HI EVERYONE, I’M PETE, the new UCR Sim Racing chair. I’m taking over for Paul Neto. Thanks for this opportunity. Paul started UCR Sim Racing early in 2021. He started the iRacing league and the Discord server in January and hosted the first virtual race at Mosport (CTMP) on January 25, 2021. The first race season had 6 races and had 30 UCR sim racers. Thanks for a great start and for leading the charge for two years!
WHAT IS iRACING?
iRacing is the leading sim racing software. Official UCR and PCA Sim racing leagues and seasons run on iRacing.
WHAT IS DISCORD?
Discord is a free communications app that lets you share voice, video, and text chat with friends and game communities. UCR and PCA Sim racing communities live in Discord.
HOW DO I GET INVOLVED?
Go here:
Or, E-mail me, Pete Rothe, at sim@pcaucr.org.
WHY SIM RACING? WHY NOW?
In the past few years, we’ve all had to adapt. We’ve had to change the way we work and the way we stay connected with other people. As part of this change, there’s been a growing number of people trying out sim racing. I’m one of those people. My journey began at the end of the DE season in 2021. And that, perhaps, is a story for another day. Now I’d like to shed light on UCR’s vibrant sim.
PCA tagline: It’s not just the cars, it’s the people.
PCA Sim tagline: The cars aren’t real, but the racing is.
As with most PCA activities, sim is about the people and about the cars. Even if the cars aren’t real in sim, the driving and racing is. One of the biggest differences with our sim community is that we are not bound by real-world constraints like geography and the cost of driving or racing in real life (IRL). And since this activity happens online and in the comfort of our own homes, we are sometimes an invisible community within UCR and greater PCA.
Anyone starting out can immediately be part of the national PCA Sim racing community and our “local” UCR Sim racing community simultaneously. The online community isn’t bound by geography, we are all interacting with fellow PCA members from across the continent. We are interacting and volunteering at the region, zone, and national levels all at once. The metaverse messes with your head — knowing people’s voices, driving styles, and personalities without ever meeting in person — the connections are real.
WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?
Our broader UCR Sim admin team includes me, Paul Neto, Ben Leung and Joe Sinclair Jr. The extended team includes Nikki Chan and Liam Rudzitis, who volunteer with Zone 1 as moderators and virtual instructors — yes, we have instructors in sim as well, and they do make you faster — errg, smoother! Some of our founding racers include Adam Holland, Chris Hebert, Chris Styles, John Montgomery (AKA Monty), Patryk Adamczyk, and Terrence Tong.
Here is our roster of UCR sim racers participating in national sim club racing. We currently have 31 racers eligible for PCA national class racing. PCA nationals include solo sprint and team endurance seasons.
Live-streamed national races, PCA YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/pcasimracing
Live-streamed UCR races, UCR Videos:
PCA Sim Racing has grown to over 600 members with many real-life racers and DE instructors. This is a large group of Porsche enthusiasts across the US and Canada.
In addition to the racing classes above, there is also an Entry league. It prepares racers for class racing. And the Arrive & Drive league focuses more on fun in a less competitive environment.
What does 2023 look like with UCR sim racing?
As a team, we’ll continue to introduce fellow UCR-ers to sim racing in an open and welcoming manner. We’re here to help you navigate the ever-expanding offerings of the Porsche sim world and prepare you for national-level club racing with PCA sim racing. We’ll continue to foster and attract sponsorship for live-streaming UCR races – current and previous sponsor: JRP — thanks John and DJ! And we’ll continue to host UCR sim racing seasons.
What else do we have planned? We’ve got some ideas, but we need to do some leg work before we share…
Need more reasons to join us? If you already have a sim rig or are planning on building one, joining our league is a great way to get started.
Sim racing is a great way to keep your DE skills up, learn vision, and experience different racetracks from around the world – tracks we might never be able to go to with our own cars. How do I get involved, where do I start? Join our UCR Sim Racing league . Or E-mail Pete at sim@pcaucr.org.
