Last updated: July 13th, 2023
I created simracingcockpit.com as a comprehensive and helpful resource to help aspiring sim racers get into sim racing, faster. One of the biggest hurdles to overcome, after you’ve bought your equipment, is what to do with it! That’s where our expertise comes in.
This site will help you with technical setup, gear recommendations, software settings, driver technique, and much more in the simulator, and it’s all based on first-hand experience, my successes, and of course, my mistakes. My intention and the idea behind simracingcockpit.com is to help my readers develop their sim racing knowledge as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Read all of my articles or read more about me here.
My name is Richard Baxter and, as well as being a committed sim racing enthusiast, I also race on the track, you know, in real life…
I started in Radical racing about 6 years ago and in 2023, I’m currently contesting the Masters Historic Championship in a Lotus Elan 26r. Previously I’ve raced in the MX5 Cup with the BRSCC and 750mc. Before this, I spent 5 years racing in a Radical SR3 RSX.
Throughout most of my racing career, I’ve been using the simulator to improve my understanding of vehicle setup, race craft, and race procedures. While I spend most of my time in iRacing I also think rFactor2 is excellent from a physics point of view, too.
The impact of the extra time behind the wheel in the simulator has been hugely beneficial to my real-world driving, allowing me to put my Mazda MX5 in the top 5 (with the occasional win) in arguably the most competitive national club racing championship in the UK.
They always say “my other car’s a…” I spent 5 years racing a Radical SR3 rsx, winning races on both international and national levels.
My sim provides all the racecraft practice for the real world I could ever need – and during the lockdown months of 2020 I’ve been developing my simulator with careful upgrades and setup tweaks to make it feel as close to a real racing car as I could make it.
Now we’re in 2023 and I honestly don’t know what I’d do without sim racing.
My kit list:
- Sim Dynamics Pro Chassis
- Simagic DS8-X Shifter
- Cube Controls OMP GT PRO // VPG Custom RSR // Cube Controls F-Pro
- Simtrecs Pro Pedal GT
- SIM3D Rumble Kit for SimTrecs Pro Pedal
- Simucube 2 Pro with SQR hubs
- Intel i9 pc with 32gb ram / Nvidia RTX 4090 (see my GPU comparisons here)
- Samsung G9 49″ gaming monitor
- Streamdeck
- Buttkicker
- Apex LED Race Deck
- Apex GT3 R DDU
When I’m not working on my iRating, I’m working on track. Here’s a fast lap in my Radical SR3 on the Silverstone GP circuit:
This site was set up to help aspiring sim racers get the comprehensive guidance they need to succeed as newcomers to sim racing, sim racing tips, and more. Most of the equipment I’ve reviewed I actually own (see above). Occasionally manufacturers send me items to review or even give feedback on for development purposes, which is a lot of fun. To learn more about our editorial and affiliate policy, read this.
Sim racing is a fun, sometimes serious eSports discipline that does offer real-world benefits such as the ability to learn new technical and assembly skills, as well as (of course) driving techniques. And yes, in my opinion, sim racing is very close to real-world Motorsport in many ways!
If you have any questions or suggestions, feel welcome to contact me.