- Title: Video gamers train with Formula 1 team for esports race series
- Date: 29th November 2019
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE)(English) BEN HAMPSHIRE, RENAULT IT RACE MANAGER, SAYING: "The telemetry outputs we get from this virtual simulator, we're picking up 180 unique sensors per car, 200 all together, and these are lateral G axis, brake temperatures, all sorts. They've mirrored the data exactly by their own means as they would from the F1 car." VARIOUS OF WEIGANG USING A BATAK REACT
- Embargoed: 13th December 2019 12:59
- Keywords: Esports Renault Sport Team Vitality virtual Formula 1 F1 video games gaming
- Location: ENSTONE, ENGLAND, UK
- City: ENSTONE, ENGLAND, UK
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Video Games
- Reuters ID: LVA005B7LBL23
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Jarno Opmeer used to frequent the Renault team gym as a junior academy driver and now the Dutch teenager is back at the factory, training for a Formula One esports championship showdown he can still win.
The 19-year-old gamer has given up on the neck exercises, of little benefit when competing in virtual races without any g-forces, and extreme temperatures and dehydration are not concerns either.
Maintaining physical fitness still comes with the esports territory, however, and is playing a part in the Renault Vitality team's revival from 2018 tail-enders to 2019 championship challengers.
"Physical training in esports is much more about staying healthy, staying flexible because obviously sitting in a simulator for a big part of the day is going to make you stiff," Opmeer told Reuters on a visit to the F1 team factory.
"You want to stay flexible as much as possible just for quick reactions and coordination and these kind of things. And in real life motorsports you really want to train to be fit to handle the G-forces, the heat," he said.
Renault take their esports seriously, rebuilding the team and bringing in fresh talent after last year's disappointment, and the drivers are part of a bigger whole.
Forget, for a start, any lazy stereotypes of teenagers hunched over laptops for hours on end while rarely engaging in exercise.
Nicolas Maurer, founder and CEO of Team Vitality, now renamed Renault Sports Team Vitality, sees plenty of scope for crossover between F1 and the gamers.
"The skillset you need to succeed in sim racing is really close to the one you need to succeed in actual racing and that's also the beauty of this discipline because you can have a guy that was used to training in the video game come to the real track and vice versa," Maurer said.
The esports racers use a 'Batak' wall, just as regular drivers do, to work on peripheral vision, reaction times and hand-eye coordination. Nutrition is carefully controlled, heartrates monitored and sleep patterns managed.
Gamers can be susceptible to tightness across the chest, a condition known as kyphosis arising from being hunched over a console or computer. Exercises to improve posture and conditioning can fix that.
Renault's esports team also benefits from the Formula One team in other areas, with race data analysed by engineers in the same control room used on grand prix weekends.
What started off as a small group working in their lunch hours has developed into a serious project.
"The telemetry outputs we get from this virtual simulator, we're picking up 180 unique sensors per car, 200 all together, and these are lateral G axis, brake temperatures, all sorts. They've mirrored the data exactly by their own means as they would from the F1 car," said Renault F1's IT manager Ben Hampshire.
The engineers can take the same approach to esports as real Formula One races, using live telemetry to make suggestions about throttle adjustments and brake bias and provide more variables for setup.
The information gained, with each car in the Codemasters F1 2019 game producing 200 data points, will be applied to next year's campaign.
Opmeer is third in the drivers' championship, 43 points behind Ferrari's David Tonizzi with three races remaining, while Renault are third in the constructors' championship and 36 points adrift of Red Bull.
Esports is in a 'terrible state' as far as female representation is concerned and must change for women to feel welcome, according Maurer.
The Frenchman, whose organisation ranks in the top three in Europe and partners Renault in the Formula One esports pro series, said audiences needed to be educated and gender stereotypes confronted.
No woman driver has competed in a real Formula One race since 1976 but neither has a female gamer featured in the virtual series, whose third season ends at London's Gfinity Arena next week.
Across all esports games on average, according to Maurer, women make up about 20% of the audience while even fewer participate.
"One of the big challenges, and a very interesting area of development for esports, is the number of women being pro which is close to zero right now," the Frenchman told Reuters.
"A terrible state, we have to admit."
Vitality, the leading esports outfit in France and among the top three in Europe, also has teams competing in competitions such as League of Legends, Rocket League, Fortnite and Hearthstone.
Maurer said the challenge for "everyone involved in the ecosystem" was how to create the right structure for women to rise through the ranks and become professional.
Global esports revenues are expected to hit $1.1 billion in 2019, up 27% on last year and driven by income from advertising, sponsorship and media rights, according to gaming industry analytics firm Newzoo. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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