Race Start Highlights, Sim Racing Challenges & Standings Overview | Inside #AMGVC Episode 1
No, no, no, no, no That was from a long way back. That was a complete disaster. GT4, GT3, GT2 car. If you had to pick one of those prizes… Okay, we’ve done turn one now, James. Really? Welcome to episode one of Inside AMG VC. Today we’ll be looking back at the first three race days of the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport virtual championship, looking at who is at the top of the standings as well as who has been promoted and relegated We’ll also be giving driving a go ourselves, tackling some challenges that the drivers have set us. My name is Sam Fitzpatrick and alongside me is a driver who has competed at the top levels of both esports and real life racing. It is James Baldwin. James, thank you for being alongside me for these three episodes that we’re hosting for this season. We’ve both been involved and we’ve both watched a lot of virtual championships in the past, lots of sim racing series in the past. And this one really does stand out as a unique concept. It does indeed. Firstly, thanks for having me. It’s good to be here. And as you say, the AMG virtual championship is quite unique in the sense it’s cross platform So it’s across four different sim titles. So Assetto Corsa Competizione PC and on console, iRacing, Rennsport and Gran Turismo 7 So all racing games, but all very different in the way you drive them. And although there’s multiple platforms, there is an overall leaderboard and the people at the top of that overall leaderboard. So yeah, everyone’s playing different games, but they’re all competing against each other to be at the top so they can win those prizes, which we’ll talk about later. And yeah, it’s a mixture really of traditional races along with a few gamified races as well. So it’s good. Some races will have a bit of a twist to it. You know, for example, fastest lap will gain you an extra point, stuff like that. And of course, using the Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo, which is one of the most successful GT3s ever it’s won some of the most iconic races in real life. And you know, six litre V8, naturally aspirated, real beefy GT3 car. But that shouldn’t really come into it though, because everyone’s in the same car. So it’s all about the driver. It’s not about, you know, my car was better than his car, no BOP, which is always disgusting racing It’s all about the driver and it should make for some very close racing. And on each of the titles, we have two different divisions. The top division was decided by a hot lap competition that we hosted before the season started, the fastest drivers getting into that top division. The second division was a raffle. So anyone who took part in the hot lap competitions could get into the championship. We also had some fun experiences at Le Mans 24 hours and Nürburgring 24 hours where the drivers were able to go to the Mercedes AMG fan base and set their times there. So of course, in future, potentially future seasons, that might be your best way to be able to qualify for the championship. We’ve also got some fantastic prizes that you were alluding to earlier on, James. Some absolutely very lucky drivers are going to be at the end of the season. Yeah, some very good ones. I’ll touch on the first two. So the first one is a Mercedes-AMG Motorsport GT track experience where the winner is going to get to drive either a GT4, GT3, GT2 car at a circuit. Last year, the winner ended up driving at the Nürburgring GP track, which I’ve just come back from racing in GT World Challenge and unbelievable place, unbelievable circuit. And that’s a great prize. The next one is the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team track side experience. So it’s in the title, you know, you’re track side for a free practice session in F1. You’re sat in the garage with the headphones on, you can listen to the drivers talking about how the setup is, how the session itself is going. So yeah, just really unbelievable access. So those are two of the four amazing prizes. What are the other two? Yeah, well, we’ve got an absolutely fantastic Mercedes-AMG Motorsport gaming bundle available for the drivers. That includes a Heusinkveld Ultimate Plus Black 3 pedal set, Cube Controls Mercedes AMG GT Edition sim wheel, plus a monitor, mouse and keyboard from MSI Gaming. We’ve also got a Prestige 16 AI Plus Mercedes-AMG Motorsport laptop available for the drivers as well. And the cool thing about that last one is that whenever a driver completes a race in the AMG VC, they get an extra token added to the raffle competition. And at the end of the season, someone’s going to win that. So it really does being an emphasis on taking part in all the rounds, sticking with the championship all the way through. And someone’s going to be very lucky at the end. If you had to pick one of those prizes, which one would you err towards? Probably the track experience just because I love racing real cars. It’s a tough one, though. They’re all great options. But I would personally pick the track one. Yeah, what about you? I’m very tempted by the gaming bundle because that’s going to be… I need all the help I can get when it comes to simracing. So if I can get a bit more pace with that, that might help me for… Get practicing. Yeah, several years. But my heart is thinking, I want to drive one of those GT cars. It’d be a tough decision, though. If you did win it, you’d be sat there like… I mean, it’s a nice… It’s a nice problem to have, yeah. A first-world problem, definitely. Absolutely. So, yeah, best of luck to the drivers to win those prizes. So each episode, we’re going to look at some of the best driving from the series. This week, we’re going to focus on the best race starts of all the competitors. We’ve had these clips submitted by the drivers. And this first one, James, is from the ACC PC division with Chris Warner driving. And this is at Kyalami And it was an underwhelming qualifying for him. It wasn’t an amazing launch, but then he makes up a lot of progress through these first few corners Yes, clearly more confident on the brakes. made about two or three positions up there on the braking alone. And he’s going to opt for the inside here, I think, going into T3 or 4. And that serves him very well. He positioned the car very nicely, stayed out of trouble, and made, what, five or six places up there. So really good. Yeah, really great work there. Next one is on Gran Turismo 7. And this is Thomas Heid, who managed to pull off this overtake. Again, of course, the drivers quite separated out on the race start. But then Thomas absolutely no reluctance… late on the brakes, yeah. I was thinking, where’s the overtake going to come here? But that was from a long way back, like Daniel Ricciardo back in the day, wasn’t it? Just super late on the brakes. Yeah, fantastic move there. And then we move over into the iRacing division and Matt Caruana with a very strong start. Second place, so qualified very well at the start, and didn’t really have a whole lot of positions to gain. But he still managed it. And this was a very important move for the championship. Yeah, and he opened up turn one there really well so he could carry the speed to go round the outside of Alessandro Bico, I think that is. So as you say, a really important move for the championship. And yeah, good points. Yeah, expect them to be near the top of the overall leaderboard come the end of the season. Another iRacing clip at Okayama coming up here. Erik Halsband with a pretty daring move down the inside here. And the track sort of just opens up for him, but he puts his car in the right place. Yeah, and that’s sometimes half the battle is putting your car in the right place. You don’t have to do any heroics. But just on this start, then we’ve got Luca, who’s going to go up the inside, almost hitting the pit wall on the approach to turn one again at Okayama And the inside line seems to be the best line through T1 at the start to avoid all the carnage. And what’s he going to do going the outside of turn two? He is indeed. That’s a lovely move. And the track just magically opens up for him. He’s got absolutely nothing in front of him now. He’s up into the lead, a really fantastic start there for Luca. And then we’ve got a clip from Rennsport as well. And this is Roan Den Hoed who pulled off this overtake. We’ve got high standard already from Monza T1 overtakes A little bit of a different one he gets it done on the straight Yeah, and on Rennsport, I know you have cold brakes when you approach the first corners. So a bit of a moment there for someone in T1. But yeah, it can be quite a tricky braking zone with the cold brakes. But he made three or four places up there. So that’s a nice move. Absolutely. Yeah. So thanks to everyone who submitted those clips. Make sure to submit your clips for next time. And let us know in the comments what your favourite move out of all of them were. We’ve got to make that decision as well, James. What way are you leaning towards on them? I think honestly, the second clip we saw with Thomas Heid at Monza on Gran Turismo 7, he was so far back, but somehow made it work, got it stopped, made the apex, but still did the move. Out of all of that, yeah, I’d say that one. What about you? I think that’s a very good pick. I mean, shout out to Chris Warner. I thought that was a fantastic start at Kyalami And Luca as well on iRacing, at Okayama as well. That was a really great effort. But I think Thomas deserves it. So congratulations, Thomas, for that. We’ve then just reviewed some very good driving. We’ll see if we can back that up because we’re going to have a go at driving ourselves, tackling some challenges that you guys have set for us. Let’s see how we got on. So the drivers in the series have submitted some challenges for us to tackle. We’re about to find out what it is going to be for this episode. And it’s the blindfold challenge for us to tackle. Right. How do we feel about that one? I’m nervous. Yeah? Yeah. We’re going to have to help each other out here. Exactly. We’re working together as a team on this one. Exactly. How much slower do you think we’re going to be than a normal race lap? At least 30 seconds. At least. That’s the goal then. If we get within 30 seconds, that’s really good. Yeah, yeah, that’s really good. Should we do a coin toss? You go first. Let’s do a coin toss, see who goes first. I’ll be heads. Sure. Tails, you’re up first. Cool. Well, I will jump in then. So I’m going to be driving at Monza while James is going to be driving at Nurburgring GP. James, let’s give this a go. Let’s do it, mate. Just trust everything I say. OK. I’m going to limit it to five words. Left, straight, right, gas, brake. That’s all I need. Gas. Keep it straight. Literally don’t move the wheel. That’s like the right, so left, left, left, left, left, left. Straight. Keep it straight. That’s good. So last corner coming up. So right. Bit more. Bit more. Straight the wheel. And just a little bit right. Let’s– that’s it. Keep that, keep that. And straighten the wheel a little bit, a little bit more right. See, just coming through the last corner. Full throttle. OK, this should be the easy bit now So up shift. Straight. Right. Brake. Now. Oh, no. Oh, no. Has it gone badly? We broke on the grass. That’s probably my fault. Right. Straight. Full throttle. Up shift. Your straight is going right. We might be here a while. More left. Straight, straight, straight, straight. OK. We’re on the track again. So right. A little bit right. More throttle. So just hold that amount. Or a little bit straight. Curva Grande, right? Yeah, Curva Grande But left, left. OK, right. Do you know what? Just go flat out. OK. Just go right hand down. OK, straight. I feel like a bit of wheel spin again. We’re just not gelling. I don’t know what it is. We’re not quite gelling. It would be interesting to see how you do at Nurburgring. Yeah, shall we DNF? Right, so after our terrible first attempt at Monza, let’s try me driving, you instructing, at the Nurburgring. Yeah, let’s see who the weak link was after all of that. I really have no excuses here as well, because I literally drove this track. Exactly. You should be able to drive this with your eyes closed anyway. So I’m really just– am i in first gear. You are in first gear. That’s a good start. OK, so let’s accelerate to begin with. And that’s a good amount of acceleration. Now we’re going right just a little bit, and a little bit more, and a little bit more, and a lot more right, a lot more right, a lot more right. A lot more right. Keep going, keep going. OK, now straight. A little bit more right. A little bit more right. OK, straight, left. Left. Straight. Straight. OK, now we’re in a good position. Nice. Little right, little right, straight. OK. Full throttle. No. OK. We’re not going near full throttle. Now right, right, more right, brake. And now we’ve stopped. We’ve stopped. But that’s all good. That’s what we need in this situation. So press the accelerator, and we’re going to be turning a little right. You have a very calming voice. Thank you. Well, we need to turn a lot right now, and I don’t think I’m going to need a big calm because we are going to crash Oh, OK. OK, we’ve done turn one now, James. Really? Yes. So where are we going now, then? Well, we’re going to turn two. And now we’re turning left. More left. More left. More left. More left, James. More left. More left. We’ve got loads of run off to use, so let’s use– We’re not using it, though. It’s staying with the lines OK, straight. That was excellent. Nice. OK, left again now. A lot of left. A lot of left. And a brake as well. And now a little straight. OK, now we’re hitting the brake. And now we’re going a little throttle and a hard right. A lot of right. Now straight. And now right. are we doing well? Straight. Left, left, left. No, you’re not doing well. And then no, left. A lot of left. A lot of left. There’s a lot of rumbling going on We need to go left, left, more left. Now, the corners here are very optional, so we don’t necessarily need to do them. A little bit of right. A little bit right. A little bit right. And a bit of left. And we’re halfway around the lap, James. We’re going into Dunlop, so left again here. Left. Left. And now we’re going a lot right. A lot more right. OK, less throttle, less throttle. And we’re going a very hard right now. Less throttle. OK, now left. Left. oh OK, no, no. What’s going on, Sam? Well, we have hit a wall, James. But– We’ve done a sector, though. We’ve done a sector and a half. So we’ve already improved on the Monza one. I think that’s a good place, perhaps, to stop. I think we’ve done better on this one. We’ve improved, and I think within maybe a couple of days, we would be able to get within the 30-second target. Yeah. But I think that’s about it for us. Can I take this off now? You can take it off now. Yeah. Oh, brilliant. That’s gone well, hasn’t it? Where is this? Dunlop. Oh, we got that far. That’s actually not too bad. Oh, nice job Well, James, that was a complete disaster on the blindfold challenge I’m not sure whose fault it was. It was probably both of our faults. Yeah, I think you were slightly better than me at instructing. Sure. But we were both– You’re probably a slightly better driver. Maybe, yeah. We were both pretty bad. Yeah. But we have a new challenge here. So let’s see what it is. The no brake challenge. OK. So I’m guessing we do a lap, no brakes, whoever does it the quickest wins. Sounds interesting. Yeah, let’s see how we get on. So let’s give this no brake challenge a go at Algarve International Circuit. James, I’ll count us down. Do you want to put your left leg off the rig? I’m not going to cheat, but I have put my leg off the rig. So three, two, one, go. Go. Where are you going to brake the turn one? Where am I going to brake for turn one? Oh, yeah, good point. Yeah, yeah, where are you going to lift the turn one? You have understood the point of this challenge, James I think we’ve both lifted quite early there. I’ve got a good start. You have got a good start. I’m worried I’m going into these corners a bit too quick because I’m pulling away from you here, but– Yeah, well, good luck stopping for the hairpin But has he done it? Come on, come on. No, he’s overshot it No, I haven’t. Oh! And he’s absolutely miles ahead. I need to actually get on with this. This is the corner that I’m scared of. This is the hardest corner. Yeah. I think I’ve lifted too early here, but– It’s downhill. It’s tricky in normal conditions anyway. You’re catching me a bit here, though. Yeah. Trying to kill some speed with some weaving. Good exit there. Ah, James is showing his… See you later, mate. …skill right now. Oh, Sam, I was expecting more of a fight here, mate. This is incredible. I mean– I’ve nearly just spun it I can’t even see you anymore. All right, got two corners left. Oh, no. Have you gone deep? I’ve gone deep. Oh, in the wall! Last corner’s flat out. Oh, no it’s not There we go. Just one lap, isn’t it? Just one lap. You’ve done it. Yes! Well, it’s safe to say, James, you were the better driver when it came to that one. Congratulations on being very fast. Even when you don’t– even when you’re not allowed to use any brakes. Yeah, do you know what? It was a bit easier than I thought. Just I thought, as soon as I exit the corner, lift, downshift like a maniac, and it should pay off, and it did. So, yeah, one nil me, because I guess the blindfold thing’s more of a team effort. Exactly, yeah. We were both pretty awful at that. Yeah, I think we can take a shared responsibility for that… Yeah, I’m down for that, yeah. That was the blindfold challenge. Thank you to everyone who submitted ideas. Make sure to continue to do that in future as well. So one of the best aspects of the AMG VC, James, is the promotion-relegation aspect. After race days three and five, we promote the top three drives from Division Two up into Division One, and we demote the bottom three drives from Division One down into Division Two. And it really does mean that all positions matter. It’s not just at the top of Division One that matters, also the bottom of Division One and the top of Division Two. So as an example, in ACC console, we have had Jarryd Vermeulen, Aldo Barile, and Airesh all get promoted from Division Two up into Division One after race day three. And that means that they’re already up to P6, P7, and P10, respectively, in Division One despite the disadvantage that they’ve had so far this season with the 75% multiplier applied to their points. And it’s just a really good aspect to this because it means that even if you’re not necessarily an esports professional, which some of these drives are in Division One, everyone else still has something to fight for. That’s it. And I think that’s the good thing about this series is that sim racing is meant to be accessible. And in theory, in this championship, you could raffle your way into it and then get to Division One after race three and win the whole thing. Unlikely, because you should be really at Div One the whole time if you’re going to win the whole thing. And yeah, as you said, there’s always something to fight for. Whether you’re in Division One, you can’t relax because if you underperform, you’ll be straight down to Division Two. And vice versa, if you’re a bit miffed that, “Ah, I’m in the bottom division,” if you do really well, you go straight up to the top split and race the top guys. So yeah, I think, as you say, the racing will reflect that because there is something to fight for. We’ll see a lot of hard battles, a lot of overtakes, probably a lot of crashes as well. So it should be good to watch. So James, we can now have a look at the overall leaderboard. Yeah, here it is. So it’s very close between first and tenth split by 10.5 points. Interestingly, you can see they’re all across the different platforms. So we’ve got a Gran Turismo 7 driver in Jack Balding leading the way, a couple of iRacing drivers followed by a Rennsport driver, ACCs in the mix as well. You can see Sammy Joe down in ninth is the leading ACC PC driver who I’ve been racing against as a guest starter. And they’ve definitely been taking points off each other. So that’s reflected in the table here because the leading driver is ninth. Moritz Lohner’s in there, a very well-known driver in the e-sports space. I mean, Valerio Gallo, the Gran Turismo World Champion. So there’s some proper drivers in there. And it’s going to be hard to call who wins this come the end of the season. Absolutely. It’s all to play for still most of the rounds to come in the championship. So we wait to see who is going to finish at the top when it’s all said and done. Well, that’s pretty much it for us for episode one of Inside AMG VC. James, of course, you’ll be competing in a few more race days yourself. That’s right. I’ll be on Rennsport and I’ll be back on ACC Division One at the end of the season. So it should be fun. Absolutely. Well, of course, make sure to like this video, share it to anyone who might be interested as well. And of course, make sure to tune in for episode two. But for now, that is all from us. We’ll see you next time.
The first episode of Inside #AMGVC is here! 🏁 Join host Sam Fitzpatrick and pro sim racer James Baldwin as they break down the opening 3 Race Days of the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Virtual Championship – a 7-Race Day cross-platform championship featuring the fastest drivers in Assetto Corsa Competizione on console and PC, Gran Turismo 7, iRacing & RENNSPORT.
In this episode:
• Championship format explained 🎮
• Prizes and rewards 🏆
• Best race starts from the community 🚀
• Blindfolded lap challenge 👀
• No-brake racing duel 😅
• Promotion & relegation between divisions
• Updated overall standings after Race Day 3 📊
From in-game highlights to hilarious challenges and serious sim racing analysis, Inside #AMGVC brings you closer to the world’s fastest virtual Mercedes-AMG family.
💬 Comment below: Which sim racing challenge should Sam & James take on next?
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