The best racing drivers in the world don’t just rely on track time — they train with precision tools that help them understand every nuance of the car. One of those tools is the racing simulator. Whether you’re a weekend racer or an aspiring pro, simulator training can dramatically accelerate your development.
Here are five steps to becoming a better racing driver using a racing simulator — and how you can make every virtual lap count.
1. Build Real Driving Fundamentals
A simulator allows you to focus purely on technique — without the noise, risk, or cost of a real circuit. Start by mastering braking points, throttle modulation, and steering input. Because the environment is repeatable, you can isolate weaknesses and refine your lines with absolute consistency.
Many professional drivers use motion simulators to replicate the feel of real-world grip and weight transfer, giving them the feedback needed to improve car control at the limit.
2. Train Your Muscle Memory
Fast driving is instinctive — and instincts are built through repetition. The more you practice braking, turning, and accelerating in a realistic simulator, the more your body learns the rhythm of a car’s dynamics.
A full-motion simulator enhances this further by letting you feel every slide, bump, elevation, and braking force. Over time, this muscle memory becomes second nature, allowing you to react faster and more precisely when racing for real — so you can focus fully on the race itself, rather than thinking through every step of driving.
3. Analyze your driving
Racing simulators give you instant access to telemetry — something that, in the real world, would require expensive equipment. Use it to study your lap times, steering angles, and throttle traces.
Compare your data from different sessions or tracks. Look for where you’re losing tenths. These small improvements, repeated consistently, make the difference between being quick and being truly fast.
Tip for beginners: study your braking technique — especially trail braking, which means gradually releasing the brake as you turn into a corner. It helps transfer weight to the front tires, increasing grip and allowing smoother, faster corner entry.
4. Train Mental Focus and Racecraft
Simulators aren’t just about driving technique — they’re also about mental performance. Use them to simulate qualifying pressure, long race stints, or challenging weather conditions.
Train your mental ability to stay calm, consistent, and precise even when fatigue or frustration sets in. Visualization, controlled breathing, and mental repetition all help you perform better under pressure — both on the simulator and on track.
5. Build the Physique to Handle the Forces
Realistic force feedback and motion systems can make a long simulator session surprisingly physical. A premium motion rig like a Racemore GT600C simulator delivers such strong and accurate feedback that most new drivers end up soaking wet after a 30-minute session — especially as they tense up to fight the forces.
With experience, you’ll learn to relax and let the body move naturally with the simulator. Over time, you’ll develop the same muscles used in real racing — your core, shoulders, neck, and forearms. This not only makes you a better virtual driver, but a fitter, more focused real-world racer.
Final Thoughts
Simulator training is no longer a shortcut — it’s the standard for serious drivers. By combining motion technology, data analysis, and physical endurance, a racing simulator becomes a complete driver development tool. Something our customer Mat Armstrong did recently when he took the challenge from only having simulator experience to race a real Porsche Carrera cup car.