Franchitti tips Carroll for sim paydayposted in FE07 | 01 | 2017
INDYCAR LEGEND, DARIO FRANCHITTI (above), believes fellow Scot Graham Carroll is one of the favourites to drive off with $200,000 by winning the world’s richest sim race in Las Vegas today. (Related: Carroll aims for $200,000 sim racing payday)
And Franchitti, the four-time IndyCar champ and three-time winner of the Indy500 from Bathgate, has some inside knowledge ahead of the $1 million VISA Vegas eRace.
Carroll, the 26-year-old from Edinburgh and third-fastest in the 30-minute opening free practice session, is one of 10 sim racers who will go head-to-head with the 20 professional drivers who compete in the all-electric FIA Formula E Championship, which Franchitti now does TV commentary for.
As a result, he is only too aware of the potential pitfalls the pro drivers will face when they come up against Carroll, who led the 10 amateur sim racers in qualifying.
“Talking to the Formula E professional drivers, they know they’re up against it with Graham and the other leading sim racers,” Franchitti, speaking at Sebring before flying to Las Vegas to cover the race, admitted. “The sim racers are very, very competitive.
“The fact Graham led the top 10 sim racers in qualifying for the event means he knows he has the pace; but it also means he has a big target on his back. He has to be able to cope with the expectations, not only his own, but those held by other people.
“But this is going to be a big challenge for the professional Formula E racers. In a real race car, as a driver you’re used to getting feedback from multiple sources.
“It’s as much as what’s going on in your inner ear and the seat of your pants; that movement you feel in the car, and of the car. It’s the total, all-enveloping experience you get in a car on a racetrack.
“You don’t get that when you’re sat in a room, surrounded by 29 other drivers, all working at their steering wheel and pedals … but watching the race unfold in front of them on a giant computer screen.”
Each of the 30 drivers is guaranteed at least $20,000. There’s $200k to the winner, with the runner-up getting $100k. Final driver on the podium pockets $50k. There’s also $25,000 for pole position, and another $10k for fastest lap.
Carroll will race for the DS Virgin Racing Formula E team along with full-time ‘real’ driver, fellow Brit Sam Bird.
But Franchitti is quietly confident Carroll — a double Scottish Formula Ford champion, and winner of the prestigious Walter Hayes Trophy in 2015 — can deliver a strong performance.
“I think Graham’s in a really good spot to do very, very well in Vegas, because he has that experience both on-track and behind a sim,” Franchitti, who next Saturday (Jan 14) will appear at the Autosport International Show in Birmingham, continued.
“He’s probably the only guy who has that level of experience of both platforms, in simulator racing and in a real racing car.
Not to put any pressure on him, but I’m expecting great things from him.”
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Jim McGill