Ever since launching WMD and the development of Project CARS, Slightly Mad Studios have invited professional racing aces to become part of the development process, either in a professional capacity or as regular members inside the WMD forums.
Since Project CARS was publicly launched in 2011, several acclaimed racers have joined the project, including Ben Collins, Nicolas Hamilton, Oli Webb & Rene Rast.
During Project CARS development period, these drivers spent countless hours with the developing title, leading them to an impressive string of on-track success, racing in prestigious events like the 24 Hours of Le Mans and winning several of them outright.
But it’s not only pro-level championship drivers that can benefit from Project CARS as Slightly Mad Studios are also inviting in young driving talent to??make the title part of their quest for on-track success.
One of them is Scotland’s Christie Doran, a promising young racer that has recently started her own Project CARS experience:
I???m Christie Doran, the Scottish Sun???s Rookie Racer. To start with, when I was 15 I had seven months to learn how to drive, pass my race exams and do a round of the Ginetta Juniors.
In 2012, my first full season was in the Scottish Classics in a TR8 coming second in class and tenth overall. Then in 2013, I did my first single-make series, coming 11th out of 20 in the Scottish BMW Compact Cup.
Last year was supposed to be about moving up the grid and getting top 10 finishes, but I crashed badly early on. The series became more like bumper cars so we stopped and I got an invite to do two rounds of the VAG Trophy, for VW cars, and came third in class on my debut at Oulton ??? becoming the first female ever to win silverware in the series.
I am doing my first UK series this year, with SlideSports in the VAG Trophy.
Part of the challenge is that there will be new circuits but living in Scotland makes test sessions expensive with lots of travel. So I wanted to get to know the tracks before I actually got on them.
I had been told about Project CARS, but nothing prepared me for how good ??? and useful ??? it was going to be. The game has top tracks from all over the world and any car you could dream about racing.
The career part of the game is great ??? you can work your way up from karts. Or you can do what I have done in real life and jump straight into the cars. The big plus for me is seeing the best racing line and when to be on the brakes. I was stunned at how accurate it was, especially when I checked the notes and video that my driving coach ??? British GT4 champion Ross Wylie ??? had given me. For example, at Oulton Park, Ross warned me about the camber coming into Cascades. He said the natural feeling was to go wide then cut the corner, but that would push me wide. He said there was a faster line by coming down a different line because of the camber. And it is in the game.
Having a good understanding of the best lines immediately gives me an advantage when I first drive on the track, as I will know how to hook up the whole circuit and carry speed through the corners without the risk of a real damage bill.
I now have something to work towards. I can find things on and around the track to use as braking references so when I go there, I can see the same markers and confidently brake later than I would have been able to if I was going in blind.
I have not experienced the weather change yet, but that will be another huge plus. If you are doing a race at Silverstone in the game, it will mirror the conditions at the track in real life. This way I can learn dry and wet lines on the tracks I will be on and I will learn how the car will react in different conditions.
Slightly Mad Studios have done a great job to make the car react how I expect it to. I know when there will be understeer in a corner, and the game matches that.
There is an option to do free practice or compete in a race. By doing free practice, it gives me a chance to learn a track without other cars in the way. If I compete in a race, it gives me practice in over-taking. Since I haven???t come from a karting background, my race craft isn???t perfect therefore I can use the game to find the best places to overtake safely and can work on over-taking techniques and find my limits without causing any real damage.
Considering Project CARS is a videogame, it has an amazing amount of detail in every part. It can really help people gain confidence on tracks they haven???t been to before and save costs. Just by using the game I am saving money on getting to the track, getting the car down there and I can be ???on track??? every day with the game. I would highly recommend this game to all racers and karters. I haven???t even scratched the surface of what this game can do, so I will give another progress report in the future.
To find out more about Christie, check out her website and follow her on Twitter.
Project CARS??will be available for the PC, Sony Playstation 4 and Microsoft Xbox One starting March 17 in the United States and March 20 in Europe, coming both as standard edition as well as being available as??Limited Edition with additional goodies & content.
Project CARS will be sold both as boxed copies available at your favorite retailers as well as via digital distribution on Steam.??More info can be found on the Project CARS website.
The Steam version of Project CARS can be??pre-purchased here, boxed copies are??available here.
