What racing was going to be like at all.
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So it was learning all of that.
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And then also in my league, learning race crafts and how to
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get out of the way of everybody.
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Cause I was always in the very back.
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Um, and you know, honestly being used to being last because in my league, I
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was 100 percent of the time, like the slowest person didn't always mean I took
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last place because I always say like you have to just finish the race because some
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people DNF and you get ahead of them.
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And that's a learning experience.
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But I'm someone who likes to succeed in things as soon as I start them.
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And so racing was definitely not that way.
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And I wouldn't even call myself successful now.
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I'm still very much in the learning process.
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And that's what's so cool about it is you don't really feel like you're improving.
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And you go back and look at a lap you did with the you were so proud of
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before and like, there was a lap at spa, for example, and I said, of course, a
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competency on a, I don't even remember what the time was, but it was so bad.
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And I worked so hard to get that time.
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And then I came back a couple of months ago and just did a lap
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just to see what it was like.
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And my warm up lap was almost 4 seconds faster than that lap.
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You improve a lot, but you don't feel like it, which is really cool.
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That's nice.
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Uh, also, um, how was your routine of, uh, the, the practice, uh, for, for the
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years, yeah, because, uh, you mentioned that you started, you know, like you,
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uh, finished last most of the races and that went not as you expected.
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Uh, I think kind of the same thing happened to me when I moved from in
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real life racing to some racing, I felt that I'm going to pulling away from
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everybody, uh, but then you just meet all these people in some racing and they
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Too competitive and they super cool and really consistent on the track So I had
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to like step back and learn all things.
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So once again, so How is it for you?
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Like what is your routine of the practice for this years?
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Yeah, so I started out, my goal was to learn as quickly as possible to be as
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good as I could be as fast as possible.
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And for me, that was finding a coach.
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Um, so I have been coached by Isaac Gilson, who is a Ferrari eSports
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driver, actually now, um, at the time he wasn't, but he's been my
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coach since pretty much day 1.
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I, I drive with him almost every single Sunday we have an hour and I'll think I'm
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doing really good and then he'll just come in and be like, uh, you got to like adjust
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your right knee here or something, which is what I needed because if it was just up
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to me thinking my laps were really good, you know, I would have thought that I was
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the best sim racer out there and joined a league and get absolutely stomped like,
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and my league is also extremely fast.
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The people in my league are pretty top tier drivers and
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they're also wonderful people.
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So.
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I purposely joined a league that was, uh, rookie friendly,
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but was way faster than me.
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I had to work really hard just to be six seconds behind the next slowest guy,
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and that was a good challenge for me.
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So, um, I practiced at least 30 minutes every day and I still try to hold to that.
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I work full time job and have events to go to and stuff like that, but I
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always try to get my practice time in.
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And now I can practice a lot longer because I've done endurance
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races and stuff like that.
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But See, time is the most important, but also getting see time with
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a fresh brain, because if you're in there and you're just forcing
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yourself to drive 5 hours in a row.
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That doesn't work for me that well.
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And then I also, um, try to learn outside of actually driving.
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So you have to learn about setups and learn about all these things which
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comes through talking with people, attending real races, or taking
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courses online and stuff like that.
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So I've been doing that as well.
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Yeah, and it's been, it's been a challenge, but it's, um, it's a good time.
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And it's, it's fun to learn new stuff and, and see, and honestly, the
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community is what's so great about sim racing because I can bring a problem
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to somebody in my league and they can solve it immediately where it would
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take me two days to figure it out just because you have the experience.
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And that's what's so cool.
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I can connect with people all over the world just through this.
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Yeah, that's a really cool stuff.
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That's community really friendly.
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They helpful.
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And, uh, I can tell about our racing community because most of
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the time I'm racing and racing.
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And, um, as I told you, the, I said, of course, it seems like also really
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friendly and you mentioned that you're doing the leak and I know
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that you're doing it every Monday.
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Can you give more details about the leak?
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Because, because maybe some people, uh, I'm going to be
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interested to jump in to this leak.
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Yeah, so my league is called SBR.
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It's Shake and Bake Racing.
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They've been around, this is actually their 5th, I say our, like it's
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my league, it's not my league.
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But it's the 5 year anniversary of SBR, um, this upcoming season, or 2025.
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And we do races every Monday night, um, And all different
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tracks all different cars.
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We have a different theme every season So that's been great for me because
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i've gotten to drive a ton of different cars everything from club cars to Indy
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lights to gt3s So you have to learn a lot and I only had a week to practice
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for every track stuff like that So it's been a great community for me and all
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the guys that are really awesome So huge shout out to them and actually I
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was able to meet a lot of them in real life because we're all Based in the u.
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s.
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Most of us.
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Sorry to the canadians and Um, our Australian friends, but most of
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us are in the US, so we meet up at real races and just get to talk
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about motorsport outside of racing.
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So it's a really great community to be a part of.
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Um, yeah, and honestly, I don't even have time for another league, really,
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because I, I, even my league right now, I've been kind of falling off the cliff
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there because I've been so busy with work, but they're just all great guys.
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And I love them.
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That's great that you got this really friendly and nice leak.
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And also, uh, you mentioned that some people are competitive.
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I think it's, uh, really help you to improve, uh, day by day.
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Because when you, you know, racing the leak where you're first, uh, you're
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like, you don't have motivation to go forward and to improve your lap times.
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And it's really cool to find the leak where you, uh, always
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got the space for improvements.
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It's really cool.
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Um, Can you tell me about the highlights in your sim racing career so far?
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Well, um, I will say one of my favorite things doesn't actually have to do
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with racing, but my league has a livery contest every single season.
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And I think I'm an eight time livery contest winner.
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So that's where all my wins come from is the liveries.
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Because for me, that's I love drawing.
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So Doing, um, just coming up with new themes every season,
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and we just had Yu Gi Oh!
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themed liveries for our IMSA season recently.
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And that's been a really fun aspect for me in terms of actual racing highlights.
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Um, it's hard to say, just because for me there hasn't been like a bunch of wins,
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because like I said, my league is so big.
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Super fast.
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So if I ever were to beat them, it would probably just
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be the highlight of my career.
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But I did the Ferrari eSports series this past year, and I totally did not
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think I was going to qualify period to the next round, but I made it
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through to the next round hot laps.
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I didn't know that I made it into a week before the race, so I
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didn't have a lot of time to prep.
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So that would be my excuse, but I still managed P7, I think P7 in both
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of the qualifying races for that.
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So.
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That was a big moment for me, but honestly, e sports has really
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gotten me a lot of contacts, um, in motorsports in real life.
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I've been able to meet a bunch of amazing people.
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I went to, um, the Ferrari Challenge race at Road Atlanta a couple years ago,
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and I was able to talk shop with people and It really has been helpful in just
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building my professional career as well, just through this racing and being around
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people who are talking about it and, you know, having my own quote unquote
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experience behind the wheel, which does translate because I was lucky enough to
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track a few cars a couple of weeks ago and I just got to floor it in a Porsche
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911 around track and it was easier to do that when you have some racing experience.
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So it does translate.
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That's awesome.
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Can you tell me what cars did you drive and what track?
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Yeah, so we're at Apex Motor Club in Arizona.
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So it's a private club and I got to drive the Taycan Turbo GT, the Porsche
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911 Carrera, the 911 GTS, and the 911 Turbo S, um, and we just got to do,
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like, a We were on the line driving our own cars with an instructor out front.
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So I think you just heard my doorbell, but there was a so we were just lead
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and follow with an instructor and they were driving a 718 in front of us.
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So a little bit slower, but, um, they were, they were explaining the track to
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us through one way radios in the car.
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Um, so I would just give myself a little space with the person in front of me
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and then just kind of floor it down the track and there's there's nothing quite
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like Taking a 911 and just absolutely pedal to the metal flooring it on the
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track and I got the chance to do that Which was absolutely amazing Um, and
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also the taikon turbo gt is all electric So that was a completely different kind
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of quote unquote sports car drive And it's that is an amazing car Um, and
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so that was a treat to drive, and of course, I have to say the 911 was, was my
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favorite, just because the, the braking is actually what made a difference for me.
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And when you do sim driving, you're used to, you have to like,
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pretty much stomp on the brakes in faster cars and stuff like that.
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So it wasn't scary for me to hit ABS really hard and whatever.
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Um, because I did do that once and, but you just know what to expect.
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So it's, it's really helpful to have the sim racing background.
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Yeah, definitely.
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Sim racing experience can help you to improve in the real life.
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Uh, so also practice, uh, a lot of race room, uh, with Sepang because I raced at
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that time, uh, formal four in Malaysia, and that really helped me to fixed.
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Some mistakes, as you said, it's, uh, it's really cool to have a sim
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racing experience as a background.
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Uh, and speaking about 911, that's one, one of my favorite car, uh, in the world.
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And it's really cool.
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So I drove it on the real track also, and I really like to drive it.
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And I racing, um, driving the Porsche cup 992, um, absolutely amazing car.
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One of the best in the world, really.
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Yeah, it's a pretty, it's a pretty fun car.
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Just getting in and starting the engine is pretty amazing.
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So I'm lucky enough that I got the chance to do that.
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And yeah, I get some, some work perks that let me drive those cars a lot.
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So it's pretty fun.
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Indeed.
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Uh, you also mentioned that you work in right now in automotive industry.
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Yes.
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And you like really close to some racing and some racing actually help you to
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reach some people in real life as well.
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Uh, can you tell me more about your professional journey
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outside of the sim racing?
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Yeah, so my professional journey is pretty interesting.
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I went to business school for college because I really wanted to get into the
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film industry and people said, well, don't go to college for film go to college
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for business because film is a business.
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And that's probably the best advice that I got.
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So I did that.
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And then I immediately joined the film industry.
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So I worked for Marvel Disney netflix.
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Um, working on a bunch of movies and then ultimately went to work in stunts.
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So I handled the entire stunt team for several films and TV shows.
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And then, um, there was some big strikes the past two years ago.
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I think it was now.
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And the film industry has kind of collapsed to be quite honest.
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So I decided that I wanted to pivot and see what See if I could try my
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hand at getting into motor sports and automotive because I have such a passion
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for it and I wanted to learn more.
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And there's nothing that makes you learn more than having to do it as your job.
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So, um, I was lucky enough to, I mean, honestly, in film and in
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automotive, I had no contacts really.
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I just kind of cold called and cold contacted in my way.
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I literally went to races, um, like the Ferrari challenge, for example.
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I went to the race, and I was standing there, and they had a Puro
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Sengway there, just on display, it was one of the first ones to come
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to America, and I was like, oh my gosh, this has the V12, can I see it?
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And the guy was like, what are you talking about?
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How do you know about the V12?
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And then we started talking, and he brought me over to all the
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other cars that they had, so, and then I got to meet the, like, the
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president of Ferrari North America, who just happened to be walking by.
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And just saying hi to people and, um, talking and then go, I actually
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went to, for example, the Porsche experience center in Atlanta, Georgia
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has a sports competition kind of thing a couple years ago where you could
19:07
just show up there, set a lap and see if you were the top qualifier, you
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could go to the next French sport.
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And so I went to try my hand at it.
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I wasn't very good at sim racing at the time, but I met one of
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the guys from my league there.
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I'd never met in person, um, found out he's like a real life driving coach.
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Um, and he's an amazing sim racer as well.
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And got to talk to him, got to talk to a bunch of people at Porsche.
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And then, you know, just, just finding things to go to where car people are at
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that are actually involved in motorsport.
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Cars and coffee is really fun.
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We have those too.
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I go to those sometimes.
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But going to events where it's more.
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You know, people are there to work at races.
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So, like, going to IMSA races, for example, if you have the
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opportunity and you're in the U.
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S.
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to go to an IMSA race, you get complete pit lane access, everything, just as
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a regular attendee, so it's not like Formula 1 where you're really limited.
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Um, I've met so many people just walking through there, saying hi, you
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know, pointing something out about the cars, just being nice, always be nice
20:05
to people, and don't ask questions.
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For things, um, just talking to people and it really helped me get a leg up
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into the industry and also honestly, sim racing, just meeting people and
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talking to people through sim racing has gotten me a lot of connections, um,
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including this one through any sports was just, I actually found Steffi
20:23
through LinkedIn through somebody else.
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That I was connected with and I saw this post about, I think
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it was, um, the fall cup.
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I was like, well, that's pretty cool.
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And then ended up finding it at Eastwards through that.
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So just being open to connecting with everyone and talking with
20:38
everyone can, can really help.
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And I would say that for any industry, but I've been lucky enough, sorry.
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I've been lucky enough that it's worked for me twice in two different industries.
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So there's gotta be something there.
20:49
It's really nice that you're going with the, with the flow of the
20:52
life, yeah, and, uh, just, uh, connect people casually during, uh,
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visiting the events and everything.
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So I think that viewers can, uh, definitely use this,
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uh, in, in their lives.
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Um, for me, I also found a lot of people, um, as I'm streaming on Twitch, Streaming
21:09
I racing and, uh, really just a lot of people come here and, uh, you know,
21:13
met the Tony Cannan and I met a lot of other racing drivers like Daniel Morad
21:19
and yeah, that's pretty awesome that we got this opportunity and really some
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racing op open a lot of, uh, doors, uh, for yourself and it's, uh, it's nice.
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Uh, can you tell me that, uh, about, um, do you have any like specific
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tracks and cars, uh, like your.
21:40
your best combo and the combo which you like and dislike also.
21:46
I have to say that I don't.
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Partially because my league, we race so many different tracks.
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I'm always trying to learn a new track, which I enjoy because I don't really
21:55
want to get, you know, kind of stuck.
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I mean, I gotta think.
22:02
I don't know if I have a favorite.
22:04
I, I really, there's so many things I like about different tracks and so many,
22:07
for me, I think about the memories on, um, different tracks, like Watkins, for
22:10
example, I think I talked about this in my last in a talk, but we had some
22:14
amazing GT4 races at Watkins in my league.
22:17
And so Watkins is fun to me because of that.
22:19
We also have, like, a running meme in my league about Watkins
22:21
because all of us love it so much.
22:24
Um, tracks I, I hate.
22:27
Oh, I don't know.
22:28
I think there's just certain parts of tracks that I hate.
22:31
Like I'm thinking I love Monza as a track.
22:34
I've actually been there in real life and it's such a cool place to go to,
22:37
but basically second, third sector of Monza is not my friend at all.
22:43
But I still love the track, so I can do really terrible on a
22:46
track and still have fun there.
22:48
And that's what's so cool is like you, to me, it's like every corner is
22:52
a different problem to solve and you got to solve them all the same time.
22:55
So there's a lot of.
22:57
A lot of learning to be had and I would say thankfully I don't have a
23:01
track that I completely hate though I'm sure if you went back in my like
23:04
discord chat history on my league you'd see me hating a lot of tracks.
23:08
It's not, I don't actually, I can't think of one off the top of my head
23:11
so I guess it can't be too bad.
23:13
Yeah, all the time.
23:14
I noticed that, uh, you know, the most hated track, which you
23:17
got in your list, that's actually the track which you, uh, just can
23:22
nail and you can race it properly.
23:24
And you just dislike it.
23:25
Like, I hate this track.
23:27
It's so horrible or something like this.
23:29
Um, that happened with Sebring for me.
23:31
That's really funny.
23:32
Uh, so when I started to learn it, I was like, wow, it's so
23:37
complicated track to learn.
23:38
I really dislike the flow of the track and everything.
23:42
Uh, but when I learned it and I started to hit a really good pace on this track,
23:47
I started to like, yes, I like Sebring.
23:49
Okay.
23:51
Yeah, I do have to say.
23:54
Paul Ricard is not a track that I enjoy.
23:56
I forgot about that one.
23:58
But I did that one in ACC and I was, I hated it.
24:03
I didn't think I got very good at it because I just think it was like one
24:06
of the tracks I had to do and beat a certain time to get into LFM or something.
24:10
And then I was.
24:11
The track changed before I qualified for it.
24:14
So I was like, thank you.
24:15
I can do something else now.
24:18
Yeah.
24:18
Like many people call the polycards as a big parking load or something like this.
24:23
Yeah, definitely.
24:25
Yeah.
24:26
And Sebring, we just did Sebring.
24:27
I was actually at the Sebring race this year.
24:29
I was at Sebring in the DPI for Rally League and it was awfully bumpy.
24:34
I didn't do particularly well at Sebring, but it was, it was fun.
24:37
You know, whatever.
24:38
I still like it.
24:40
Well, Sebring is a challenging track because it's actually flat, uh, but some
24:44
bumps, uh, make your life really hard.
24:48
Yes, definitely.
24:50
Yeah, uh, you mentioned that you've been in Monza.
24:52
I guess that there was some kind of racing event and, um, I would like
24:57
to know if, uh, Can you compare the motorsport in Europe and in United
25:02
States and what's different between them?
25:04
And what do you like the most like in United States within racing?
25:08
And what do you like the most in European motorsport?
25:12
Yeah, so I was actually at Monza, there wasn't a race going on.
25:15
I just have friends that live right by it.
25:16
So I was like, well, I think we should go visit.
25:18
So I was able to go visit when nobody was there, which is cool because they
25:22
have the old banking and stuff like that.
25:23
Um, I would say.
25:27
Even though I haven't been to a motorsport event in Europe yet, I have a bunch of
25:30
friends who have been to many races in Europe, including American friends who
25:34
went, and I guess I got to experience it a lot through one of my friends
25:37
went to, um, the Austrian GP in 2021.
25:42
So this was like way back in kind of the first one of the
25:45
first races back from COVID.
25:47
And it's just, first of all, in Europe, racing is so much more common, I guess,
25:52
like everyone, like I was just in Italy two years ago, and they had, um,
25:57
Mika hiking in on a cardboard cut out in front of a tire place in America.
26:02
Nobody would know who that was.
26:03
You can put Michael Schumacher outside of a gas station in America and probably no
26:07
1 would know who Michael Schumacher is.
26:09
And it's just something that.
26:11
We have, we have our NASCAR drivers and stuff like that, that you'd
26:14
probably, you might know their name.
26:16
I'm sure a lot of people would, a lot more people would know a NASCAR
26:19
driver than like Formula One.
26:21
But, um, like even karting, for example, I was just speaking with a couple of
26:25
people from Europe who were here for the Las Vegas GP, which I attended.
26:30
And it was, They were talking about how carting tracks, there's carting
26:34
tracks all over in Europe, and they don't take that long to get to.
26:37
The closest carting track to me is an hour and a half drive away and there's
26:42
just not really a place to access it.
26:44
So, when we go to races for formula 1, for example, it's way more expensive in
26:49
the US and a lot of people, you know, they're going because it's formula
26:54
1, not necessarily for the racing.
26:55
Um, I would say, since drive to survive is a lot more crowded, but there's just
27:00
kind of a different ambiance because.
27:03
In Europe, you can still go to a race for not that expensive, but in the
27:06
US, everyone who's there is paying probably 500 at least, just to get
27:12
like a general admission ticket there.
27:14
Um, so there's a lot of differences, but I think that racing, like IMSA racing,
27:20
for example, has definitely changed in the 2 or 3 years I've been going.
27:23
It's become way more popular and way more fun, honestly,
27:26
but also a lot more crowded.
27:28
It used to just be the diehard fans that were there.
27:30
My first year at the Daytona 24, we were on the grid, walking around, whatever.
27:35
My friends who'd been there before said, this is the most packed it's ever been.
27:37
And I was like, whatever.
27:39
The next year, it was 25 percent more crowded than we,
27:42
than it was when I was there.
27:43
So it's becoming more popular and it's, it's becoming more of a thing.
27:46
But, um, yeah, I would just say that in Europe, it's more accessible and
27:51
it's more, uh, like more people are, have been around it for a while.
27:56
Whereas in the US, that's not necessarily the case unless, you know, Probably
28:00
unless you're at NASCAR and maybe IndyCar.
28:03
I think that NASCAR is so popular and also in United States, you
28:08
got a lot of, uh, dirt ovals.
28:10
Uh, it's really popular because like everybody can buy the street stock.
28:13
It's so, so cheap to buy and you just, uh, can jump into races and it's really
28:18
cool opportunity because I think in Europe, uh, overall, even karting,
28:23
like in Italy, it's so expensive.
28:25
Uh, and, uh, yeah.
28:26
You know, um, it's not open really for everybody.
28:30
And this is the fact which I like about the United States and their racing.
28:35
Uh, because, uh, they got really nice racing series where you can
28:40
just have fun and have your own car and race, like, Some weekends.
28:45
Yeah.
28:45
And, uh, that's really cool opportunity, which we don't have in Europe.
28:49
Um, if we're talking about formalists, I've been into formalists in real
28:54
life, and it's really expensive.
28:56
Like the whole season in, uh, Spain, formal free cause like 300, 000 euros.
29:03
or something like this.
29:05
So there was a price for 2015 when I race, uh, informal masters.
29:10
Uh, so yeah, but, uh, overall, I think that even if we're talking about
29:15
road racing, um, I think in Europe, more races, uh, in, in that category.
29:20
Yeah, definitely.
29:22
Uh, if we're talking about all walls, all walls are great in the United States.
29:26
Yeah, I would agree.
29:27
I'm, to be fair, I'm not very involved in the ovals of the US, even though
29:31
I'm kind of surrounded by NASCAR.
29:33
But yeah, it's kind of amazing to kind of, I came into it backwards, kind of,
29:37
I was into road racing and Formula One, and then kind of became aware, I've
29:41
always been aware of NASCAR, but came into the, the NASCAR fandom, I would say.
29:47
And since then, it's just been, it's kind of, it's pretty funny, actually, to see
29:51
the differences between NASCAR fans and Formula One fans, and just how, you know,
29:54
Honestly, how NASCAR as an organization handles things versus like the FIA,
29:58
for example, um, like with Formula 1.
30:01
Uh, so there's a lot of differences there and it's just it's that's part
30:04
is interesting to me It's like how the operations can be different even
30:07
though to most people racing is racing They don't even think about there being
30:11
a difference between oval and road racing Um, so seeing all the nuances
30:15
makes it makes it interesting and cool Yeah, that's always great that we got,
30:20
you know, different series, different categories, which we, uh, which we enjoy.
30:25
I would love to go to United States one day and visit NASCAR
30:28
because I'm just in love with Opels after I jump into our racing.
30:32
And, you know, if you're jumping into our racing and got all this, uh, like four
30:36
licenses, uh, it's a bit more right now.
30:38
Um, and you just want to get out of rookies in every category and you're
30:43
trying to do this and you're like, wow.
30:45
I like ovals and maybe I would like to drive them, uh, from time to time.
30:50
And yeah, I get into the street stalls, then start to, uh, drive ovals
30:55
and we get into, uh, Ines car and, um, broadcasting their races also
31:00
together with them and it's really fun.
31:02
You know, I just get into the championship and I know all drivers and you like,
31:06
uh, I know getting nervous because they are fighting on the track.
31:09
It's really cool.
31:10
I would love to try ovals one day.
31:13
Uh, but if you enjoy the other category, I think it's really cool
31:17
that you got the opportunity to watch like IMSA and other series as well.
31:22
Yeah, absolutely.
31:23
And I think that America is becoming more accessible for
31:26
all of it, which is really cool.
31:28
Um, I would say not so much as Formula 1.
31:30
Formula 1 gets more expensive every year, but, uh, technically so does IMSA, but
31:33
IMSA is probably, if you really like road racing, And so it's the way to
31:37
start out where you can really, you can be up close and personal with the car.
31:40
You can see the drivers running around.
31:42
You can say hi to them.
31:43
And it's not like, you know, there's not like 50M people all around them.
31:47
Um, but I haven't been to a NASCAR race yet.
31:49
Actually, I, I've been to Daytona just for, for the Rolex 24, but, um, I cannot
31:55
imagine Daytona full of people for the Daytona 500, which it's always sold out.
31:59
So it, it must be amazing.
32:02
I think Daytona 500 alongside with, uh, Le Mans 24, uh, that's a van, which you
32:09
Have to visit and Daytona 24 as well.
32:12
It's a great event, which What you got in the United States?
32:18
Would you like to transfer your sim racing experience ever in real life racing?
32:23
So do you see that you got opportunity maybe in the future to
32:27
jump into some races in real life?
32:31
Um for me personally, I I well if I'm looking at my own future
32:35
right now, I don't think that's a Something that's going to happen.
32:38
Never say never, but it's not something I'm actively pursuing at the moment.
32:43
Mostly because I still feel like I have so much I can learn from sim racing
32:48
and with the way my work is right now and all the different things I'm doing,
32:52
it's so nice to be able to literally, I could shut my laptop right now, go
32:57
upstairs, get on my rig and be driving in 2 minutes versus, you know, I would
33:01
have to, again, drive an hour and a half to the nearest track to me.
33:06
You know, get the car there, do all this stuff.
33:08
I know a lot of stunt guys that I used to work with, um, and still work with now.
33:12
Actually, they do a lot of drifting and there's a drift track near right
33:16
across the street from road Atlanta.
33:18
Those guys have to drive an hour to 2 hours to get to that track, unload
33:23
their car, get it all ready to go.
33:25
You know, then you got to replace the tires after so
33:27
many laps and stuff like that.
33:28
And it's just, it's very time consuming.
33:30
Like it's so rewarding, like driving around a nine 11 on a track was
33:33
amazing and I absolutely loved it.
33:35
But at the same time for me with, you know, what my career is looking like and
33:40
all of the different things I'm pursuing.
33:42
So like trying to be better in sim racing is the goal right now.
33:45
I would never say no to driving a real race car, but.
33:48
My, my goal here is just to be the best sim racer I can be,
33:52
not necessarily getting into like a real life series, though.
33:54
I wouldn't be opposed to it.
33:55
It's not my goal.
33:57
All right.
33:58
Yeah, sounds good.
33:59
Uh, because many people also ask me, uh, so I stopped the,
34:03
the racing career because of the financial questions, of course.
34:06
Uh, so my team just completely shut down, uh, the program, uh, which we've been
34:10
running, uh, for, uh, And unfortunately we lost all budget and everything.
34:15
Uh, so, and then during COVID, I started to stream.
34:18
I started to get into some racing and erasing, uh, specifically.
34:23
And I realized that I really like, uh, so I, I had the same, uh, side with
34:28
you in this, uh, real life streaming.
34:30
I really like to make the content and, um, actually.
34:34
Get more people into sim racing inspire them with my own journey.
34:38
And that's my goal.
34:40
So right now So just be focused on the content creation be focused on sim racing
34:45
as well because I would like to encourage people to jump into sim racing to improve
34:51
their skills to Uh, just have fun in right here and, uh, find maybe friends
34:57
and community and find a good team where they can do endurance races, for example.
35:03
So, yeah, I kind of agree with you so that you not really, uh, want to jump
35:09
right now because you just got different goals and it's okay, I think from my side.
35:13
Uh, because for now I also got different goals, but, uh, yeah, in the future,
35:18
if someone going to tell me, like, would you like to drive, I don't
35:20
know, 9 11 cop on the road Atlanta?
35:23
I would say, yes, yes, for sure.
35:25
Let's go.
35:26
Yeah.
35:27
Right now I'd be questioning, if someone asked me that question, I'd be like, are
35:30
you really sure you want me in that car?
35:34
But hopefully in a little while it won't be that way and it is
35:37
cool like when you Like we were talking about you have triples.
35:41
I have still have a single monitor There's so many things that when you're
35:44
in a real car Like just you know, I don't use vr vr makes me a little sick.
35:49
I've tried it before But being in a real 911, being able to actually turn
35:53
my head and look at the apex of the corner was, oh, this is really cool.
35:57
And then during the race, like, what I love about Soto Corsa and ACC is that you
36:02
have, like, the built in kind of radar to see where cars are versus iRacing.
36:06
You literally just have to either listen to your crew chief or.
36:10
You have to just know where cars are and so I kind of like, like, right
36:14
now, I, I drive by racing with no, um, like, third party overlays or anything.
36:20
I haven't downloaded, but I just can't for the life of me.
36:22
Remember to put them on and for me, that's actually been a good challenge because I
36:27
really have to be aware of what's going on because that's always my goal is
36:31
like, okay, even if I'm last, you know, doing a multi class race last place.
36:36
I still want to be able to clock where other cars are, get out of the way for
36:39
blue flags, like, whatever, and I think having that mentality in each race and
36:43
taking it as like a learning experience has helped me now, so that when I'm
36:46
actually fast enough to race with other people, I have kind of the built in
36:50
race craft from, You know being passed so much like overtaken, but at the same
36:56
time Um, there there is a downside to that in the sense that i've been told by
37:00
several of my Teammates and league mates that i'm too nice when cars are coming
37:04
up to me because I mean, you know this too when you're driving It's it's all
37:09
like a game of chess Essentially, you have to anticipate the person in front
37:12
of you anticipate the people behind you Are they going to try to overtake you?
37:15
What line are they going to take?
37:17
How can you?
37:18
kind of You Stop them from doing it.
37:20
It's like, well, I say chess, but to me, it's kind of like a very complicated
37:24
game of connect for like, they're trying to get four in a row and you
37:27
have to, you know, stop them also trying to get your win of four in a row.
37:32
So that's a very kind of crazy analogy for that.
37:34
But at the same time, um, But when I'm driving that way, I've
37:39
I've been known to be a little too nice because cars are coming up.
37:42
There's so much faster than me that I'm like, whatever.
37:44
I'm just going to let them pass because they're 3 seconds faster than me in a lap.
37:47
Whereas 1 of the guys who is in our league, I was shocked we
37:51
were doing a reverse grid race.
37:53
And he was, um, like consistently one of the slower guys, but he
37:56
held the entire field back because he just defended really well.
38:00
And after a couple of reasons like that, I was like, man, I should just
38:04
be more aggressive with my defense because I really like, yes, I'm going
38:07
to make them upset by holding them all up, but I'm in the lead of the race.
38:10
That's the point.
38:11
That's what I'm supposed to do.
38:12
So there's a lot you can learn.
38:13
And I just love that mental aspect.
38:15
And there's also the emotional aspect.
38:17
If you've got a really aggressive driver who, you know, is going to go nuts.
38:20
If you block them and take themselves out, then you're You already won,
38:24
you know, that kind of thing.
38:26
Well, I really, uh, dislike people who just, uh, holding the whole field,
38:31
uh, because, you know, you got like top five and someone holding on P6
38:35
the, the, the rest of the field.
38:37
And we just, uh, got the big gap then to the leaders.
38:41
And you know that it got better gap, uh, better pace than this, uh, guy.
38:45
And you just can't overtake him because he's defending crazy, like a lion.
38:50
And.
38:51
I really dislike that because you can let go of me and, you know, other people
38:55
behind me and we're going to catch the train and we're going to fight for the
38:59
top three instead of fighting for the, like, P6, P7 or, like, P10, uh, so,
39:05
I don't know, I'm kind of, you know, trying to balance with my, so if I can
39:09
fight with, with person, I see that our pace are equal, uh, so then I'm
39:13
going to fight, I'm going to defend.
39:15
Uh, but if I see that someone faster than, than I, by like four or three
39:20
tens, I'm going to let go of this person and just go into race with him.
39:24
And, uh, probably we're going to catch, uh, next people and we got
39:29
the opportunity to overtake them.
39:31
So this is what I'm doing usually.
39:32
And I think this racing is about balancing, especially in a race.
39:37
Uh, because sometimes you got to.
39:39
People who Harry so bad, then you let go them, they crushing somewhere with
39:43
someone in getting two positions.
39:45
Yeah.
39:48
Like right now, my two most popular videos on my Tik TOK are my first
39:52
two rookie races in the MX five.
39:54
I just did like a commentary, um, overview of those races.
39:57
Like I shortened them down to like a minute and that was basically what it was.
40:01
I let everyone else, first of all, I didn't even.
40:03
Set a qualifying time because I wanted to start in last place to avoid the
40:06
carnage of turn one and then both races.
40:09
I ended up podium like on podium because these all these cars were
40:13
just rushing to get ahead and they were crashing into each other.
40:17
They don't have race craft, but they think they do.
40:19
So they take each other out.
40:21
And it's just funny because during my commentary, like I was, I was
40:24
just like kind of joking around.
40:25
I was like, yeah, and this guy passed me, but he got karma later
40:28
because he hit someone else.
40:29
And all these people in the comments were like, what do you mean you got karma?
40:32
You overtook you clean.
40:33
And I was like, yeah, I know that's the joke.
40:34
If you overtake me, it's bad.
40:36
Always.
40:37
It's just funny to see, like, you know, the community kind
40:40
of, um, doing stuff like that.
40:42
But I mean, that's what rookie races are all about.
40:44
I think they're really entertaining.
40:45
I say that as someone who hasn't been kind of crashed into yet.
40:48
But.
40:49
I'm actually going to do some, um, D license races tonight in the GR86.
40:53
So we'll see how those go.
40:55
What?
40:57
Yeah, that's all the time happening with me that I'm with community, I'm
41:00
streaming and I'm like, okay guys, let's let go this, this guy ahead of us.
41:05
And then he just creating the huge crash ahead of me
41:09
So I'm getting like three, four positions.
41:11
Uh, that's.
41:12
That's a great moment and everybody laughing because you know when you
41:15
cold blooded when you calm down, you just doing your pace, doing your laps.
41:21
I think this is the best which you can do because you actually
41:24
have to race your own race.
41:26
So if someone wants to go ahead like, okay, they can go ahead and that's it.
41:30
So Maybe something bad going to happen.
41:33
Maybe this person going to catch other people and help me also.
41:36
So yeah, I think you have to balance here with this.
41:40
And, uh, of course we all get nervous, uh, before races and during races and
41:45
some, uh, really, uh, exciting moments.
41:47
Uh, but I think you should be, you should calm down and be cold blooded in racing.
41:54
This is, uh, the best which you can do for your results.
41:59
Yeah, I always tell people, like, whenever I join a race, I see
42:02
people that are way faster than me.
42:03
I kind of, you know, give myself a little pep talk, because a lot
42:06
of people are really fast at hot lapping, qualifying and stuff, and
42:09
then their race, their race craft and their race pace just isn't very good.
42:13
And one thing that, you know, when you're in last place and you're fighting
42:16
for last place, you learn to be really consistent, because if you spin out and
42:20
you're in last place, now you're in last place by like two minutes or three laps.
42:24
Then, like, you know, 10 seconds.
42:26
So it was always, I find myself being a really consistent driver, which is
42:31
frustrating when I'm trying to, trying to set qualifying times, because I don't
42:34
really have the ability yet to really put in a blazing fast qualifying lap, but.
42:42
My qualifying lap is usually my race pace or pretty close to it, which
42:46
has been way more helpful, honestly, because I'll get into a race and maybe
42:50
I qualified 5th or 6th, but my pace is well enough that I don't spin out.
42:54
I don't go off track and I'm able to pick up the places because of that.
42:59
Yeah, that's cool.
43:01
Um, so as we girls in some racing and from my side, I can tell that some
43:06
racing for me more friendly place for me as a male, uh, racing driver than in
43:12
real life races, which I did, uh, what do you think can be done to encourage
43:17
more girls to jump into some racing into racing as well in the future?
43:24
Um.
43:25
I think definitely having visibility for women in some racing is important
43:29
because I remember part of the reason I started doing my content was because
43:33
when I looked for creators who were female who were doing, you know,
43:37
some racing, there was one or two girls that no longer made content.
43:41
I don't even remember who they are.
43:43
And I was like, okay, and then also, when I clicked on their content,
43:46
they were way faster than I was.
43:48
And I was like, well, can I watch any videos of people who aren't just like.
43:52
World record fast and so I was like well I guess I can be that person you
43:56
guys can watch me take last and I was kind of shocked because I really made my
44:00
Videos just more for myself as a kind of a journal of like how I'm improving But
44:06
a lot of people were like, thank you.
44:07
Like I love watching your journey Like I also just started like I didn't know
44:11
that everyone's going through this so I think just having visibility on the
44:15
struggles of sim racing not necessarily just like the You know top accolades
44:20
which I think are important and I hope that more women are able to take those
44:23
You know big time accolades and I hope to be one of them But it's it's something
44:28
about visibility But also I think like you said the communities of sim
44:32
racing was way more Correct Um, normal and accepting than, uh, other games.
44:38
Like, I used to play Call of Duty a lot, and I was like a top 10, 000 player in
44:43
hardcore domination Call of Duty, and I had my team, and we were, like, very in
44:48
sync with each other, um, But everyone else when I, when I played, it was
44:53
like just constant abuse or whatever.
44:56
And I've never had anything like that in sim racing.
44:58
No one has ever, I've gotten, what I do get is people just assuming I
45:02
don't know anything because I'm a woman, which happens in real life
45:05
too about cars, but that's really it.
45:07
I've never had anyone claim that I was, you know.
45:11
Not a good driver or something, because I'm a woman, which surprised
45:14
me, because I kind of thought that people would just love to, you
45:18
know, kind of come after women.
45:20
But I think that's why, um.
45:22
When you're starting out in sim racing it'd be really nice to have kind of a
45:26
blueprint from other Experienced sim racers of like hey, you know don't if
45:31
you're doing iRacing and you just jump into iRacing with your voice chat on
45:36
and your chat on all this stuff and People are just like yelling at you and
45:39
telling you don't know how to overtake like you're not gonna like sim racing
45:42
You're gonna hate it because you're like what the heck I don't know what
45:44
i'm doing So and it's so difficult because sim racing really is like Real
45:49
driving, um, people like in America, at least we're always driving our cars.
45:53
You think you can drive a car around track.
45:55
It's absolutely not the same.
45:56
And then there's no one saying like, hey, this is race etiquette.
46:00
You either have to watch racing or just like, kind of know intuitively from
46:03
doing it yourself or something like that.
46:04
So I think it's really hard for new people.
46:06
It's not like Call of Duty where you can just jump into a game, have fun.
46:10
You know, you're supposed to do similar things.
46:12
It has a lot more nuance to it.
46:13
So I think education is really important as well and introducing new sim racers
46:18
in general, but also women in a way that's productive and showing them what
46:21
sim racing really involves and how, you know, it is a community effort, but
46:28
also just, you know, making sure that people are in leagues that are fun and
46:31
inclusive and stuff like my league.
46:33
I got really lucky.
46:34
It's the second week that I joined and they're super
46:37
organized, super on top of it.
46:38
Everyone's super nice.
46:40
Um, and, um, And that changed my whole sim racing trajectory, because if I
46:44
would have joined a league that was, you know, abusive or didn't treat me
46:49
as an equal or something, that could have totally changed my mindset on it.
46:52
Um, and I kind of go into things with a, I wouldn't say cocky because I don't
46:57
consider myself someone as cocky, but in my head, I'm like, really trying to
47:00
like, be like, I could be the best though.
47:02
I could I could be the best.
47:03
So I have that mentality going into it.
47:06
And it just kind of, um, it's helpful to get humbled honestly.
47:10
So my league, you know, I'm, I'm team last.
47:12
These guys are kicking my butt every single week, but at the end of it,
47:16
it's like, okay, we watch our race review after every single race.
47:19
We go back through the race.
47:20
We watch incidents.
47:20
We talk about it.
47:22
Who was at fault stuff like that.
47:24
And all of that is learning that comes in such a unique way that other kind of.
47:29
Yeah.
47:29
Esports don't really have, which is good and bad for new racers.
47:33
So I think I've, I've long since lost the plot on this question, but, um,
47:38
I, that would be my, that would be my thought is like, we just need ways for
47:42
people to, to engage in some racing.
47:45
That's actually going to be productive.
47:47
Like people don't even know that you can get coached in some racing.
47:50
A lot of people are like, why you have coach for that?
47:52
And I'm like, yeah, and I would be way worse of a Sim driver.
47:56
If I didn't have my coach.
47:57
Thank you.
47:58
Um, but people, you know, it's like any e sports in general, it's
48:01
still a pretty new thing and people don't understand how big it is.
48:06
Like it's, you know, it's going to be in the Olympics.
48:08
That's how big it is.
48:09
And people are still kind of thinking it's just video games running around.
48:13
But so changing the mindset overall, which I think is already changing,
48:16
but there's a lot of work to be done.
48:19
Yeah, it's changing already.
48:21
I can see more.
48:22
Girls in, uh, iRacing as well.
48:24
And I see that more girls streaming also, because when I started in
48:29
2020, I saw like, you know, two girls with me streaming iRacing, now we
48:34
can see more and it's really cool.
48:37
Um, I kind of agree with you that sim racing is a complicated.
48:41
Yeah.
48:41
So you just can jump like in Call of Duty and just play and have fun.
48:46
Uh, so at least you can, you have to get like controller maybe to try it and, or.
48:52
The wheel and pedals and, uh, probably then started to learn
48:57
the base and how to build your line on track and all the stuff.
49:00
So it's, it can be complicated for someone.
49:03
Uh, but I think if, if you're passionate about, uh, cars, about
49:06
racing, um, I think you've got a good opportunities to like some racing and
49:12
then, um, you know, just improving it and, uh, also grow up as a person.
49:19
Um, I think it's a good.
49:21
It's a good sport.
49:22
It's a good hobby to have.
49:24
And I just, uh, hope that with, uh, Inuit sports also, we will get more
49:30
girls into this wonderful sport.
49:33
Um, and, uh, going to see more content creators as well.
49:39
Yeah, I agree.
49:40
I think, um, I mean, I'm super thankful to have found this community just because,
49:44
you know, I like to have something to work toward when I'm driving, whether
49:48
it's an official race, or usually it's just been my league races every
49:51
week, but having, like, the holiday invitational, for example, that was
49:55
involved a ton of practice on my part, and it was good to be able to have the
50:00
chance to, you know, You know, really?
50:03
Okay.
50:03
This is this is a race.
50:05
It's going to be stream.
50:06
There's going to be people.
50:06
I got to prove myself and then, you know, I shot myself in the foot for that race.
50:10
But at the same time, I still worked really hard and it was still really good
50:14
improvement because we actually raced.
50:17
Okay, I'm going to Jerry 86, um, in the fall cup and my time, even though,
50:21
you know, obviously, whether it's different, I racing stuff like that.
50:24
My best time.
50:26
From the fall cup to the invitation, which was like 6 weeks
50:29
apart, or maybe 8 weeks apart.
50:31
Um, I had dropped almost a 2nd in lap time and my personal best lap was 6 tenths
50:38
better, um, in the holiday invitational, which, yeah, you can attribute that to
50:43
weather, but I'm telling you right now.
50:44
I could definitely not have gotten that time for the fall cup race.
50:47
So, um, yeah, there's a, it's great to see improvement.
50:51
And I think that's what.
50:52
You know, league racing can also help you do is you're
50:55
racing against the same people.
50:57
You're always trying to improve.
50:58
And when you're a beginner, your improvements are seconds at a time.
51:01
Whereas when you're a really advanced in racer, your improvements
51:04
are tenths or hundredths.
51:06
Um, so when you're, you're making that, you're catching up.
51:09
I remember the 1st time, um, One of the guys in my league was like, yeah,
51:11
you're like solidly in the mid pack now.
51:13
And I was like, yes, I got it.
51:15
I'm in the mid pack.
51:17
I'm fighting for 10th.
51:18
Like, this is what it's all about.
51:20
Like, you know, and then you really realize that you're formula one.
51:23
It's kind of like, Oh yeah.
51:25
So and so got points.
51:26
Big deal.
51:26
But when you're the person who's been fighting from P20 to get to
51:29
that P10, it's like respect, like now you understand what it's like.
51:33
So, um, yeah, it's a, it's a really cool.
51:37
Cool thing to be part of and just, you know, seeing more women getting involved.
51:42
Um, like, I was just in it.
51:44
Esports actually had me go out to Vegas a couple weeks ago.
51:48
Um, and I got to work with, uh, Blake Upton, who is a F3 driver, um, and
51:53
now works with Formula 1 and stuff, but we got to just be me being there
51:56
as a female representative for.
51:58
Simracing, so many women, old women, little kids came up to me and were like,
52:03
it's so great to see you doing this.
52:05
Like I didn't even think, I was too afraid to get in a simulator, but then I saw
52:08
you were doing it and I could go do it.
52:10
And I'm like, yeah, that's what we need is we need people to
52:13
see that this is something that, you know, women can do too.
52:18
Is equestrian sports and motor sports are the two things they say that
52:21
are, you know, Like truly equal, which there's obviously little
52:24
nuances there, but pretty much true.
52:27
Yeah, I think that sim racing is, uh, uh, once again, I'm going to tell this, it's
52:31
more open and, uh, here is no difference in the physical aspect, uh, as well.
52:38
So I think that, uh, you know, more girls not going to be afraid to jump into sim
52:42
racing because, uh, real life racing can be really exhausting and, uh, it's so.
52:47
Yeah.
52:48
It's so hard for body.
52:49
Some races are so long and, uh, yeah, probably physically, uh, we can do some
52:55
races, uh, in real life, uh, but you can have fun in sim racing and the same time.
53:02
Um, yeah, definitely.
53:05
Can you tell me what's your, uh, goals, uh, in the future for sim racing and
53:09
for your professional career as well?
53:13
Yeah.
53:13
Um, this year I'm really focusing on iRacing.
53:16
Uh, it's my first time really doing iRacing at all.
53:20
Like I got.
53:22
I guess I started, I got an iRacing account like in May or
53:26
something, but never drove because it was really intimidating to me.
53:29
Um, but now I'm really trying to get to iRacing, getting really
53:33
focused on doing more actual events.
53:35
Um, even though I'm still trying to figure out kind of where my pace stacks up, I
53:40
think now I'm no longer fighting for last.
53:43
So, and just having that, um, confidence has helped me.
53:47
To be able to think about pursuing these things, um, doing things
53:51
like the Ferrari Esports series.
53:53
Uh, Porsche doesn't have it anymore, but they used to have
53:56
like an Esports challenge.
53:57
Um, maybe it'll come back, I don't know, doing stuff like that.
54:00
And then just doing iRacing official races, um, 2025.
54:05
Unfortunately, TikTok might be getting, uh, fortunately or
54:08
unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, TikTok might be kind of,
54:11
Getting pushed away side in the US.
54:13
So there goes my whole 2 years of work.
54:17
So I'm trying to focus more on like the content creation side of
54:20
utilizing Instagram or Twitch, even though I, I'm not much of a live.
54:27
I really like doing things live when it comes to racing, just because
54:30
for me, so much of it is still so mentally involved in learning, but
54:35
balancing a chat plus racing plus learning is difficult, but honestly,
54:40
it's it's where everyone's going.
54:41
So.
54:42
That might be in the future for me.
54:44
Um, and really my all inclusive goal would be for the Olympic team for the U.
54:51
S.
54:51
I want to be a SIM driver on that team.
54:54
Um, I don't, I don't really want to just be like the girl SIM
54:57
driver that has to be there.
54:58
I want to be the best 1 on that team and we got plenty of time to get there
55:03
and a lot of work to be done to get there, but I'm hoping that I can do it.
55:07
Great, uh, plans you got for 2025, definitely, uh, for Olympics.
55:12
So I wish you good luck for this one.
55:14
Uh, and speaking about, uh, racing, I think you would just, uh, you
55:18
know, with some time going to learn tracks and, uh, step by step,
55:22
you will get faster and faster.
55:24
And also if you use the coach, uh, you know, the.
55:28
This process of how the practice working and how to be faster how to improve
55:33
your lap times And I think that's great.
55:36
And what can you tell to new sim racers who starting like
55:40
should they get the coach?
55:42
Maybe they can find some guides on YouTube or something like this.
55:45
So what's what will be your advice for them?
55:49
So my advice would be to start small.
55:51
So like kind of what we talked about earlier getting the Logitech G29
55:57
Starting out, you know, really simple.
55:59
See if you actually like it at first.
56:00
I see so many people on Reddit who spend like 4, 000 on a rig.
56:04
And then they're like, yeah, I don't really use it anymore.
56:07
So make sure you like it first, but also be ready to be frustrated.
56:12
And that's what's so difficult for me.
56:13
A lot of times I'm like, why am I not faster?
56:16
What am I doing wrong that I'm not faster?
56:18
And a lot of times there's just so many things going on in your
56:21
brain that you don't realize.
56:24
If we go back to the language analogy, if you're trying to be fluent in a
56:28
language, like as a native English speaker, I can usually tell when
56:32
someone's not a native English speaker because there's little things that
56:36
you do differently with your words.
56:38
You, you say something slightly off, whereas an English speaker, I 100
56:40
percent know what you're talking about, but it's still not 100 percent perfect.
56:45
It's kind of like racing.
56:46
It's like, you can have 90 percent of a trail break.
56:48
Correct.
56:49
But that 10 percent is going to put the difference between you
56:52
being in 3rd and being in 1st.
56:54
Not only do you have to do it once time, like 1 time.
56:56
Correct.
56:57
You have to do it every single time.
56:59
So there's just don't be afraid to take last for a long time.
57:03
Like, I'm telling you, I was in last place for 2 years, probably.
57:07
And I.
57:08
Never even cared because my, my community was awesome and I could
57:11
see my own personal improvements.
57:13
Um, so being frustrated is okay.
57:16
You're really going to see if you've never done racing before, which I had, I had
57:19
no racing experience going in my brain hurt after driving for like, 30 minutes.
57:25
Like, I was like, this is like, taking a test.
57:27
Like, I don't know how I can do this.
57:29
And, but eventually that goes away.
57:31
We had, um, the two.
57:35
0.
57:35
4 hours of data.
57:37
I'm sorry of Lamar.
57:39
So instead of 24 hours, since we're all we all have jobs, we did like the
57:43
2 hours and 4 minutes or whatever.
57:45
And I never, ever thought I could sit in a SIM rig for 2 hours at that time.
57:50
And then, you know, by an hour 30, I'm like, oh, this isn't too bad.
57:53
And you gradually start getting there.
57:56
But it is a process here.
57:57
It's like, if you think about it, like a language, that's like, The best
58:00
way to kind of think about it, your improvement, what it's going to look
58:04
like, you know, you can start stringing a sentence together pretty quickly, but
58:07
you're not going to be fluent for years.
58:09
And it's the same with racing.
58:10
You're not going to be.
58:11
You know, top tier until you have years and years of experience and
58:15
which I heard that and I was like, yeah, but but I could be better, you
58:18
know, I could do it better and faster.
58:19
And it's like, sorry, here we are, you know, but it's good
58:24
to have confidence and stuff.
58:25
But at the same time, just acknowledge the process and know how long it's going
58:29
to actually take for you to be good.
58:32
And you also have to focus on being better.
58:34
A lot of people just get in their rig, do a couple official races
58:38
on iRacing with no practice.
58:40
Like, maybe they practiced the track a year ago, and they're just going back,
58:43
like, you have to consciously make an effort to learn and be better if you
58:47
actually want to learn and be better.
58:48
Some people don't want it.
58:49
They don't care.
58:49
They're just there to race, which is totally fine.
58:51
You can do that.
58:52
But if you really want to be the top, you have to treat it,
58:56
you know, like any other sport.
58:57
You got to do your practice.
58:58
You got to do your theory.
58:59
You got to learn from the best and go about it that way.
59:03
That's true.
59:04
So you just have to trust the process and go ahead.
59:08
And also for frustration, we're learning really good, um, most of the time.
59:13
And I think the, from my side that I just, uh, saying everybody try to finish
59:19
every race, like even you got some damage, but if you can keep the car on track,
59:24
it's really important to finish the race because you just registered to this
59:28
race to finish it and you have to go.
59:31
Uh, doesn't matter what position you got in the end.
59:33
You just have to see this checker.
59:36
Yeah.
59:36
I mean, I'm definitely improving that my team, my team never came in last for any
59:43
series that I did when I was taking last because I showed up to every race and I
59:47
completed every single race, just showing up and doing it and completing your 20
59:52
laps will put you ahead of a lot of people who think that they're getting better.
59:56
So racing, but then don't show up or don't finish the race.
59:59
So I would definitely agree.
1:00:01
Yeah, that's true.
1:00:02
So thank you so much for your time.
1:00:04
That was nice to talk with you and I wish a happy holidays to everybody.
1:00:10
And we're going to see you in 2025.
1:00:12
so much for being with us in 2024.
1:00:14
That was a great time.
1:00:16
We'll see you.
1:00:16
Thank you so much, Emma.
1:00:18
Thank you so much.
1:00:19
I really appreciate the time and I'm looking forward to next year.
1:00:22
Happy holidays to you guys as well.
1:00:24
See you.
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