V10 R-League: Behind the scenes on car setup and strategy

It's more than fair to say that the GRS V10R '20 is a beast of a car. The virtual machine produces in the region of 900 bhp and weighs only 700 kg, so it's no surprise why we've seen lap records tumble in the V10 R-League.

We've been fortunate enough to catch up with Porsche24 Redline's Michal Smidl and Ben Cornett as well as Martin Stefanko of Williams to ask them some burning questions about the car.

How to set up the GRS V10R '20

Porsche24 Redline's Ben Cornett believes that a combination of factors have been at play for their brilliant performances. Overall, though, the setup of their car has been key:

"From the early days, we had a good understanding of the strategic element of this series. Lap time was an element, but it wasn't critical."

"It [quickly] became apparent that track position is paramount. As such, the way we set the car up focussed more on track position than outright lap time."

Michal Smidl has a different take though. The Czech driver that Porsche's undefeated run comes down to hard work and experience:

"The overall success is due to the hard work we've put in. All of us have many years of experience in sim racing. The car itself is easy to drive [on the limit]."

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That's a feeling that all of the drivers echoed, that it's easy (by their standards at least) to drive the car on the limit but getting and maintaining that limit is difficult.

Driving Style

The GRS V10R '20 is different to anything out there, there aren't many cars that even come close to its ridiculous performance levels.

As such, the driving styles which the professionals have to employ is different to most of the other series that they compete in. Williams' Martin Stefanko explained the challenges of mastering the car:

"The car is challenging to drive because it has a lot of power and torque with the V10 engine."

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"It [driving the car] is exciting and rewarding because of the downforce levels these cars have. You can carry so much more speed than you think in the corners."

Strategy

Something we don't see nor hear much regarding during the TV coverage is the strategy and communication that the teams use.

Porsche24 Redline's Michal Smidl opened up about how important strategy is, despite the shorter races:

"We always use medium compound tyres for racers, so the tyre wear is not a problem. The problem is when you use softs, these don't last long."

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"During the pit-stops, [for the relay race] we try to maximise our potential. You need to be quick getting out of game and letting the other guy take your seat."

Smidl highlighted how important focusing and perfecting on every detail is in top-level esports. This is something that will be standard across the board in the V10 R-League, but it's great to see, nonetheless.

Is VR the future of sim racing?

Eagle-eyed views may have noticed that Ben Cornett is the only driver who opts to use a VR headset during the V10 meetings. The Australian opened up on why he has chosen to do this:

"It offers a level of immersion you can't get with a screen. In terms of pure lap time, it's not really optimal. I've been driving with VR for years now, so to go back wasn't feasible."

Cornett went on to say that as the VR technology advances, it will become more commonplace. Now though, it's not as good for sim racing as traditional monitors are.

Where to watch

The V10 R-League travels to the Middle East for the final round of the series' inaugural season! Round 7 will be held on the UAE's Yas Marina Circuit on 19th October at 7 pm BST.

The entire Season 1 of V10 R-League will be shown on BT Sport in the UK.

Those in the US can watch on ESPN3, while in the Middle East it will be available on STARZPLAY Arabia.

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