Virtually Real: Can Racing Sims help us when we get behind the wheel?

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Virtually Real: Can Racing Sims help us when we get behind the wheel?
Rhys Millen’s rallycross car was on display.

Kendall’s career was derailed by a huge crash at the wheel of an Intrepid GTP car at Watkins Glen, when suspension failure pitched him into an enormous crash. The crash severely damaged his legs at a time when it looked like Kendall, a rising star, would make his way into Indycars. A long recovery process began and a little over a year later Kendall was back in a GTP car. He would later move on to the SCCA Trans-Am series, where he won a record four series championships and set a professional record – in ANY series – by winning eleven consecutive races during the 1997 season.

 Virtually Real: Can Racing Sims help us when we get behind the wheel?
The Intrepid GTP car was one of our favorite prototypes of all time.  The team had limited funding but the design had a lot of downforce and not much power.  The car handled well but was slow down the straights.  A severe crash in this car really hurt Tommy’s career right at its peak.

Kendall also has a win at the 24 Hours of Daytona on his resume, driving to a class win in 1995 when he drove with none other than the late Paul Newman, and also contested the Bathurst 1000 in 1996. He also competed in 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup races, nearly winning the 1991 race at Infineon Raceway. So yeah, he knows his stuff. As an interesting footnote, Kendall returned to the Trans-Am championship in 2004 and narrowly lost the championship while winning the final race of the year.

Virtually Real: Can Racing Sims help us when we get behind the wheel?
An early iteration of the Intrepid.

In chatting with Kendall that night, we learned that he had the opportunity to sample Forza 4 with Kinnect at the E3 show that day. So we talked to him a bit about what the similarities and differences were between the game and racing in real life.

Virtually Real: Can Racing Sims help us when we get behind the wheel?
Tommy raced this RX-7 in IMSA GTU.

 

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