Skip ahead if you must… Here’s the highlights from this episode you might be most interested in and their corresponding time stamps.

• 00:00 Introduction to Screen to Speed
• 00:53 Meet Sarah Hawkie: Co-Founder of Nighthawk Racing
• 01:13 Sarah’s Journey into Supercar Coaching
• 02:11 From Sim Racing to Real Tracks
• 08:31 The Birth of Nighthawk Racing
• 12:59 Challenges and Triumphs in Sim Racing
• 18:16 The Female Experience in Sim Racing
• 25:33 Comparing Sim Racing to Real Life
• 28:52 Future Aspirations in Racing
• 30:20 Balancing Dreams and Reality in Racing
• 31:10 Encouraging More Women in Racing
• 31:30 The Role of Online Platforms in Sim Racing
• 36:55 Starting a Podcast During Lockdown
• 37:57 Building a Community Through Streaming
• 43:33 Involvement with Razor and Comms
• 51:04 The Car Community in the UK
• 59:42 Advice for Women Entering Racing
• 01:02:56 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Crew Chief Brad: [00:00:00] Welcome to Screen to Speed powered by INIT Esports. In this podcast, we dive into the journeys of remarkable individuals, making waves in sim racing and bridging the virtual with the real. From the thrill of digital circuits to the roar of real life racetracks, we explore the passion, Dedication and innovation that drives the world of motor sports.

We’ll hear from athletes, creators, and pioneers sharing their stories, insights, and the powerful ways sim racing is connecting communities and creating pathways into motorsports. So buckle up. Screen to speed starts now.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Hi everyone. Welcome to Ineed Talks. Welcome everybody. Happy to see you here. We got, uh, today, Saira Hawkey. Uh, she is a co founder of, uh, Nighthawk Racing and also a podcaster. For first, we’re going [00:01:00] to talk about sim racing, racing, and he is also, uh, she’s also the, um, uh, supercar coach. Uh, so let’s start.

Saira, welcome. Happy to see you here. Thank you. Thank you very much for

Sarah Hawkie: having me.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah. Uh, so let’s start, uh, talk about your job and, uh, how you get into coaching, how you get into like the supercar coaching. So let’s start from this.

Sarah Hawkie: Yeah, okay, cool. So, um Happens up just before I got that job. I uh got invited by porsche gb to go to brands hatch to test I think at the time it was four brand new porsches.

Obviously, there’d be a couple years old now Um, but I got kind of got picked out of 12. I don’t know if anyone knows of esme hawkey She used to race in the porsche 9 11. Um Kind of cup and she held like a competition where I think 12 uh, women got invited to do this We Drive event, um, and lucky enough as one of the [00:02:00] 12 that got picked.

I don’t know how, but I was very lucky and um, obviously I was very thankful for that opportunity because before that I’d never really kind of done any on track driving. I’m used to doing like sim driving and sim racing, but that was kind of my first. on track experience and, uh, obviously to drive Porsches was quite a, a jump from going nothing to doing driving the Porsches around my, uh, my favorite track.

But, uh, after that I had, well, my parents actually bought me, um, an experience day package for my 21st birthday. And at the time I think it was to drive another Porsche, uh, an Aston Martin, a Nissan GTR. And I can’t quite remember the last one, but, um, I had that experience and at the end of the day, um, I don’t know if it’s obviously because a couple of days before I had coaching myself and I must have kind of, I guess it kind of ingrained in me.

They, um, offered me the job, um, at the time I was about to finish a uni degree. So I was [00:03:00] at that kind of point in my life where I was like, I want to take the next jump. into, you know, a career. It just so happened that that came at the right time, because I was wondering what should I do? I was at that stage of life where I was like, I wasn’t quite sure if I wanted to use my degree in something, because I did sport and exercise science, and I was do I carry on?

Do I go for a job? Uh, and this was kind of the perfect opportunity because it was self employed. I could kind of choose my own hours, choose what tracks that I worked at. So, um, I now obviously work with a couple of companies, um, but it’s a very cool job and trying to explain it to someone else is always the hardest bit because when you say I’m a super cool instructor, they’re like, Whoa, what’s that?

Um, I try and say that obviously I’m the person sat next to the person driving, you know, talking through breaking points, when to accelerate, trying to learn, we’re trying to teach them basic kind of track terms like apexes, [00:04:00] um, obviously, when to Put the front one, like I say, when to brake, trying to show them parts of the track, um, where, you know, I would brake And lap by lap trying to push them a little bit more so, you know, they feel comfortable in themselves driving these, you know really fast cars, but also Um, they get the experience of a lifetime like I did when I was sat in the driving seat Um, so I try and give them, you know a good experience Also, like I say, at the end of the day, not many people get those opportunities to drive those really fast cars.

So I really want to, you know, make sure that they have fun and they would come back and do it again. Um, so I was very lucky to get an opportunity, like I say, um, and it was like the perfect time in my life. But that’s how I fell into the supercar stuff and I’ve been doing that for about two years now.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: This is awesome. You know, I worked also as a super car instructor. So we, uh, I was, uh, um, like on my own also. Uh, so we had some [00:05:00] sessions on the racing track with a Porsche Carrera. So I had a really beautiful girl was nine 11 and, uh, been doing, uh, some track days with her. Uh, so. This, uh, this thing is kind of popular, so if people doesn’t know about this, uh, so now they got, uh, some information that, uh, people work in, uh, as you said, uh, to give, uh, good emotions of driving the car and, uh, great experience on the track.

Um, what actually sparked your passion to motorsport? Like, uh, that happened before twenty, uh, one year old, uh, so maybe in childhood?

Sarah Hawkie: Yeah, I’ve always, I’ve always been car mad as I call it. Whenever I start talking about cars, I can never really shut up because I’m, I’m always talking about it and the job definitely helps because I can kind of talk about it for as long as I want.

Um, but from when I was young, my parents, um, obviously when I learned to drive, I was very passionate about trying to get on the roads as quick as I could. Just because I’ve always had that [00:06:00] kind of. drive and passion that I want to pass as soon as I can. So when I turned 17, I was like, yep, booking the test, going for that.

And luckily I passed that first time. So I didn’t have to wait too long, but, um, I also set up a car online club. And that was obviously during, mostly during the pandemic when, you know, the world just shut down, I created that so that it. With a friend, um to bring like like minded car people together Because obviously you went through a time in the world where everything just shut down car meets stopped Um, you couldn’t go out and see your friends So I kind of created this online community so that you know people are feeling lonely, but um, they could talk to People maybe with similar cars or the same passion and I found that really brought people closer together.

Um, but yeah, I’ve always been into cars and racing. I’m always watching. I’m always trying to go to local tracks. My local track is Brands Hatch. So [00:07:00] even when I was little, I was like, I want to go to, it doesn’t matter what’s on track. I just wanted to go there, kind of feel that environment. And that’s, I’ve always enjoyed that.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: That’s awesome that you’re living next to the Brands Hatch, uh, absolutely legendary track and, uh, in my opinion, one of the best, uh, which, which we, which we got because of the, this, uh, high and down changes, uh, absolutely incredible on this track. Um, so how’s actually, uh, transition from, like, you, you did a lot of, uh, in real life.

Yeah. And, uh, how did you dive into sim racing?

Sarah Hawkie: Um, probably like everyone else, it’s kind of that, um, when you’re at home, you know, you want to kind of carry on doing what you love, which is driving. And that’s kind of the next best thing, or in my opinion, one of the best things to, you know, when you’re not on track, you’ve got this set up at home that you can practice whenever you want.

Um, that really, that sim racing [00:08:00] passion probably, um, sparked mostly when I was Was in lockdown because I think like everyone else is like, what do I do? Um, and that’s when I really kind of invested a little bit more time into it before that It was kind of just playing with friends Like I said, just playing a few games here and there.

Um, I started on I think gt sport Um, that was kind of my first experience of you know competitiveness racing sim racing Um, I haven’t quite gone up to iRacing yet. I don’t have the whole the setups and stuff But that’s in the future. I’d like to give that a go as well Um, but yeah, i’d say that although lockdown was a very difficult time for the world That’s where I kind of like homed in on sim racing and really wanted to try and give it a go And recently obviously, um I’d say in the last year or so, I set up Nighthawk Racing with a friend to kind of, again, bring, you know, like minded people together in a community where we’re all playing this one game.

We all kind of met through GT7 and GT [00:09:00] Sport, so it just brought us a lot closer as a a friendship group, but also now we’re four seasons in, and um, we’ve, season on season, we’re learning things, we’re changing things, and we’re getting more and more people in, because obviously, GT, when you’re on consoles, it’s kind of that entry level, so it’s a good kind of, place for everyone to kind of begin their journeys as well.

Um, so like I said, that’s where I began my journey with sim racing.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: This is awesome. Yeah, I think that many people started sim racing during pandemic times because just racing tracks didn’t work and many in real life drivers also jump in here and actually So many people discover that, oh, we got some racing, we got like a racing and, you know, some other, uh, simulators as well, like, uh, Gran Turismo.

I think Gran Turismo is really good, uh, entry level for many people because, uh, not everybody got, uh, PCs and they just, uh. You know, can buy a [00:10:00] PlayStation and, uh, play it right from the start, and yeah, that’s a great opportunity, definitely. Um, so how did you start your own, uh, team in, uh, Gran Turismo? How did that happen, and, uh, like, how many people you got right now here?

Sarah Hawkie: Yeah, um, like I say, when GT Sport was my kind of first experience of the GT franchise and I was lucky enough to meet really good friends from it. Um, which obviously my co founder, uh, I call him Midnight, but his real name is Luke. Um, but it’s always that thing when you know someone’s online kind of name, you always refer him to as that.

But, um, we just sat down one day and thought, what can we do to kind of help people that we need? We’re in our position, which is like you want to race with friends, but you also want to be competitive You might not want to do kind of the daily races. Um, you want to kind of start, you know Learning with people and then you might venture into a little bit more kind of other leagues or the dailies Like I say, um, and we [00:11:00] sat down we kind of uh planned Our first season.

It was a learning curve season one because obviously we’d never we’ve been in loads of leagues before but we never held one ourselves So it’s kind of what do people expect from us? What do we expect from people? Obviously we learned a lot for during that season one. Um, and Yeah, like I say, the reason we set up was to bring everyone together, um, through people that we’ve met in other leagues.

Um, obviously I did the, in eSports, the, I think the Winter Cup last year, um, where I raced along kind of Sharon, Sophie, Yvonne, and that was a great experience. And it’s, again, you bring people that you know from other leagues and stuff, uh, together, and it’s a learning, uh, kind of, environment for people that might want tips, tricks.

We have training videos. Pedro, one of our training admin, he likes to really kind of film [00:12:00] the videos where he’s training people on certain tracks, showing them where, you know, um, breaking points are, apexes are, where to accelerate. And people really kind of find that helpful when they’re trying to learn a track on the game, because it can be quite a difficult game to try and get used to, if you’re not, you know, used to.

How the gt7 physics work sometimes it can be in your favor or sometimes they’re really tricky. Um, so It’s just about kind of helping people learn, also having fun and a bit of competitive racing at the same time.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, that’s awesome that you’re doing this, uh, investment from your site to community of Gran Turismo.

Um, I think that’s a good thing about simracing also that when you come in as a newbie here, uh, you got like a bunch of videos on YouTube, you got good, uh, leaks, good, uh Uh, like, uh, teams, uh, which you can join. And, uh, that’s definitely help, uh, sim racing grow at the same time. Um, [00:13:00] so can you tell me what was the biggest challenge, uh, when you started sim racing?

Sarah Hawkie: Um, I’d say for me, it’s the consistency because one lap I’ll be, you know, I’ll feel amazing. I feel like I’ve done a really good lap time and then the next something else will just happen. And I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know where I am on track and I kind of all lose it in that one corner. And for me, I’ve been trying my best to try and, you know, improve that consistency.

And I think it’s the hardest thing because One lap pace, obviously, for qualifying is quite helpful, but when you’re doing a long race, like an hour long, you’ve really got to kind of improve that consistency if you want to fight with the people at the top. And that’s the thing that I think is the most difficult bit for me at the minute, is trying to set that consistent kind of base for me.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Mm hmm. Yeah, consistency is really hard to Uh, to reach, especially when you’re just starting, and, uh, with a [00:14:00] new car, so you need more time to adapt, to also, uh, like, get used to the car, to the track, uh, so fully understand you. Uh, what is your favorite combo in Gran Turismo? Like, what do you like, uh, drive the most here?

Sarah Hawkie: Probably the group 3 cars, um, that’s the one I’ve probably got the most experience in. Um, I’m a little bit biased. I like driving the Porsche because in real life, that’s one of my favorite cars as well. And obviously, I kind of relate that thing back to Brands Hatch and driving real life Porsches. It, I say the games don’t do Brands Hatch justice because I always say to anybody that I meet, Brands hatch is a lot better in real life.

You can, like you said earlier, you feel kind of the undulations when you go down Paddock Hill, and I’d recommend anyone to go to Brands hatch in real life. But, um, yeah, I’d probably say Brands hatch and a Porsche is my all time favorite, um, combo, but Um, I like just learning different tracks. Um, currently in the season that we’re doing now, [00:15:00] I’m driving the BMW M6.

It’s very difficult when you get that rear end facing the wrong way. Sometimes I put a little bit too much acceleration down and temporarily I’m facing sidewards. Um, but yeah, I just kind of like that practicing, you know, with friends, friends trying to help each other improve. And that’s what we’re Nighthawk Racing at the moment.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Do you prefer sprint races or endurance races? Like, uh, did you ever, uh, do any endurance races with your team? Maybe

Sarah Hawkie: I’d say personally, I’m a little bit better at sprint races. Like I said earlier, I can kind of with that one lap pace. I might be able to. You know do a sprint race better than a feature or an endurance race I think the longest i’ve done is a couple of hours um But our feature race is an hour long and even that I find kind of hard doing, you know, multiple laps a consistent Uh lap time but um, i’d like to obviously give endurance racing a little bit [00:16:00] more of a Kind of an effort from my side because I’ve always kind of my experience is more sprint races So i’m i’m able to kind of you know getting it Into it quickly because I know obviously you’ve not got enough time in a sprint race to kind of climb up the grid Um, I just I like that kind of quick fast paced racing where the kind of endurance side Obviously, it’s a lot more concentration It’s a lot more like I said improving that consistency and that’s kind of i’m at that Kind of pivotal point where I’m nearly there, but I’m not quite there when it comes to endurance racing

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: All right.

So, uh, I hope that in the future maybe you’re going to do some endurance races, uh, because they are so exciting Because you’re working with a team and it’s always a pleasure Yeah, especially when you You know, maybe racing with your friends or just racing with faster people because you’re learning a lot from them as well.

Uh, so that’s always a great opportunity. Uh, can you tell me what is your current, uh, setup looks like [00:17:00] for some racing? Like what, what will you use in pedals?

Sarah Hawkie: Yeah. Uh, well, I recently bought a, a play seat evolution one. I was on just an office chair with a kind of a wheel and pedal stand. Uh, but I’ve.

Managed to find a secondhand one that was quite local to me and currently I only have a logitech g29 but i’m i’m trying to save up to like a other fanatech or kind of a One of the new kind of logitech or frost master models, but they’re very expensive and And they have to work a lot of events to be able to afford one of them at the minute

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, I think so many people started with, uh, like G27, G29.

I personally started with G27, uh, during pandemic, had only a single screen. Uh, so moved to the D recently. Uh, so yeah, everything in the future, don’t worry about equipment. I think you just have to focus on practice and on races, on your driving skills, first of all, and then think about equipment because even some [00:18:00] pro, some racers, uh, they.

Running with G27, G29, so yeah. Um, I think that, uh, Setup overall not really important, like, it’s important, but, uh, More important, your driving skills, definitely. Um, let’s talk about, uh, how do you feel, like, To be female sim racer in the Gran Turismo community, how they treat you, uh, because, uh, Me as a sim racer in the iRacing, I’m feeling quite comfortable and, uh, community on Twitch really welcome to me.

Well, sometimes you meet some toxic people, but they’re just like one, two people and the rest of the community absolutely amazing and, uh, welcome everybody.

Sarah Hawkie: Yeah, like yourself, I think kind of on Twitch and kind of when you Especially in eSports, obviously, it kind of empowers women and we all kind of stick together in a way.

Um, I’ve always had a [00:19:00] positive experience on Twitch. Uh, not so much on kind of GT7 when you’re racing, you know, random people in the world. I have had the occasional, you know, What are you doing here? Why are you racing? You know the stereo the stereotypical thing that they want to say to a woman like, you know Go and you know, push a pram or something.

I’ve had that before and that was quite shocking. I was like, okay, um, all right but yeah Kind of a stereotypical kind of comments Uh across on the game when they don’t really know obviously the person behind the steering wheel But i’ve got to say on twitch and uh on social media in general. I’ve had quite a positive I guess relationship with it.

Um, but I’d say on the game itself when you’re not with friends and you’re trying to improve just, you know, by doing kind of those daily races or racing random, that’s when it becomes a little bit, um, I’d say a little bit more kind of, I don’t want to say sexist, but in a way, obviously, sometimes when you’re, [00:20:00] say, the only women, the only woman racing in that lobby, then.

It’s almost you put a little bit of a target because they’re like obviously that’s one thing that they’ve noticed and that’s one thing that they can comment on but most of the time they’re not actually commenting on like how I’ve done in a race or like if I if they if I’ve beaten them and you know they don’t say congratulations or anything like that but um all in all I’ve had I’d say More positive kind of experience negative, but you always unfortunately with anything you get that kind of one person that wants to comment But yeah, I’d say positive and negative Yeah, I I don’t like it when those comments appear I kind of try and shrug it off, but sometimes it will get to me a little bit My friends will know on the twitch side whenever I’ve been Kind of streaming and one of those comments have come up.

I’ve tried to ignore it not going to give it the attention But yeah, I try and shrug it under the carpet because I I don’t [00:21:00] feel like in this day and age Especially they need to comment about that. Uh, it’s more obviously if they said I was a really bad driver then I’d I’d be like, okay, uh, i’ll try better but when they kind of bring, you know that you’re a woman Uh in this I don’t think it’s really deserved in that respect

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, you know, some people just, uh, don’t change, so, uh, you just, uh, you know, like, uh, have to accept, like, uh, they exist here, and, uh, sometimes they are part of the communities, like in shooters and gaming and sim racing as well, um, the funnest thing which happened with me in iRacing, uh, I was driving ovals, and, uh, ovals, uh, a little bit more, uh, You know, like, who’s powerful man and all this stuff.

Uh, so not a lot of girls driving here, uh, compared to road races. And, uh, they just, uh, started to laugh that, uh, I’m a 12 years old, uh, uh, kid, a boy. [00:22:00] And I, I said to, to them, like, I’m a girl and they like, Oh, I’m sorry. And you know, just. It was really funny. Uh, so yeah, you know, most of the time, uh, community really friendly and, uh, people supporting you, people, uh, so happy for you, uh, for wins and, uh, for good races and trying to support you when you got, uh, like some crashes and bad racing.

Um, do you see that, uh, actually some racing community changed for the years, like you started during pandemic and, uh, how do you see a community right now? So maybe they have. Like more friendly to girls, uh, also for this times.

Sarah Hawkie: Yeah, I think that’s a good question. I think when I started, it was kind of that initial, like.

It was probably more apparent back then, uh, the comments of, like, being a woman and racing and, like, what are you doing? But through the years, I think it’s got, it’s got better. There’s less comments and less comments. It’s kind of like you say, more about kind of empowering, you know, women, uh, sim [00:23:00] racing in motorsport.

Especially, obviously, these days, you’ve got kind of more, kind of, uh, I’ll call them influencers, but role models in motorsport and sim racing that you can look up to that are women. Um, obviously. I’d say kind of more than a few years ago There wasn’t those role models that people could kind of look up to but i’d say now There’s definitely a lot more kind of female role models in the you know, the sim racing and motorsport World and that’s why I think obviously more there’s less and less comments and kind of more like I say people supporting each other um, I did have a Going into real life.

I did have a funny experience that I just remembered when I was supercar instructing Where I was um Instructing this man. He was, I think, he was a little bit older. I’d say probably 60 to 70 age range and we were behind another car. And normally at that point otherwise I’d kind of review how, you know, fast [00:24:00] they’re going.

If we got enough room to overtake because on some of the tracks they put kind of man made chicanes where you’ve got to try and, you know. Get the customers through safely. It tests their driving skills a little bit when you’ve got kind of more the I’d say an easier track Um, but we were around Lydden Hill, which is kind of like a rallying track here, uh in the UK Um, we’re behind another car.

We’re following it for about a lap Because they weren’t giving us enough space to overtake. So I was just saying, you know, off a little bit off the accelerator, we’ll keep behind them and then we’ll overtake on the next straight. And I think he completely forgot in his head, but he said, Oh, women drivers.

And I just looked at him. It was like, okay, he looked at me. And I think he realized he was like, Oh, I’m really sorry. That wasn’t meant to you. I was like, okay, that better not have been because he was going quite fast at that point. I didn’t need to really give him any kind of tuition, a little bit.

Because obviously people that age, they think [00:25:00] they can drive amazingly when most of the time they’ve picked up bad habits. So I was trying to kind of comment on those bad habits. But yeah, I found that funny because it was that kind of moment of realisation when he looked at me and he was like I’m really sorry that I said that.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Well, that’s the best moment which could happen, actually.

Sarah Hawkie: Yeah, I laugh about it to this day, because I don’t think he meant it, but obviously he had that initial thought, and I was like, oh, okay.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, that’s a really funny moment which you had. Also, how do you compare the sim racing to real life? Uh, as you drove cars in real life and in Gran Turismo.

So, uh, what do you think, uh, how close in racing to real life, uh, racing experience?

Sarah Hawkie: Um, I’d probably say a little bit if I was on more kind of ACC or I racing a little bit more than the. It’s more kind of realistic, I think, those games in [00:26:00] general. I think, obviously, GT7 kind of borders that sim racing slash arcade game.

Because, obviously, it’s not, probably, it’s not one of the most realistic ones out there. But, especially, you know, for tracks that I’ve never been to before, if they’re on the game, then I will give it, you know, more attention. I will go for a few laps, kind of, or watch, like, say, some YouTube videos of other people driving around that track in a game to kind of gauge.

where people break or where people kind of find that speed. Um, I think it helps in that respect when, like I say, when I’ve not been to a track or driven it myself, I will give it kind of a five, ten minutes trying to, trying to learn it. Um, but I’d probably say for me, I think ACC and iRacing are kind of the games on the market or the sim racing games on the market that really have that kind of more realistic feel and probably, uh, would kind of translate to More speed in real life.

Obviously you’ve got the max staffs, the landowner, Norris. Mm-hmm . You know, um, [00:27:00] driving on I racing when they’re not, you know, traveling around the world with F1. And obviously I think they find it helpful to kind of keep that competitive edge when they’re not racing. Mm-hmm .

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, and I absolutely agree with you.

So, I mean, racing and I race, uh, some open wheelers, uh, before, uh, definitely can tell that, uh, form four is really close to what, uh. You feel in real life, uh, in terms like force feedback and how a car also feels on track. I can’t tell about the other cars because I didn’t drive them in real life, but I really like Porsche Cup in iRacing.

It’s so cool to drive. Um, so yeah, I hope you’re going to get the opportunity in the future to jump into iRacing, jump maybe into ACC and AC Evo. Kind of interesting as well in terms of, uh, how car feels on a track and, uh, feedback as well. So I really like it, uh, personally. Um, don’t know if you tried it, [00:28:00] uh, but it looks, uh, really promising right now, even on, uh, started.

the start of the early access.

Sarah Hawkie: Yeah, I’ve not tried the Evo. I’ve tried ACC before. Um, but like, yeah, I’ve kind of been interested in watching, you know, other people play Evo and kind of, it looks pretty interesting, like you say, and hopefully I get the chance to have a, an experience on it soon. I think, obviously, I’ve got a lot of wish lists.

You know items on my wishlist like a pc kind of a more built up rig Um, that’s kind of my goals i’m trying to work towards because I do want to make that kind of transition from you know console gaming to you know Proper sim racing and kind of more, I’d say more time that I could set aside to practice and kind of, um, try and expand my, my skills on that a little bit more.

Um, as well, obviously real life, I want to try and go for my race license, hopefully this year. Um, if not next year, cause I want to [00:29:00] make that jump from kind of supercar instructing to then instructing kind of inspiring or trying to inspire, um, you know, the next generation of racing drivers. Yeah. Um, and that’s what I try, I’m trying to make my job into.

It’s very hard trying to make that transition from kind of a self employed supercar driving instructor to then, you know, trying to teach racing drivers, um, you know, in, in different cars. That’s, that’s where I want to be, but that’s quite far away from me at the minute.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: So I understand you want to be also like racing drivers instructor, yes, or do you want to maybe race in real life some series like in I think in UK you got a lot of racing series which are absolutely great and competitive as well

Sarah Hawkie: Yeah, I would, I would never say no to having an opportunity to race.

I think I want to make that transition, um, [00:30:00] at some point, give racing a go and kind of support like the instructing and instructing race drivers. on the side. Um, but it’s just, um, budgeting and sponsorships at the minute. I’m not, I need to learn a little bit more about that and kind of like how to approach, uh, sponsorships, um, if I want to kind of make a real go for it.

Um, that’s the bit that at the moment I’m kind of finding the hardest is obviously driving. If you’ve got a lot of driving skills, that’s one thing, but obviously you’ve got then think of it as kind of more of a business opportunity. For yourself and the companies that you’re trying to approach and I’m trying to make you know Trying to learn that a bit at the minute But I like I say I would never say no to to racing in real life and at some point Hopefully, um, i’d like to lose a little bit of weight before that as well because obviously I want to put myself in kind of the best position possible Uh, while I have the opportunity.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, that’s awesome that I got, uh, these dreams and, [00:31:00] uh, actually got a good plan, uh, to reach all this. Uh, hopefully you’ll get racing, uh, license in the future. Yeah. Um, what do you think? How, uh, can we encourage, uh, more girls, uh, to To jump into some racing and, uh, racing as well, um, like, you know, we all trying definitely like I’m doing streaming and, uh, just people coming and they’re like, oh, like girls racing.

Yeah. Uh, so what’s, uh, can be done in your opinion?

Sarah Hawkie: Yeah, I agree with you kind of being a On online platforms, especially these days, obviously everyone’s kind of got a mobile phone or a laptop or a tablet if they’re seeing, you know females in this industry And you know, they’re sitting behind the screens thinking well, I might want to do that myself obviously kind of people like, you know ourselves in e sports, obviously They can contact them if they’re at that point where they’re not quite sure which route to go down What they don’t know what to you know, sim [00:32:00] racing equipment to buy or something like that Or if they, they really want to give it a go, they’ve got people like ourselves that they can just have a, you know, a chill chat with and say, um, I want to maybe give this a go.

What should I do? What do you recommend? Because obviously we’ve all kind of got our, our things, our mistakes that maybe when we started out, we would do differently. And obviously saying that to someone, you could say, I did it this way. But on the road I found I had, you know, a couple of mistakes. I would recommend maybe going for this first um, because I know myself obviously like um, Like I said earlier, obviously i’m quite I say entry level sim racing at the minute But i’d say, you know, it’s a great place to start You’ll build a lot of friendships um, and you’ll kind of get that community feel and then when you’re ready to make that jump and you feel like You want to make that jump into kind of more professional sim racing like iRacing ACC, um, obviously the different kind of championships, like I know Porsche, [00:33:00] they have a big, uh, iRacing, uh, Porsche Cup, obviously, um, where you can actually win, you know, real money out of it as well.

Um, and obviously that’s kind of, to someone that’s behind a screen and they’re not kind of sure which way to go down, that might be something that they want to try in the future. Um, I’d say doing a lot of research I think has helped as well, because, like I say, when I first started out. I think it was that point where a lot of other girls were trying to get into it as well.

Um, and I think Innit Esports you know, um, valuable place. They’re empowering women and to see that, obviously, from where I started, like I said earlier, where a few comments were said here and there, where Innit Esports, you know, really kind of empower women. You know, we’re talking about issues. We’re talking about You know recommendations and stuff like that for people that want to get into those kind of, you know Real life racing or sim racing.

So I think we’re on the right [00:34:00] step. Um And, like I say, I’d hope with some of the things, some of the experiences I had, I could help someone else. Because, you don’t kind of see a lot of women making that jump, um, to sim racing from, from sim racing to, like, In real life racing. I’ve seen a lot more recently make kind of that big jump Um, but it’s just the kind of the sponsorships the money aspect I always thought that you know, maybe it’s a silly part of my brain where I thought oh, you know sim racing is Not cheap, but it’s like, it’s kind of easy to access.

And whenever I tripped at the first hurdle, shall we say, I was like, Oh, you know, I’ll get my race license. I’m gonna go and try and compete in something. Then it was like, Oh, my race license is this much. You know, the track experience is this much. And you’ve got to kind of add all of them up. And it is a very expensive kind of, um, career to go down.

[00:35:00] And obviously the first couple of years when you’re trying out, there will be kind of a lot of expenses, a lot of learning, um, Yeah, I’d say just help someone else. It would just be kind of being online, being honest about it as well, um, and giving recommendations where possible. And just being there, you know, if they’ve got any struggles or any questions that they want to ask, being kind of that person that they can ask and you can give that honest feedback to them.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, as you said, uh, Enita sports, uh, doing real good stuff for women, uh, in sim racing and, uh, in, in racing as well. Uh, so we got, uh, good, uh, championships and, uh, on different platforms. And, uh, here’s a good community with, uh, with girls and, uh, good people overall. And I think that sim racing is a good base, uh, to start with.

Uh, as you said, it’s, uh, like more open. It’s, uh, in my opinion, more. Uh, compared to real life racing for sure, because [00:36:00] real life racing, uh, so expensive to get in and, uh, you definitely need a big budget on the start just to spend on practice sessions and to get into consistent lap times and, uh, do all this stuff.

And I’m pretty sure that social media can help, uh, because when I did, uh, formulas I had on the Instagram and I. Had no clue about streaming and all this stuff. Um, and right now I see that, uh, streaming gave me a lot of, um, good contacts and, uh, good people, uh, supporting me, uh, free my way in simracing content creation, and that’s a good thing.

So on like on Twitch, on YouTube, you can find a good community and, uh, audience and as well, uh, people who can be interested. in you and probably push you from sim racing to real life racing in the future. So yeah, and speaking about streaming and [00:37:00] especially podcasting, we got podcasts here. How did you start this?

And can you tell me more about your podcast first? What is it about?

Sarah Hawkie: Yeah, of course. Um, I was gonna go back to the lockdown again. That’s when I really kind of Explored a little bit more about it on Twitch because obviously we had a lot of time to kind of sit around and play games or, you know, sim racing and I thought Oh, what’s Twitch?

What is it all about? Uh, I’ve kind of heard people talking about it. I’ve never really, I never really went on it or watched much of it. But when I did, I was kind of, it opened up a whole nother kind of world of social media where, you know, you’re, you’re live streaming, you’re having people talk to you, and at the same time, you know, you’re not talking to them face to face, but you feel like you’re talking to them face to face on a stream.

Because uh, you’ve got kind of those supportive people that are watching you, you know They’re asking you questions. They’re kind of rooting for you when you’re racing or you’re [00:38:00] playing a game So through streaming i’ve made quite a lot of friendships I’d say quite a lot of my best friends are people that i’ve met through twitch, which obviously i’m very grateful for for that Um, but I I think I started off actually Not playing a racing game just playing some random kind of Um, kind of Call of Duty, stuff like that, and then I found GT Sport, um, and then I went on to GT7, and that’s when, at the time, I explored a little bit more, kind of, sim racing games, or kind of, arcade y games, um, and Yeah, I then found out there’s a kind of a really big community when it comes to, you know, uh, GT Sport and GT7 in particular.

And, um, again, when I started doing that, um, I got obviously, like I said earlier, a few people were just like, you know, not much to do about it. But when I found that kind of supportive base and my supportive friends. I really tried to give streaming [00:39:00] a lot more attention and Um, I started a kind of a podcast with my friend Who’s also the friend that I set up nighthawk racing with where we just simply watch the formula one talk about it a little bit Um, as we’re watching it and kind of give our, you know, thoughts and feelings, our opinions and obviously at the same time, we’d have people talking to us about, you know, their favorite drivers, their favorite circuits, and we noticed that people kind of like that interaction when they’re watching, you know, their favorite sport, we’re watching our favorite sport.

You get kind of a passionate people kind of speaking about their favorite subjects. You can sometimes obviously you can ignite a little bit of debate when it comes to when you say something about a driver and they might not agree or they might agree with you but give a slightly different opinion.

Obviously there’s a lot of debate that goes back and forwards. Um, We haven’t done that last year because of the supercar stuff. It’s very based on like a Friday, Saturday, Sunday, [00:40:00] so unfortunately last year we couldn’t do as much. Um, but nowadays we’re kind of, we’re always talking about, you know, motorsport in general and, um, we kind of transitioned from The podcast into more of the championship stuff, but I’d like to kind of give it a go at some point and I haven’t streamed for about, I’d say two to three months now.

I had a little bit of kind of a health scare, but last year I, um, got anemic and I didn’t feel very well and kind of, I lost that confidence. I’d like to kind of build it up again, uh, as I’m feeling a little bit better now, but, um, yeah, I miss streaming. I will get back to it at some point, like I say, um, But I found out that actually playing alongside my mum We play gt, uh gta, which is obviously gta is kind of like a A character that goes around you can do different missions and stuff like that And because obviously she gamed on [00:41:00] previous kind of playstations bringing her back to the Like the ps5 showing her the controls people find that quite funny because obviously you’re watching my mom try and explore a game She might not know the controls.

So i’m sat next to her going do this. The person’s right in front of you quick, you know um, and sometimes it’s quite funny when you you know, she accidentally, you know gets the wrong person or Um something like that. I found that quite funny But like I say I haven’t streamed for quite a few months, but I will go back to it

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, that would be awesome to see you back online, definitely.

Uh, yeah, streaming can be hard, so you need that confidence, and sometimes you can be a little bit shy. So when I started streaming, I was, like, a little bit shy, close. Uh, but right now I’m feeling, like, comfortable and confident. But every time, you know, when you’re starting the first stream after a little break, like, you had two, three days off, you’re, like, streaming, uh, starting from the scratch, like, you’re getting nervous a little bit.

So yeah, that definitely can be a thing. [00:42:00] And, uh, that’s cool that your mom actually sharing your passion to some racing and also, uh, trying it together with you. That’s awesome.

Sarah Hawkie: I say try, she’s, she’s not, sometimes when I say break, break, break, she’ll press the wrong, the wrong pedal and she’ll end up flying into a bar or something, but it’s quite funny watching her do it.

But, um, yeah, I think like you, I was quite shy when I started and once I kind of found that confidence and the people that were supporting me on the other end of the screen, that’s when I’ve kind of, I kind of delved a little bit more into streaming and I got a little bit more confidence. Um, but like you say, when you take a quite a big break that I have, trying to build up that confidence again when you’ve not done it for quite a while.

Kind of like driving or, you know, motorsport in general, when you’ve not done it for a while and you jump back into it, it’s always that nerve wracking. Am I as good as what I used to be? You know, have I not practiced? Um, so yeah, um, I was a little bit nervous before today, but I kind of just remembered, you know, just calm down, you know.[00:43:00]

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: It’s okay. You know, we all get nervous when we get in online or with the stream with all this stuff and we’re like recording the videos and doing such a stuff. So it’s absolutely fine. Like that’s a part of this. It’s okay. Can you tell me about your Insta community? And also, I know that you’re part of, uh, Ravencom’s team.

Uh, what are you doing in this team? Like, are you a driver? And, uh, actually let’s talk about your plans for this year in Simracing and in content creation as well.

Sarah Hawkie: Yeah, so, uh, Razor and Comms, it’s, John’s the guy behind it, um, he kind of more focuses on providing commentary for racing, um, he usually does, I think, ACC, so that was kind of my first delve into ACC a little bit more when he offered me, uh, kind of a job.

a role alongside him as kind of a co commentator on these races, um, he really taught me a lot about kind of, you know, [00:44:00] talking about people that are racing, what cars they’re driving, you know, talking a little bit more about the things that people don’t realize, trying to convey to people, you know, they may be driving, what, how are they driving, what are they driving like if you see when it’s wet conditions, you see people drive obviously a little bit slower because they’re trying to be a little bit more careful, but.

Trying to be, you know, as fast as they can, trying to, you know, talk to people about different techniques and providing that kind of commentary, but also a driver’s perspective at the same time. Um, and like I say, he, he was very valuable in the kind of teaching me that commentary side, and that’s what I kind of use, uh, for the Nighthawk race, and when we do the commentary for those races, I kind of use a bit of tips and tricks that he taught me.

I haven’t been able to do any commentary with Raven for quite a while, but I recommend anyone. watching Raven. He’s, uh, very passionate about commentary, kind of like, uh, you know, the Moray Walkers and stuff like that. He’s very, very passionate about it. [00:45:00] Um, and intercommunity, um, that’s a slightly different, I said that, well, my friend set it up, uh, during lockdown and then decided to give it to me, and obviously then I took over, but the aim of it, is to what was to and still is to bring kind of people together on Instagram, um, normally about kind of talking about car stuff.

So some people in the car community, especially in the UK, they like to kind of modify the cars a little bit. So you may have someone, you know, with their first car that wants to maybe change the wheels, paint the wheels a different color, put some body kits on it. And obviously. They can ask someone in the community, have you done this?

Did you find, you know, using a certain product better than another one? So it provides that kind of back to back conversation between people. And especially in lockdown, I noticed that it really brought people closer together, because like I said earlier, The world just kind of shut down. [00:46:00] It was a tough time for literally everybody in the world.

We didn’t know kind of what to do. So the the next best thing was to talk online, you know, Skype, FaceTime, trying to see your friends through a screen. Uh, so that’s kind of the What I kind of thought with that is that the car community doesn’t have to die because obviously no one’s Going out with their cars to to meet and talk in person.

We can still do it, but just online Um, so the page kind of started off as people getting to know people showing people Other people their cars, you know giving a personal fact about them Some people don’t always like to give kind of you know a fact about themselves. That’s not car related um, but we try and kind of Show people’s cars and the person behind the driving wheel as I say to get to know both people So we like to kind of do profiles on them.

So you may have I don’t know Someone with a Ford Fiesta you learn a little bit about them because they say oh they do tap dancing [00:47:00] so you can kind of Tapping a little bit more to that non cath fact, get to know the person a little bit more and then that’s obviously when People start to open up a little bit because they feel a little bit more comfortable They’re given, you know a fact about themselves that they don’t normally or wouldn’t normally in a conversation So it again it opens up conversations between people which is often the hardest bit kind of trying to start that conversation.

Sometimes, you know, you might get a frosty reception, but sometimes they kind of warm up to you a little bit, and then they start talking to you about other things, you know, projects with the cars, projects for their, you know, their ongoing. kind of projects that they’ve got going on and yeah, I’ve got some, I’ve got some plans for that.

Um, especially car shows in the UK, kind of car meets has got, I’d say a little bit, I don’t know the right word to say it, but the, it’s not very welcomed as such. Cause obviously you think six people meeting in a car, [00:48:00] an old lady might come by and say that’s antisocial behavior because you know, people are sitting in their cars and they’re all in a group and.

That old lady might think it’s quite, you know, threatening. There are people in their nice cars just sitting together. So it’s kind of, like I said earlier, frosty reception when it comes to cars, especially with older generations. But organized car shows, when you go into like Brands Hatch, it’s a good place.

They always try and Put on car shows for us, you know car enthusiasts Um, and we take our cars to those shows show off our our babies as I call them Because obviously we put a lot of time effort money into kind of cleaning and making our cars look You know the best that they can so other people, you know Take pictures and kind of again start the conversation of I like your car and then you can say I like your car, too Uh, and again, it’s just about building kind of Friends in that community because it can be quite hard, but it can be quite also an isolating world when you’re not sure [00:49:00] where to go Um, so that’s why I try and provide kind of communities in like sim racing or the car world that people if they’re feeling a little bit lonely or they feel like they need kind of a place to meet friends meet people then I try and provide that kind of Place for someone to go to.

About myself, I, I’m at that stage where I’m not quite sure what steps to take next. I’ve got a lot of kind of plans running around in my head and um, you know, stuff written down. But I’d say, at some point I’d, I’d like to go and get that race licence because it opens kind of the key. To the rest of the plans I want to do, but it’s just about kind of learning a bit more about motorsport in general, kind of budgeting, uh, sponsorships, what kind of the first road to go down because.

When you get your race license, obviously, then you’ve, it opens up a whole world of like, what category do you want to race? You know, what’s your [00:50:00] budget? How much sponsorship do you need? Um, then when you want to go for your Arts Instructors course, you have to have completed a certain amount of racing to then go for that course.

At that point, it’s again another outlay of money where you have to go and Kind of find a racing school which can provide that course of becoming an ARDS instructor and then at that point is when you can kind of teach racing drivers or kind of experienced day people the track and obviously you’ve got a qualification behind you that you can say, you know, you know how to race cars, you know how to drive cars, you know how to show people around this, uh, this track, but it’s quite a big jump.

And like I say, um, I think obviously That’s a long way off for me at the moment, but hopefully not too far off, maybe by the end of the year, hopefully.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: All right, uh, so wish you good luck in your future plans, uh, hopefully. Once again, I’m going to tell this, uh, that you’re going to get your racing license and, uh, we’ll, [00:51:00] um, go to one step forward, uh, within racing.

Um, we’d like to know about, uh, car community in, uh, in UK actually, uh, because we’ve been talking about with, uh, other guests. Uh, let it be about, uh, car culture in, uh, Thailand because she visited, uh, Van Gogh recently and, uh, been talking about also car community here in Kazakhstan. So here are people, uh, really, uh, crazy about BMWs and I think JDM culture is really popular as well.

Uh, so what is the most popular, uh, in, in UK for you? Like maybe JDM or BMWs, maybe something else.

Sarah Hawkie: I’d say it’s very similar. Um, the BMWs have got a lot of following over here, kind of that German cars as well, like Volkswagen and, uh, kind of Porsche and those sort of cars. It’s got a big kind of following in the UK.

I’d say also the JDM, you kind of got your different kind of sub [00:52:00] groups of the, the car culture, but it all kind of brings you together. Um, so the, yeah, the JDM culture is quite big here as well. uh, BMWs. I’d say, I hear you’ve kind of got your, kind of, I don’t know what the right group would be cool to call them, but I call them boy racers.

They kind of buy, you know, the um, you know, older cars, kind of mod them up, and you’re hearing from about a mile away because the exhaust is so loud, but um, They kind of buy, kind of, cheaper cars to, to then mod up, um, and that’s why I call them the, the boy racers because they’re always kind of in car parks revving their cars up, um, but yeah, I’d say BMW and JDM, but, um, I’d say it’s usually German versus Jap here, uh, in terms of kind of cars, I’d say they’re equally as big.

Um, but yeah, I, I’m more kind of the German cars myself. I own a Volkswagen, uh, Sirocco R. [00:53:00] So I’m kind of more on the German side, but also I’ve got a lot of friends that, you know, like the the Japanese cars, kind of, um, you know, modding them up. Um, yeah, I’m trying to think of any other cars that are popular here.

I’d say it’s, I’d say it’s similar to kind of, like you said. BMWs and JDMs. They kind of rule the car culture.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, it seems like it’s, uh, like the same trend on all planets. Yeah, kind of like, it’s really funny because, you know, GDM is so crazy. We actually, uh, get a lot of Uh, cars here in Kazakhstan from Japan in like two thousands.

And, uh, here are so many cool projects, uh, which people running like so many Subarus, so many Mark two Toyota’s and, uh, yeah, and BMW, one of the biggest, uh, community we got here. So the gods, you know, really old BMW is modern BMWs and, uh, yeah, that’s really cool. Uh, so what [00:54:00] about, uh, Cars, uh, like Lotus or something else because, uh, you know, when I worked as a, um, racing instructor, uh, we had, uh, good community with, uh, some esprits, uh, they had some elite Lotus Elise and, uh, I think TTSR or something like this.

So they’ve been really crazy about all this, uh, British cars. And I still remember this beautiful Lotus esprit and, uh, you know, Emerald green color. It was really cool.

Sarah Hawkie: Yeah, I’ve got to say they’re pretty cool. You don’t actually see that many kind of lotuses on the roads in the UK anymore. Uh, you see a few and obviously then you really appreciate how, kind of, when you see one.

Because like I said, there’s not many on the roads at the minute. Um, I know, obviously, kind of, Jaguar recently in the the news, especially they kind of went through that Controversy with their new logo, you know, some people really liked it. Some people really hated it um, [00:55:00] obviously they’re kind of waiting for that new car reveal to see if they kind of really love it, but the Kind of the old jags, especially they’re very kind of popular with uh I’d say probably the older generations, because obviously they’re a bit more kind of popular, um, back especially when like my mum and dad, um, grew up.

I think also at the time, um, kind of, I’d say, I’m trying to think of more British brands that, I’d say they’re not as popular over here as what they used to be. But you still kind of appreciate them when you see them, uh, especially kind of like they say the, the TVRs and the Lotuses. I don’t know if it might be just a Britain thing, but I don’t think we appreciate them as much as we probably should.

Uh, we kind of more appreciate, like I said, the BMWs and the JDMs. Um, so yeah, I mean, I, I like the, you know, the old Jags and stuff. Um, but yeah. [00:56:00] We should probably like our own cars a little bit more, but we don’t really, we just kind of, like you say, choose to kind of import cars in or kind of go for different cars.

I don’t know if it’s obviously because our government don’t give them enough funding anymore. Um, especially obviously, I think our government at the moment are trying to bring in more kind of electric cars. So you’ve got different kind of. Car brands trying to start up but they don’t quite get the the funding kind of the support from from our government to really You know make a big dent in the car market.

Mm

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: hmm I understand this. Uh, thanks for correcting me with, uh, TVR. Uh, it’s, uh, you know, it’s really a small manufacturer, actually. And, uh, I saw one car. It was, uh, like, in beautiful purple color. It was really beautiful inside with, uh, aluminum, uh, desk and all this stuff. It was really cool to see. Yeah.

They’re so beautiful. Um, do you have any plans for [00:57:00] your Volkswagen, uh, Scirocco? Like maybe you would like to take a part in some car shows or something like this

Sarah Hawkie: Yeah, I would I would love to definitely take it to some more car shows this year Unfortunately last year with work and stuff whenever they were on a weekend.

I’d always be working and below I can’t go to the the car shows that I love. Um I’m trying to really this year kind of go back into more going to car shows maybe going to some Some race meetings with it. Um I’d like to probably When a few friends want to go but kind of take it over to the Nuremberg ring, kind of go on a really kind of big road trip.

I’ve never been to Wales or Scotland but I’d love to do the, you know, those very kind of beautiful road trips where you step off on the way, get some pictures. Um, I’d say the car itself, I kind of bought it already. Kind of modded to to my taste so it has kind of bigger breaks on it um some body kits bits Probably [00:58:00] more delve into more of the power side eventually, but i’m kind of happy how it is at the minute Um, i’ve probably got a few plans of kind of Trying to mod or trying to change up a little bit of how it looks but um, yeah, I kind of I had a another Volkswagen beforehand a little polo that I bought, you know with nothing on I started from scratch on that one and kind of Modified it.

Um as I went and I really kind of enjoyed that process of you know, putting a splitter on a side skirt, you know a diffuser exhaust and kind of really teaches you how you know, these brands make their cars and how they can Especially, you know, it’s open to adaptation when you buy a car you want to make it to your liking And I really enjoy that kind of process of making it my own Um, i’d say i’m not quite there.

It was just for okay Like I said, I bought it with kind of someone else doing it up and i’m still in that process of making it my own But um, yeah, I love I love [00:59:00] my uh my little wall. Um, I shouldn’t, I probably should drive it a little bit more than I should, but I’ve kind of like, I’ve got to that stage where I just love it so much.

I’m just like, I don’t want to hurt you. Like, I told you to stay there, look pretty.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, you know, it truly is one of my favorite Volkswagen’s ever. And it’s so beautiful, actually really sad that they stopped to Make them, uh, so we don’t have any new models of, uh, Sirocco. It’s really, really sad, uh, but this, uh, like second generation, it looks really beautiful.

I love it personally. So yeah, wish you good luck with your, uh, Volkswagen. So probably we’re going to see you in some car shows as well. Um, So the last one will be what is your advice to girls and to women who would like to dive into some racing and to racing and maybe be a part of the some car shows?

Sarah Hawkie: Yeah, obviously, I’d say that there is [01:00:00] platforms out there that you can kind of reach out and discuss, you know, potential ideas, kind of what you You think you want to get into and like I said earlier some people may give you recommendations as to start with this work up to this Um, and along the way maybe learn about kind of different processes that go on behind the scene um, I definitely I would tell people as well just to to give it a go the I think the worst thing is kind of thinking about it and I know from myself I tend to overthink about things and when I get around to actually doing it It’s not as bad as what I initially thought so i’d always try and recommend someone to just you know just give it a go if it’s not just just dipping your toes in you know a little tester that’s better than not doing it and then at that time you you know if you like or if you don’t um so i’d always say if you want to give something a go just do it um you might be really scared but once you’ve done it it’s not as scary as you think um and that’s what my kind of parents have always taught [01:01:00] me that at least give it a go once you know try your best if you don’t like it after you’ve done it Then you don’t have to do it again.

But if you love it, then you’ll see you then kind of go back to the planning board. You think, all right, how can I do more of this? What do I need to buy? What do I need to learn? So yeah, I’d, I’d say try and find a kind of a community or, you know, some friendships as well that like similar things. So you can always kind of support each other going through that process.

And yeah, just, just give it a go once. And there’s loads of, you know, women out there that want to support each other, want to support, you know, new people coming in, trying to, you know, uplift them, and show you that it’s not as a bad place as what you might have thought of. And like I said earlier, there’s people, especially on the other side of the screen, that hopefully can either be role models or inspire someone to do it.

Uh, and like I said, I think it’s good that there’s a lot [01:02:00] more kind of women, especially in real motorsport, like kind of the F1 Academy, um, the Iron Dames especially, they’re kind of ones that I think, well, if they can do it, well, other people can do it, like myself, um, It’s just obviously that jump and sometimes you just have to make that jump to realize that it’s something you really love doing and that you wanna continue doing.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, that’s, uh, great advice from your side. Like, just give it a go. And if you don’t like it, you can stop, uh, like some racing or uh, racing and, uh, maybe if you like it, you can continue and you always, uh, can find people who’s going to support you. We’ve got a bunch of communities, uh, a lot of different like social medias.

And, um, also I think people can follow Ineedisports and, uh, jump into some screen to speed races, uh, on different platforms as well. So, yeah. And, uh, Sarah, thank you so much for talking with me. It was a [01:03:00] pleasure. Uh, you’re amazing. We wish you good luck to your future with some racing and racing. Uh, and, uh, thank you so much guys for watching.

Sarah Hawkie: Thank you so much for having me and uh, yeah, you’re amazing too. Thank you. Bye bye guys.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: See you.

Crew Chief Brad: eSports is a woman-led company where diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility is in their DNA and their platform aims to combat bullying and cheating to help make the eSports world as safe and fair as possible. To learn more, be sure to log onto www.initesports.gg or follow them on social media at [01:04:00] in it eSports.

Join their discord, check out their YouTube channel. Or follow their live content via Switch.

Crew Chief Eric: This episode has been brought to you by Grand Touring Motorsports as part of our Motoring podcast network. For more episodes like this, tune in each week for more exciting and educational content from organizations like The Exotic Car Marketplace, the Motoring Historian, break Fix, and many others.

If you’d like to support Grand Touring Motor Motorsports and the Motoring Podcast Network, sign up for one of our many sponsorship tiers at www.patreon.com/gt Motorsports. Please note that the content, opinions, and materials presented and expressed in this episode are those of its creator, and this episode has been published with their consent.

If you have any inquiries about this program, please contact the creators of this episode via email or social media as mentioned in the [01:05:00] episode.

Skip ahead if you must… Here’s the highlights from this episode you might be most interested in and their corresponding time stamps.

• 00:00 Introduction to Screen to Speed
• 00:49 Welcome to Neat Talks
• 01:09 Daytona 24 Race Recap: Nina’s Experience
• 02:47 Daytona 24 Race Recap: Esmeralda’s Experience
• 04:05 Challenges and Incidents During the Race
• 12:38 Managing Traffic and Race Strategy
• 17:15 Team Dynamics and Learning Experiences
• 20:11 Pit Lane Dramas and Funny Moments
• 26:49 Preparation and Setup for the Race
• 29:28 Adjusting to the New Tire Update
• 30:11 Setup Preferences and Team Dynamics
• 31:44 Future Plans with Dream Team
• 33:38 Discussing Sebring and Spa Events
• 35:00 Exploring Car Preferences and Driving Styles
• 35:37 GTP vs. LMP2: Pros and Cons
• 38:44 Endurance Racing Strategies
• 42:31 First Impressions of AC Evo
• 53:57 Plans for 2025 and Beyond
• 01:02:35 Closing Remarks and Thank You

Crew Chief Eric: [00:00:00] Welcome to Screen to Speed powered by INIT Esports. In this podcast, we dive into the journeys of remarkable individuals, making waves in sim racing and bridging the virtual with the real. From the thrill of digital circuits to the roar of real life racetracks, we explore the passion, Dedication and innovation that drives the world of motorsports.

We’ll hear from athletes, creators, and pioneers sharing their stories, insights, and the powerful ways sim racing is connecting communities and creating pathways into motorsports. So buckle up, Screen to Speed starts now.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Welcome everyone to Neat Talks. Happy to see everybody. Welcome in. And, uh, we have Nina today and Esmeralda with us. Uh, so that’s a special Neat Talks. Uh, first time [00:01:00] we got two guests at the same time. Uh, they did Daytona 24. So welcome girls. Hello. Hi. Hello. Uh, so let’s start, uh, how was your Daytona 24?

What kind of issues did you experience through this race? Let’s, let’s go. Uh, I think we can start with, uh, with Nina and then Esmeralda, uh, going to tell about her experience as well.

Nina Hahn: Um, yeah, sure, so I did the qualifying, uh, which didn’t go as well as I planned, but like, you know, we qualified P9 in class, which is alright.

Um, but then, um, I dropped the start, and sadly had a spin, uh, at the start, completely like My own fault, but like, I didn’t touch anyone, didn’t touch the wall or whatever, so it was fine. I was just, um, down a couple of seconds off, like, the field. Um, but yeah, from then on, uh, we just kept it clean and, uh, maybe it was also a good thing that we weren’t in the field [00:02:00] because, like, there were, like, some, some issues up ahead that I saw and kind of that kind of stuff.

So, in a 24 hour race, there’s plenty of time to make up time, obviously. So, uh, We just, uh, completely went like, Hey, let’s keep it safe, just, um, without incidents and everything. And, uh, yeah, it was pretty much without incidents for the first, I don’t know, like two hours or something, just a couple of tracks, but nothing really.

And then, um, I already like left the cockpit. And gave it over to Sarah, I believe, at first. And then, uh, it was like between Sarah and Esmeralda for a little bit. And, um, eventually I went to bed, but maybe Esmeralda can talk about her stint a bit more then.

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: Uh, yeah, well, I have to be honest, I don’t remember very well. So, um, but yeah. I, I took the car, um, from, I think, from my first stint, it was [00:03:00] still without rain. Uh, stint went fine, no major issues, and then, um, in our next stint, It started to rain. Um, so that was, uh, interesting. Just a second. Um, sorry, I got a bit distracted there.

No, it was, um, pretty difficult conditions. And, uh, Sarah Dove, uh, drives, uh, with a, what was it? G29, I think, which makes it difficult to drive in the rain. So I took over. Um, yeah.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Is

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: it your cat again? Sorry.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: It’s fine.

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: Um, so yeah, um, so I took over from Sarah and didn’t really have any major issues. And then I think Bajska took over.

Nina Hahn: Uh, yeah, that’s like right around the time when, when I then went [00:04:00] to bed. And, uh, obviously, as you mentioned, the first set of rain was very difficult. Very sporty rain and very, um, yeah, changing conditions. So the track was different, uh, every lap. Uh, but we fought our way. Our way back up to eighth place, if I remember correctly, and, uh, yeah, and then like with rain, it was like a bit all over the place, all teams had like different kind of like pit stops when people went on wets, maybe some people still was out and dries and everything, but.

Yeah, we just kept the clean, the car clean for, um, a very long time. And then, uh, yeah, as you said, uh, in the night, uh, Bayezidan, uh, went in and I went to bed because my stint was very early in the night. I think it was like, uh, like 3 a. m. Roughly. Uh, so in the night, um, there were like some, like one or two incidents, I think, [00:05:00] Esmeralda, um, which like lost a little bit of time, but, uh, yeah, it’s fine.

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: Yeah, Sarah got hit in the back. Oh, right. Yes. I, I don’t know if it was a GTP or, yeah. Oh, SpongeBob.

Nina Hahn: Yeah, it was a SpongeBob livery. Um. And I mean, yeah, it’s just, uh, they just went a bit wide into, uh, the entry of the second horseshoe and then just, you know, on the wet track, very difficult conditions, locked the tires a little bit and just like rear ended us a bit, which wasn’t too bad.

I think it was like six minutes of repair, so. It was all right. And, uh, yeah. Then in the night we had, I think, one contact with the wall of like 15 minutes of repair. And I think Bayecki went off as well. I don’t know if she had any, like, contact with that. Yeah, I think

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: she went straight into a wall once.[00:06:00]

Nina Hahn: Wow. Yeah. And then, and then we had, uh, wait, I actually have like a small recap on the side here. Uh, we went back in, back a couple of positions. I don’t remember. Oh yeah. We were up to sixth at first and went back to eighth because of that. Uh, and then when I got up, uh, it was like me and Beitske, uh, just.

you know, swapping stints. And, uh, we went back down to sixth with, I don’t know, I think like six hours to go or something when you and Sarah, uh, came back online. And, uh, yeah, from that, uh, just further, like trying to keep it clean and everything. And we managed to be in a very comfortable P4 in class. And, uh, with, like, a couple laps to the car behind and a couple laps to the car in front.

So, it was a very, um, stable condition at that stage. And then we just, uh, yeah, did our own race and, uh, kept it out of [00:07:00] the wall and everything. And that’s also where we finished. So, P4. That’s a great result. And, uh, yeah, I think also Esmeralda for you, it was like the highest SOF you ever drove in. Yeah, definitely.

And, uh, you did very well for that. So, uh, yeah, your times were really good. You were pretty consistent and everything. And, uh, yeah, overall great team. Like, uh, I’m looking forward to the next time I get to drive with the three girls and, uh, it was great fun.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah. Um, you, you just said that you had some kind of like mixed, uh, conditions in the race.

I think we, uh, we had the same, I’m not sure if, uh, conditions were the same in the all. Uh, but we also had, uh, kind of spotted rain and, uh, it just, you know, started and then ended again, uh, race with Olympus Sport. Uh, this time we been in a GTP car, Ferrari, and, you know, wind up a [00:08:00] P5 and we actually didn’t finish.

So we, uh, we had like four or five hours. So the end of the race, and unfortunately we had to call in the car because, uh, one of the teammates, he just, uh, you know, braked and, uh, went straight to the wall, um, and just broke the whole front of the car. And yeah, unfortunately we’re just like, okay, we, we’re okay.

We P5, uh, like out of 22 cars. So only like four, uh, GTPs survive in the split. That was crazy.

Nina Hahn: That is crazy. Yes.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, you know, definitely. That’s the first Daytona for everybody in a racing where we had different conditions where we had rain first time. Um, would you like to have, uh, to, you know, to drive in the dry or like it was really interesting for you to drive in the rain and this mixed conditions and, um, How was it for you to, like, when you jump into the car and, uh, how was it to get used to, uh, [00:09:00] the conditions and Nina and Esmeralda?

Nina Hahn: I’ll let you go first.

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: Yeah, it’s fine. Um, so when I jumped in for Sarah, I, like, I hadn’t driven in the rain in that race yet, so I jumped in right in, in the rain. Um, but it actually went quite well. I was really comfortable with the car. So, I think I was really happy with how it went, because, you know, I’m, there’s nothing in that first thing that could have gone better than it did.

Um, unfortunately, in my second stint, um, as we already talked about, that we had some damage, I was on cold tires out in the rain, just got in the car, and, um, yeah, I, like, I completely misjudged the bus stop. Uh, which ended us in the wall. Uh, which was a shame, really. But after that, we picked up the pace again.

And, yeah, it was, like, It was challenging, [00:10:00] but I was also very comfortable, which was great for the circumstances.

Nina Hahn: Uh, yeah, and then, um, when I got back in, also because, like, I drove the very first Sint, and, um, it was obviously dry at that stage, and then I was just, like, around and, like, sporting and that kind of stuff, but I didn’t drive in the wet, uh, in the race until after I slept, and, um, so, yeah, I went out onto a track that had pretty st stable, but like medium rain.

And, uh, then for my second nightstand, uh, it was starting to, like, the rain had stopped just when I got back in the car. And then quite quickly, there was like the dry line really forming up. And, um, I went out. Like already on slicks again, which was, uh, which was fine on the line. But, um, if you ever needed to [00:11:00] like step off the line, then it was still very slippery.

But yeah, we, we managed to just, you know, uh, keep it on track, keep it pointed straight. And, uh, it was very fun. So I really, really enjoyed driving these like changing conditions where you kind of have to like. Judge every, every lap a little bit, like how much grip you have and just not overdoing it, but still trying to be as fast as you can.

And, uh, yeah, that was fun. It was also very rewarding because it was a drying track, so the conditions were getting better and better, and then it was just So rewarding to have like new fastest laps, like every couple of laps. And, um, it, it felt very rewarding driving in those conditions.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: That’s great. Uh, also got questions to Esmeralda.

Was it your first time in LMP2 car or you drove this car before this race?

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: No, I’ve, I’ve, I’ve driven it before. Yeah, got plenty of experience in the [00:12:00] LMP2.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: That’s great. You know, I found it, uh, by myself that LMP2 is a lot easier to drive in rain conditions. Like it’s really fun. Uh, if we’re talking about GDP, it’s really hard sometimes because you just.

speed because you can, uh, gain boost. You’re not breaking that hard with this car. Um, unfortunately I didn’t try Daytona in rain conditions, uh, because, uh, my stint should be like in the morning the next day and, um, the ultimate, uh, who drove, uh, before me crashed the car. So unfortunately I didn’t get into the car in wet conditions.

Um, so. How is it for you to manage the traffic because traffic at Daytona was crazy sometimes, especially on the start of the race when everybody close and you know, GTP is reaching you and you’re reaching in the same time actually the GT freeze. How did you manage to go through this?

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: Nina, you should start because you started the race.

Okay, yeah,

Nina Hahn: exactly. Um, [00:13:00] so, uh, since I was down by like five seconds to like the back of the LMPG field quite consistently, you know, I didn’t really lose much time to them at the start, but like, obviously, because of my spin, I was back a bit. Um, and then, I was in this condition or like in this position where I, um, just caught up to the GT3 field for lapping them the first time and right at the same time the GTP field arrived to lap me.

So I had You know, obviously because it’s like the first few laps of the race, the GT3 field was still very tight together and I had to really try to navigate them and get through them. Um, but I also had to yield to the GTPs coming from behind all the time. So in a couple of situations, it was really tight and really difficult to find your place.

And, um. Yeah, just to also predict where the other classes go [00:14:00] and just make it very obvious with your car positioning and your kind of like language that you convey with how you position your car where you want to go to. You know, signal like the slower class that you want to overtake, but also simultaneously to the GDP that you see them that you leave them the space.

And it was tricky and I did lose a bit of time in all of that traffic then. But, um, yeah, at the end it was fine because. Especially for like the first half of the race, it was just very much like, okay, just stay out of incidents, keep the car clean, a race is still going on for so many hours that like a bit of time here or there doesn’t matter.

It’s just important to keep it out of the wall and everything.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, that’s true. Um, I think the main thing, uh, in like endurance races overall in that long races like Daytona 24, just to keep car on the track. And if you like, you know, better to lose a bit more time on the track with the traffic [00:15:00] than end up with a crashing GT3 or something like this.

So, yeah, I think I agree with you with this. And Esmeralda, how was it for you? How did you manage the traffic from your side?

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: Um, so as Nina mentioned before, it was my first race in, like, this, uh, SOF. Um, so it was a lot easier than I was used to, um, because most of the time, uh, in lower SOF, it’s just less clean.

And they give you less space. Um, and also in like, I gave lots of space just to not come in contact with anyone, but I gave way too much than that was actually necessary. So, um, it takes a lot getting used to, cause the driving is way more clean than I’m, I am actually used to. And yeah, I, I still have loads to learn.

[00:16:00] Uh, so I’m taking every experience into the next race. And get better and better. It’s

Nina Hahn: also maybe a bit for context, like our, um, so F in the race of the LMP twos was I think 3. 2 K or something. And, um, you like your eye reading is I think like at like 1500 because you just don’t do that. A lot of officials, you know, there’s no shame in that.

And, um, I absolutely know the feeling. Uh, but yeah, it’s definitely that this like SF, you can really. trust the other cars around you to just hold their line. And it’s fine if you just give, like, on your, I don’t know, on your inside, to just have, like, I don’t know, 1. 2 cars of width, just giving them that for, like, a little bit of error, but, like, they will keep your line.

But if you’re not used to that, then you probably give, like, one and a half to two car widths of Space and in the inside, um, but you know, we were spotting for you and we’re trying to [00:17:00] just, um, yeah, uh, make sure that like, hey, um, you’re fine. You can absolutely do it like that. But you can also like be a bit closer people.

Uh, tend to keep their lines and you can trust them at that as well.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, you know, that’s actually really awesome that, uh, Esmeralda had this opportunity to drive with you because, uh, when you, you know, like starting, you’re not doing a lot of officials, you’re not doing, for example, a lot of, uh, endurances and you get into the team where it got, uh, uh, faster at people and who had, uh, who’s got more experience, uh, you definitely, you know, just, you know, the jumping to the next step after such events.

And I think there was a really good, those morale there. What do you think? How was it for you to to drive with like to gain experience from your teammates in this event?

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: Yeah, well, we talked about it last time that you interviewed [00:18:00] me, but I then it would be a dream for me to join this team. And then a couple of people made it happen.

Um, I have to thank Nina for this as well, uh, because she, she heard it and she immediately contacted Ceci about it. Um, so yeah, it’s for me, it was really a dream come true and they can learn me so much. Um, so it’s, it’s just overall a great opportunity for me to take steps in, in sim racing. And, uh, obviously I’m not there yet.

I still have lots to learn. I have to get quicker and quicker, but I’m with the right people for that now. So, yeah, I’m looking forward to all the races that we can do together and. I was truly honored to be able to raise this with the three girls.

Nina Hahn: That’s really awesome. It’s also, um, to add to that, maybe a little backstory, we were racing at the Sim Expo, you know, you were [00:19:00] part of that.

And then, um, that’s where I met you for the first time and we got along great and everything. And then the race came on and, um, obviously I looked at like people before and saw like, okay, a 1500 I rating. That’s. You know, not bad, but like, I don’t know what to expect in here and there. Uh, but then you really, really surprised me with your lap times.

You were really quick. You were up there with like, um, really like the fastest of us. And, um, that’s when also like you mentioned that you would love to be part of your dream team. And I was like, yeah, well, you definitely have the pace. And I was like, yeah, well, you’d be a great addition. And you absolutely were, um, very happy to have you on the team for, uh, this race.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, that’s, uh, you know, a little bit tricky thing about iRacing. Yeah, when you’re starting, you, you got like 1500, but you got a really good pace. And, uh, people just like, Oh, you’re just 1. 5k driver. Like, you’re not going to drive fast. Yeah, and [00:20:00] then you’re driving fast. It’s really cool. But I’m pretty sure that Esmeralda going to gain iRacing, like, with no time.

Um, here’s a really interesting question, um, in the chat. It’s a From, uh, from viewers, uh, were there any drummers, uh, drummers, uh, in the pit lane? Uh, you know, I saw one GT3 in our race, just, uh, uh, teammates, uh, that was Matt Loveridge, uh, who’s also in the, uh, Olympus team. And, uh, when he was out, I was, uh, watching his stream and, uh, his teammates, uh, they were going and, uh, you know, here’s the last lap.

Almost, uh, next to the pit lane, uh, the guy who’s driving, and teammates, like, shout, Go to pit lane, go to pit lane, because you almost miss it, and they, they get the spitting in pits, but he got into pit lane, that was, that was really crazy, so, uh, did you have Any, uh, did you have any, uh, experience like this?

Was it pit [00:21:00] lane? Maybe, uh, especially in the wet conditions, maybe, I don’t know, some people missed the, uh, their pit stall, or maybe you had some, uh, funny moments as well?

Nina Hahn: Yeah, I mean,

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: by

Nina Hahn: our smiling, you probably can guess that yes, we did have something. Um, so when the first rain hit, uh, we stayed out on dry ice for, um, quite a bit.

And, uh, but then it started raining, like, more. And, um, we were like, okay, um, the lap times are getting significantly slower, so, um, we have to pit for wet. And then Sarah was in the car at the time, and, um, we were just like, you know, okay, like, we have, uh, I don’t know, we had, just had a couple laps left in our stint anyway, so we were like, okay, we just pit, like, two, three laps early.

And then she went on to, like, the apron, and, um, like, you know, normal pit entry, and started turning left, and the car didn’t do [00:22:00] anything. Oh no. And then, you know, she, she held this, and she was in this, like, absolute aqua planning, and was absolutely dead center straight, the car did not move at all, and then she was like, oh, she’s gonna miss pit entry, well, okay, then we just do another lap.

Steered right, nothing happened. And then, and then it’s just like, okay, well, we passed it, like, we have to like, go back onto like, um, we were like, we’re like, the grass already starts at the tri oval. And then, um, kind of tried to make it on track, obviously, without spinning or hitting other cars and getting in the way and stuff.

And we actually had another team, um, message us, like, hey, Um, you’re sliding around, you should pit. And then we just like text a bet, like, yeah, we tried, like we just missed you. We a upon straight . Um, that was kind of funny. And then next lap, um, we just managed, it was just like you had like this really long straight and wide line where [00:23:00] like the water was completely standing.

Mm-hmm . Uh, so you had to really like positively cross. like that puddle to really get grip again and to be able to number one steer and number two slow down. And, uh, yeah, then later in the race, uh, I think it was like around like sunrise or something. Um, we also had one problem where, uh, we had a driver change and I think it was Bitescale.

I don’t remember exactly. But, um, When you do a driver swap, the pit limiter turns off. It’s on before, but like, since you get out of the car, which stops the engine, and then you get back into the car, that deactivates the pit limiter, obviously, and she went out on her first stint, and, um, Suddenly thought to herself like, Hmm, that’s a bit fast for pit lane.

And then Ori was like, Oh, pit limiter and slow down. But like, we already got like the, [00:24:00] um, the drive through penalty for that then. Yeah, it happens. It didn’t lose us any positions or something. That was, uh, during the time when we were already in P4 and just had like a comfortable, yeah, comfortable gap to the cars in front and behind.

So it was fine. It didn’t matter in the end, but, uh, it was kind of funny that, uh, We’re just, uh, driving and then suddenly, oh, that’s a bit fast. And I think, I think that was it for a pit lane, because since we had our echo planning at the start, um, we knew that, okay, pit entry is difficult and just take it easy.

Make sure that you, you know, don’t spin and that you slow down enough and that kind of stuff.

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: Well, I mean, when, um, Bicycle. tried to clear the penalty, I think, from cutting the track because she slid onto the grass. Uh, she, like, she drove one lap more and then tried to go for pit lane and also failed to get into the pit lane.

Nina Hahn: Oh, that was when I was [00:25:00] sleeping. All right. Yeah. Yeah.

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: So she went straight as well.

Nina Hahn: I saw even, uh, like, in the top split, even people did that, so it was, uh, certainly, um, we weren’t the only team who had to struggle with pit entry.

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: No, and now I think of it, I, uh, like, you have, on pit exit, you have the little turn.

Um, so I, I braked, uh, for the, that little turn, locked both front wheels and just slid out of the, out of the pit lane onto the track. So that got me a drive thru as well. Yeah.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah.

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: But that’s it for pit lane incidents.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Overall, uh, Daytona pit enter is really tricky. I remember how I did, uh, oval race here with next gen cars.

And I think we had really long race, like, um, I know, like 80 laps or something like this. And we were going to, uh, to pit for a [00:26:00] fuel, uh, with a pack of the cars. So I had like, uh, two or three cars, uh, ahead of me. We pitted together. And, uh, one guy, he, uh, in the last moment from outside line, he felt like, okay, I’m going to pit with you.

guys. And, uh, you know, he just not in time. He just crossing my line. I looked up my front wheels and I just, uh, bowling the cars in front of me and we all go into the grass, you know, and then spinning in the pizza. Yeah. Even in, uh, you know, in dry conditions, uh, Daytona is not really easy to Pete’s. And, uh, yeah, as people saying in chat also first up and did it twice.

I, I think I saw that he missed the BitLane on Daytona 24 at this time. So if anything, we’re just as good as

Nina Hahn: F1

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: drivers. Yes, that’s true. Um, stepping back a little bit from the main event, uh, how was, uh, preparing for you? So what did you do? Uh, how you, uh, managed to create the [00:27:00] setup, which is, uh, comfortable for everybody in the team.

That’s the question to both of

Nina Hahn: you. Yeah, so, uh, at first we just, uh, you know, obviously had like some meetings before where like, okay, what is like the rough plan? When is everyone available and here and there? And because like we had the weather forecast as well. And then, uh, uh, it was really nice because, uh, pretty much everyone was available whenever it was the easiest planning I’ve done ever for an endurance race.

And, um, Yeah, and then we just started, uh, doing some labs. We looked at, like, we all have, like, the same conditions, kind of, roughly, and then, uh, had, I think, four different setup shops, uh, like, setups from different setup shops, and we’re just, uh, trying all of them out, see, okay, um, which one do we like best, which one is fast, and then we found one that everyone was, like, already pretty comfortable with, and then [00:28:00] Yeah, just, uh, changed, like, some, some slight things on it.

Uh, we didn’t change it a lot, but, uh, what did we change? We changed, like, um, the diff a little bit, um, just for, you know, it being more stable and secure. And then also, like, I think the third spring and the heave spring, uh, just for control in the bus stop, basically, because, uh, Again, we didn’t want to go for like absolute speed.

We wanted to go for consistency and definitely controllability. And yeah, once we had that, then we just, uh, drove in different conditions, um, made sure that the setup also works in the wet, for example, which is obviously very important. And uh, yeah, had a couple of very nice training sessions together. It was nice.

And, uh, Yeah, try to get everyone’s input and, uh, find something that fits everyone.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: [00:29:00] That’s awesome.

Nina Hahn: Maybe you can also, uh, add to that, Esmeralda, how it felt for you. I don’t know how much, how much like practice for endurance, endurance events you had before. Can’t speak.

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: Uh, yeah, I mean,

it depends. On Daytona, I had quite a lot of experience because I’ve been doing the 24 hour event. I think this is my fourth time doing it. Um. So, yeah, but obviously with the new tire update, the car is completely different. Um, and then I practiced more for this one, I think. Uh, because, you know, I wanted to be quick enough.

Um, and well, yeah, setup wise, I just left it to you guys. Because, you know, I’m not that great with setups, I’ll be completely honest about that, I’m clueless. Um, so yeah, I tried the different setups, and they all felt [00:30:00] okay, this one felt, for me, as the best one. And thankfully for everyone, so yeah, it was, I mean, yeah.

Not too

Nina Hahn: much to add, sorry. Yeah, that’s fine. Also like, like I, for example, was I think the only one who preferred a different setup initially. But I also mainly drive the F4 usually, which is kind of like happy on the rear axle. So I’m, I’m really used to a car that is very like loose or like oversteering that kind of thing.

And, um, but then it was also like, uh, okay, I’m fine with driving. Different, like, driving style. I had to change, like, my pedal input slightly for that to, uh, get back to the pace, but, uh, it was definitely fine, and I was happy to, yeah, change my little part for the team effort so that everyone’s comfortable with the setup.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, also, you know, just, uh, let everybody choose the set and decide what to do with it. Uh, so [00:31:00] just like guys, you just share a set with me. I’m going to get used to it. So I don’t really care about setups because I usually drive, you know, Porsche Cops series, for example, and I’m driving the open set where a car, uh, more loose and I’m driving the.

Fix it said, uh, where a car a bit more in the series. So just, uh, kind of adopt my driving to it. And, um, it’s usually for me, uh, really easy to drive and endurance is because I’m like, I’m, I’m going to be okay with whatever said you’re driving. So, uh, because you know, some people just prefer a little bit more in the Syria because it’s a little bit more safe kind of, so if they feel okay with this, I’m like, all right, let’s go for it.

So, uh, what plans do you have with Dream Team, uh, for this year? So maybe some more special events and, uh, so what, what is your plans for the future?

Nina Hahn: Um, I don’t know [00:32:00] the exact, um, events by heart, uh, that you guys, uh, wanted to do, especially like Sarah and Esmeralda. Uh, Because, like, I have to, like, see a little bit how many, like, what weekends I’m free next year, because I will probably spend, like, uh, some weekends at the Nordschleife, uh, yeah, I’m gonna update on that, like, as soon as that’s more, like, ready and stuff, but, uh, I will probably spend, uh, quite some weekends where I’m not available, also the, um, IVRA, Season, like, continues in February, in about a month.

So, um, that’s also when I have, like, my weekends, where I do, like, race control, and where I’m just, like, occupied with other stuff. So, uh, but there are a couple races. That we definitely can do together and, um, for the others, especially if it’s like a shorter one, like a four hour or six hour, [00:33:00] um, we don’t need like four drivers for that, you know, so it’s absolutely fine if, um, Sarah and Esmeralda do it, like, maybe just the two of them, or maybe also ByteSkid can join them for, like, something.

It just depends, like, when we have time. But Esmeralda, if you know exactly, like, what races you want to do. Well, I

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: know

Nina Hahn: that.

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: The three of us all filled in Sebring, so that’s the first one that we’re gonna do. I don’t think Bice will be there, but I’d have to confirm. Um, so that’s the first thing that we’re gonna do as a team.

That will be Sebring, the 12 hours of Sebring. And then I wouldn’t know about the rest of the calendar. I’m trying to get everyone to drive Spa, but I’m the only one that wants to.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Why don’t you want to drive Spa, Nina?

Nina Hahn: Um, well, it’s, [00:34:00] it’s more that I don’t really enjoy GT3s that much. That’s more the thing. Um, it’s just, uh, I don’t know, uh, the car in iRacing, I’m just not. that well connected to the road in them. Uh, it’s hard to describe a little bit, but, um, for the limited time that I’ve spent in ACC, for example, it just felt more natural to me there, how the GT3s drive.

Um, but yeah, it’s definitely something that, I can get used to. So, uh, I’ll just have to see again if, if I’m free that weekend and that kind of stuff. And, uh, maybe it’s also just a nice challenge to drive something that I’m not that comfortable with and just, you know, see how it goes and maybe see that as like a little bit more of a, of a challenge to really like, um, I don’t think I’m that great in that car, but let’s still try to be fast.

So.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, that maybe can be a good [00:35:00] challenge for you. Also, a funny thing that you just said about ACC and it’s a completely opposite for me. So I just, I can’t drive GT3s in ACC. I’m really comfortable with them when they’re racing. So yeah, it’s really funny. So you said that you prefer more prototypes.

Yeah, GT3 is a little bit different. I also, you know, prefer more Porsche Cup over the GT3s, but for SPA24, yeah, I’ll be happy to drive this event because it’s, we got a new version of SPA also. It’s going to be really fun to drive here. I think it’s, it will be great. Um, speaking about Sebring 12 hours, are you planning to use the LMP2 again?

Or maybe give it a try to GTP cars or something like this?

Nina Hahn: Well, for me, I love the LMP2. It’s my second favorite car in iRacing, the first one just being the F4, my baby. And, um, I love the LMP2 as well, though. [00:36:00] Uh, but yeah, uh, GTP might be a thing. The reason why we didn’t go for that, um, this race was because you have a lot more setup options and Also like in car settings, you know, stuff that, um, you have to be aware of and have to know how to use it.

Like the whole hybrid system and then like the in car ABR, um, anti roll bar changes that you can do and that kind of stuff. Uh, so it’s definitely cool and interesting. Uh, it’s just, uh, quite a bit more complex. So, um, in my opinion, we just would need a bit more of preparation time. And that’s basically what it comes down to.

Uh, How much like preparing we have, uh, I wouldn’t mind driving GTPs again, as I said, like GT3, I’d rather not, and LMP2 is just something that I can quite easily jump into and be reasonably quick with, uh, rather quickly.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Awesome. Uh, Ms. Muraldo, what do you think about this? Would you [00:37:00] like to drive GTPs?

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: Well, we considered the idea and I think Nina might have forgotten, but we talked about it for like 10 seconds, I think.

And Sarah also agreed that we just do it in the LMP2, because the GTPs are, at this time, it’s just too much work. Um, but I’m definitely interested in doing some events with the GTP, but also I have maybe 10 labs in a GTP. I own one, but Like, in, in iRacing, before you faint behind me in real life, I want. Um, but I, I have driven ten laps, maybe, so, I mean, I first have to get a lot of practice in, and then see if it’s really as fun as it sounds.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, I found it for myself. So that was my second Daytona 24 with a GTP car. First one I did was a TRS Esports and we did with BMW. There was only one [00:38:00] GTP this time and uh, Beams Audio was a little bit understeering for me and we drove Ferrari this time. It was a really good balanced car, so I really like it.

And in my opinion, it’s, uh, you know, not that complicated as LMP1, uh, which, which we had, uh, were, uh, before. And I think you should give it a try. If you’re going to have, like, you know, more time for preparation, I think you can handle this car pretty well if you’re driving LMP2 in a nice way. So they’re really close with how you’re driving them on the track.

So yeah, I think it’s worth a try.

Nina Hahn: Yeah, definitely. Like, trying, definitely. One more thing I also just thought of in this conversation was, I do enjoy Being in the middle class in endurance races or at least not the fastest or the slowest because then you just have You have like cars to overtake of other classes, [00:39:00] but you also get this like hey you have faster cars approaching you have to you know See how to deal with faster traffic, and I just enjoy that that you have like you know both sides of the Yeah,

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: that’s interesting.

Um, because when you’re in middle class, uh, yeah, you, you just let go of someone and you’re overtaking the GT3 class. If you’re in GT3 class, you just let go everybody all the time. It’s, it can be a little bit annoying sometimes. In GTPs, you’re just, uh, driving and praying like, uh, I hope I’m not going to kill anyone like GD3 or LMP2, so yeah.

So yeah, as a faster

Nina Hahn: class, it’s always like, I hope they see me. And then, um, obviously, like, you know, you expect the slower classes to just keep their racing line. And then, um, not to somehow like jump out of your way in the last second, because That’s when you also change your lane to overtake them and then two cars, [00:40:00] two cars going for the same piece of tarmac is usually not a good combination.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, you know, funny thing that a couple of times I almost crash GT3s because in the last moment, so you just predicting that they will go and follow their racing line. And then last moment, they’re like, Oh, I should let go of this GTP and they like switching the line to the opposite side. I’m like, Oh, no.

That was, uh, really, um, you know, really scary to crash the GT3 because every time you, like, uh, crashing them, they’re so angry because they’re like, oh, that’s GTP again, that’s prototypes.

Nina Hahn: Yeah, like I always like for, um, endurance races or like multi class races, um, what I like to do is to, um, I don’t know, often a streamer or like somebody look at like a couple laps of other classes.

So I know, um, what like their normal laps look like. And, um, [00:41:00] also maybe where they are grip limited because maybe one, one of the corner is very understeer for a GT3. So, um, that way, if I’m in a faster class, I know that probably on the exit of this, where they are understeer. I shouldn’t overtake on the outside, but I should rather just cut back and overtake on the inside because they’re grip limited anyway.

So, um, I try to just, uh, preactive, preactively, proactively, uh, try to avoid like being in difficult situations for both of the cars.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: That’s really good advice. I think for people who’s thinking about endurance races. Uh, so for myself, uh, what I did, I tried to drive in GT3s and then in prototypes on the same track.

So you, uh, kind of see then, uh, where, where to expect, uh, LMPs in coming, uh, being GT3 class. And, uh, as a prototype, you like already know that you. Can’t overtake here, uh, because you’re [00:42:00] already so, uh, being in GT3, uh, where LMP is, uh, incoming for you. So, yeah, I think that’s a good thing. Also that you can watch maybe replay instead of jumping to the car.

Maybe you’re going to need more time to adapt to race it. Uh, so just. Jump into replay and just see where, uh, people overtaken most of the time and where, uh, as you said, GT3s, uh, have had, like, more understeer or something like this. And I think that’s a good thing. Um, so we got, uh, I said, of course, uh, Evo, which just, uh, came out to early access and, uh, you just said that you tried it on SimRacing Xbox.

Can you give me some, uh, like emotions, which you had, uh, your feedback about it. Do you like it? That’s a question to Nina and Esmeralda. Not sure if Esmeralda, uh, tried it, uh, but yeah, I’m really curious about this. [00:43:00]

Nina Hahn: Um, me or you? I mean, you go

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: first.

Nina Hahn: Uh, so yeah, we, like, first off, we both tried it, um, we, since we had, like, an exhibitor pass for the CIM Expo, it was really nice because we could just, uh, on the evening of, like, the second to last, uh, day, we just went over to the stand that had AC Evo on, and we’re like, hey, Nice We’re working on this and that stand and would it be possible tomorrow morning?

Um, because we had an hour before it officially opens. Um, if maybe like tomorrow morning we can already try it before people come in because obviously we were there for, like, to work. So, uh, we didn’t really get much time to walk around all of the stands. And, uh, but yeah, it was nice because, uh, just before, like, it opened for everyone, we just Um, could try it for a little and, uh, didn’t have to wait in line forever and, uh, yeah.[00:44:00]

So, uh, I don’t know how much has changed since then because, uh, since it came out, I had Daytona to do and then, uh, also this week some other stuff. So I haven’t played it on my own rig, uh, yet. But from what it felt like on the SimExpo, it was really a nice, uh, how do you say? It’s not as much like a sim. As I racing, for example, but it’s also way more advanced than just like an arcade or something.

It’s a it’s a really good blend, in my opinion, of a realistic feeling car, but also it’s approachable for new people who. Want to get into this but, um, want something that’s just more than, like, Forza or Gran Turismo. Uh, to be fair, I haven’t driven Gran Turismo, so, but like, from what it looks like, it seems a bit more on the arcade side.

Uh, but yeah, uh, it felt nice. It really felt, uh, like, the feedback that I [00:45:00] was getting from the car felt, uh, As I said, not entirely real, but definitely predictable, and kind of like what I would expect from a car. So Yeah, I think, um, when they bring out the full game and everything, uh, it’s probably gonna be, uh, a really nice game to just spend some time on.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Mm hmm. So what about you, Esmeralda?

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: Well, it’s, um, not too much to add, I think. Um, so the last time I did a set of Corsair, it’s been a while, especially when I was at the Expo, it had been a while. Um, so it feels very different compared to iRacing. Um, for me personally, I prefer the way iRacing handles GT three.

Um, but I think it felt pretty good. It’s, it’s just weird, like the, the thing, the car slides so [00:46:00] much and I’m trying to make sense of the feedback I was getting, but I couldn’t really make sense of it. But I think that’s just because for me, it’s been so long since I did ACC, uh, and I’ve completely gotten used to iRacing.

So, like, I don’t have an opinion on it yet. I don’t know if I’m gonna get it because iRacing is my sole focus right now. Um, but yeah, it’s still an early access. There’s still a lot that can change and I’ve heard it was open world as well, which sounds awesome. But also, I think Nina is right, that it’s a blend between arcade and sim racing.

Nina Hahn: Yeah, maybe. Oh, sorry. No, go ahead. Um, maybe to add a little bit to it, again, it’s, um, iRacing is usually quite good on, like, race tires. Uh, so, from the, um, like, from the little bit of, like, race cars that I’ve driven in real life as well, um, That’s how I [00:47:00] always compare my stuff to, like, when I drive iRacing, and that feels very natural, especially in, like, formula cars or something.

Um, and Seta Corsa and also AC Evo, uh, I think what they do quite well is simulate, like, street tires on a circuit, where, um, you just don’t have this, like, absolute, like, Peak performance of a tire or something, but you have a tire that just, um, that’s more like a street tire, you know, you have way more of like a gradual loss of friction and like grip and race tires are usually you have way more grip, but once the grip is gone, it’s also like, uh, it’s way.

you have way more or way less margin from grip to no grip, whereas street tire is more like a bit more gradual from like peak grip to you’re absolutely like under steering or something.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Uh, what combo did you try? Like car and trek? Uh, do you try like different or there was the only one [00:48:00] combo for everybody?

Nina Hahn: No, we tried, uh, or like, I tried some, I think it was a Porsche Cup at, or Porsche GT three at Ola. And uh, another one was like, I think it was like an alpine at. Was it Brands Hatch or something? I don’t, I don’t quite remember, uh, but definitely like some Porsche at, uh, Imola. Mm hmm. Uh, what about I, I wouldn’t know.

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: I, I can’t remember. Uh, I don’t even know the track. But I think it was, I don’t think it was Imola. I can’t remember.

Nina Hahn: I’ve certainly driven Imola. Like there were a couple of different, um, things to try. I don’t know if you tried like the same stuff as I do, because on the Semiaxplorer it was like pre configured.

Like you had a choice of like three or four different combinations. And then it was like Porsche Cup at Imola and the next one was like [00:49:00] Alpine in the wet at this and that track and then you had Oh, I don’t know, BMW 1 Series at this and that or something.

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: So I drove in the wet. I know that for sure.

Nina Hahn: I don’t know exactly like the combinations anymore, but like it was something like that.

You just had to pick one of the combinations. And, uh, I tried two of those combinations. I don’t know if you Like switched over as well, but, uh, it’s, it’s been a while since, so like, don’t worry if you don’t remember.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, so I tried it on Early Access, uh, like a couple of days ago on my own rig, uh, with my, uh, Direct Drive T818.

It felt really good, so you saying that it’s like, uh, something between Arcade and Simulator, I would say that, like, For now, for me, it feels like, uh, more like iRacing. So, uh, it’s really close with, uh, Helm Breakin So I decided to, uh, go with Porsche Cup at Laguna Seca because I did it recently in iRacing, not a long time ago.[00:50:00]

And It felt really good, uh, in, in terms that we had some kind of, uh, so base set up in AC Evo, uh, it felt, uh, almost the same as in a racing, uh, in terms of, uh, how I’m breaking, uh, what, uh, force I’m implying to the brake pedal and, uh, overall how car feels on the track. It was great. Uh, can’t tell anything about street cars, so we tried a few cars like Ford Escort and, uh.

I think Alfa Romeo Giulia, um, and I tried also BMW M2, which we got in a racing, uh, in rookie class right now. And it felt also really close to what we got in the racing. And it was really cool to see that on low settings and graphics and everything, uh, it looks decent. So I think. That, uh, AC Evo going to be a good entry point for, uh, some people, uh, especially that it’s, uh, you know, more open to everybody.

[00:51:00] Like, uh, as you said, uh, here’s, uh, some, uh, some cars with a street tires and maybe some people, uh, can be interested in them, uh, because they driving their own cars on the racing tracks and, uh, you know, just would like to drive, uh, their cars in, in the seam as well. And so yeah, I think that’s going to be a great addition and for now just feel like it’s closer to our racing than to ACC, which is I’m happy with.

And, uh, yes, performance, not the best, uh, in terms of FPS, but I’m pretty sure they’re going to, um. Like improve it after some time, uh, and it should be a really interesting, um, addition to our sim racing world.

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: Yeah, it sounds like, oh, sorry. It sounds like it changed quite a bit since that we tried it. Um, so in that regard, obviously we, when was it?

I think

Nina Hahn: [00:52:00] October? Yeah, it was like in October. And, um, so like I think mid of October. And also what I wanted to add, uh, keep in mind that we, at the SimExpo, we just tried it with some rig that was set up like somehow, and we didn’t spend that much time on it. And, um, and also when I, when I said it’s like between Sim and Arcade.

Uh, to be fair, I’m comparing it to iRacing, which I find usually quite realistic, and, like, Gran Turismo 7, uh, which is also, like, pretty realistic, uh, but, you know, like, more on the arcade side, so it’s definitely more on the iRacing side, um, and, like, it’s definitely nowhere in the terms of, like, arcade, like, Need for Speed.

That’s not what I meant when I said arcade, just to, like, clarify. It’s definitely Uh, close to a simulator and, um, yeah, from what we drove, um, I bet they have improved a lot since then.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, so, uh, maybe I said, of course, uh, EO will [00:53:00] be, uh, I said, of course, which I’m going to drive and, uh, like with community, maybe if we’re going to have some kind of events here, um, like maybe championships, I’ll be, uh, happy to drive it because I really like it from the first try.

Uh, yes, it’s, it’s, uh, completely different as you said, uh, to trying, uh, the new simulator on your own rig because you got your own settings. Uh, like I’m aware that I have to turn off the, you know, all this effects like spring on all the stuff, uh, they can be, uh, on, on events, uh, because just, uh, I don’t know, guys just, uh, set up, uh, like the, something base for everybody, um, so yeah, just, uh, highly recommend to everybody to try it on their own rigs, I think, uh, you’re going to like it, and, uh, open world is really interesting and, uh, not sure how it’s, uh, going to be in the game, um, but, uh, I’m so excited to see it, uh, in the future.

All right. And, uh, we’d like to [00:54:00] ask, uh, about what is your own plans, Nina and Esmeralda? So outside of the Dream Team, what, what’s your plans for 2025, like in a racing or in other simulators as well?

Nina Hahn: Um, yeah, for me, it’s, uh, I definitely want to do some, uh, events with Olympus again, since, uh, I have, like, lately I really haven’t, uh, driven a lot with the team, uh, which I, you know, I want to spend time with them again, because I’m also way more active again on the Discord, and, uh, I just miss driving with the guys, and, uh, yeah, it’s always, uh, And, uh, so like probably the 24 hours of Nordschleife is something that I’m going to do with them again.

But I’ll, I’ll see how availability is and here and there. And, uh, so who knows, maybe I’m also doing it with Dream Team. It’s certainly a race that I want to do. And, uh, [00:55:00] yeah, apart from that, there are just a couple of different, uh, things on iRacing that I want to Uh, be part of like some events from other organizations or companies that I want to just give a go and just see how well I compare against people who do that.

And yeah, and also, uh, outside of like sim racing itself, as I said, I’m probably going to spend a couple of weekends, uh, in the next season at like a track in real life and, uh, not necessarily as driving, but. We’ll, we’ll see. We’ll get to that one once that’s there. And, uh, yeah.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: All right. Uh, what about you, Esmeralda?

What’s your plans in sim racing? Maybe in your real life as well. So what, what’s your planning for 2025?

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: In real life, um, like racing related, I’m not planning anything at all. Um, Yeah, my focus right now is on sim [00:56:00] racing. Um, and then yeah, I haven’t figured out yet what exactly I’m going to do, but we’ve got, um, buffers coming up, which I’m not sure if I’m going to, but I might do it with my own team.

And then for all the special events that we’re not doing with the dream team, I might do it with my own team. And then we’ve also got some other, uh, endurance races coming up. that are not part of the special events that I might do with my own team. And, yeah, it’s not anything exciting, but, you know, there are plans outside of the Dream Team.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, I hope you’re going to enjoy some races with Dream Team. Uh, from my side, I will do some events with Olympus Esports, uh, that definitely will be, uh, special events like Sebring 12 Hours and, like, Spot 24. Uh, some other events as well. Um, And I think we’re going to continue the [00:57:00] championship in the EVRA club sport.

Um, so probably I’m going to do a couple of rounds in it. I’m so excited about this to drive Porsche Cup once again. Um, here’s a, another one question from the chat. It’s really interesting, I think. Um, so as we’ve been talking about AC Evo, uh, so people asking, uh, Where can you place the ACC, like, uh, where it stands between iRacing and AC Evo, uh, or, like, other simulators, uh, GT7?

So, for me, I think ACC is, uh, completely different, in my opinion, uh, than iRacing, like, uh, it feels a bit Weird for me when I’m trying to drive the GT3s in ACC. I don’t know why, uh, but I found it really hard to, you know, um, just transfer my driving skills, my knowledge and everything from my racing to ACC.

So usually I’m struggling, uh, quite a lot with brakes, uh, compared to our racing. You have to really push [00:58:00] brakes hard and, you know, it took. long time to get used to it. So how is it for you, Nina? How do you feel in ACC after racing?

Nina Hahn: Yeah, so like, I don’t have that much experience in ACC. I have like, 100 hours or something.

And like, 80 of them is like, What I spend, like, continuously, like, really trying to get, like, good laps in here and there. So, um, it’s, it’s very different how you have to use your pedals. So, it’s very difficult to, like, just simply switch between them. I had to really, like, re learn, uh, how to use the brake, just as you said.

Uh, and then it took me, like, I don’t know, probably like really like 10 or 20 hours to like properly figure it out. And then I had the same issue going back to iRacing again. So, uh, also like the feedback you get through the [00:59:00] wheel is quite different, because iRacing only gives you the forces that, um, you have like in a real steering column, whereas, uh, ACC also gives you, I think, some chassis feedback and that kind of thing.

Uh, You know, which is, it’s just a bit of a different approach, uh, it’s, um, from what I felt, is that, uh, on ACC, I can understand way more what the tire is doing, in terms of like slip angle, and also how the assist systems work, so like, uh, traction control and ABS. And then iRacing, uh, especially like GT3s, just feel a bit disconnected to me, but I’m also, again, I’m not that good on GT3s anyway, uh, so, who am I to judge?

But, um, yeah, so, uh, it’s, it’s just a bit of a different approach,

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: um. [01:00:00] Yeah, Esmerelda, what do you think about ACC? If you tried it, I’m not really sure in this.

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: Oh no. Yeah, I, I think 500 hours in a CC ’cause, um, mm-hmm. I used to do the more female racers, uh, series. Um, I think it’s really difficult to give feedback, uh, ’cause in a CC I’m a lot slower than I am at iRacing.

Um, a lot’s got to do with the braking, which I never really figured out in a CCI, I dunno why it’s just. Um, because you know, I can definitely trailbrake and in iRacing it’s all fine. But in ACC it’s the breaking zone where I lose out every single time. And I’ve looked at telemetry. A whole lot of times, but to, you know, get it right every time, it’s just so difficult.

Well, in [01:01:00] iRacing, for me, it comes naturally. Um, and then there’s the sliding. In ACC, I am sliding everywhere. The rear is just wiggling the whole lap. And, you know, I’m trying to go on onto the throttle as soon as I think I can, but it’s just every time it’s too soon, and I go sliding again. So. I can definitely drive an ACC and I’m maybe reasonably quick or just slow.

I’m not really quick, at least. So yeah, um, and where I put it between AC Evo and iRacing, it depends. If, if what you said is all correct, then ACC is definitely at the bottom. But as I tried ACEvo, it kind of felt the same as ACC with the sliding and stuff. So, yeah. With what you [01:02:00] said, with the changes, then I’d probably say Gran Turismo 7, and then ACC, and then AC Evo, and then iRacing.

And then iRacing would be the most realistic.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, as you said, I think I’m with you in this, so you said like, driving and racing, um, just Coming naturally, uh, compared to ACC. So ACC feels a bit weird for me. It was breaking with everything. So it’s really hard. Excuse me. Um, so yeah, uh, girls, it was really fun to speak with you.

That’s the first time we had any talks with two guests. It was really fun. Thank you so much for being here and I wish you good luck for 2025 with racing events, with everything. And, uh, I hope it will be good for us, uh, less crashes, uh, more podiums and, uh, fun racing. Thank you so much. [01:03:00] Yeah, same to you.

Thank you.

Esmeralda Beemsterboer: Thank you for

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: hosting. Okay, guys, uh, thank you so much for watching. Uh, we’ll see you on next N8 Talks. Bye bye. See you.

Crew Chief Eric: N8 Esports focuses on sim racing events and digital tournaments. They bring eSports content to fans and sponsorship opportunities to brands, while maximizing audience reach across multiple sports, industries, and platforms. Enit eSports is a woman led company where diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility is in their DNA.

And their platform aims to combat bullying and cheating to help make the eSports world as safe and fair as possible. To learn more, Be sure to log on to www. innitesports. gg or follow them on social media at Innit Esports. Join their Discord, check out their YouTube channel, [01:04:00] or follow their live content via Twitch.

This episode has been brought to you by Grand Touring Motorsports as part of our Motoring Podcast Network. For more episodes like this, tune in each week for more exciting and educational content from organizations like The Exotic Car Marketplace, The Motoring Historian, BrakeFix, and many others. If you’d like to support Grand Touring Motorsports and the Motoring Podcast Network, sign up for one of our many sponsorship tiers at www.

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Skip ahead if you must… Here’s the highlights from this episode you might be most interested in and their corresponding time stamps.

• 00:00 Introduction to Screen to Speed
• 00:49 Meet Beitske Visser: A Racing Prodigy
• 01:19 Karting Beginnings and Early Success
• 02:46 Transition to Formula Racing
• 04:34 Challenges and Triumphs with Red Bull
• 06:35 From Formula Renault to GT Racing
• 09:38 Endurance Racing and the W Series
• 15:45 Sim Racing and the Impact of COVID-19
• 27:40 Future Aspirations and Advice for Aspiring Racers
• 36:38 Conclusion and Acknowledgements

Crew Chief Brad: [00:00:00] Welcome to Screen to Speed powered by INIT Esports. In this podcast, we dive into the journeys of remarkable individuals making waves in sim racing and bridging the virtual with the real. From the thrill of digital circuits, to the roar of real life racetracks, we explore the passion, Dedication and innovation that drives the world of motor sports.

We’ll hear from athletes, creators, and pioneers sharing their stories, insights, and the powerful ways sim racing is connecting communities and creating pathways into motor sports. So buckle up screen. The speed starts now.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Hi everyone. Welcome to unique talks. Happy to see here. Um, today we got, uh, absolutely amazing racing driver was brilliant career, uh, in motorsport. Betsky Wieser. [00:01:00] Betsky, welcome to any talks.

Beitske Visser: Yeah, thank you.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah. Thank you so much for joining us today. Um, let’s start with, uh, how you started your racing career.

Um, I know that that’s been in karting for us, for many racing drivers. Uh, so yeah, let’s start with this.

Beitske Visser: Uh, yeah, like many racing drivers, I started very young in, in karting. I started when I was five years old. Uh, I, I basically grew up around cars cause my parents, they used to have a car dealership. Um, so basically since I was a couple of days old, my mom took me back to work again with her.

So I was always around there. Maybe from when I was around two, I was riding around the showroom on like, uh, how do you call them? That like those little cars where you have to use your feet to move forward. Um, and, and since I was three years old, I was starting to ask, um, to [00:02:00] start with go karting. So yeah, then on my fifth birthday, I got a go kart and, uh, I was straight away addicted.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: What do you remember most about those days when you started karting? Like your first emotions when you get in, uh, being five years old?

Beitske Visser: Um, well, it’s difficult to, to remember exactly the emotions cause it’s very long time ago, but, um, Yeah, I mean, if I look back at the pictures from then, I had a smile from ear to ear and, uh, I was always, uh, asking my parents that I wanted to go to the go kart track, um, every Wednesday afternoon out of school, I went to the track every weekend.

Um, so yeah, I, I just loved being there.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: That’s awesome. Uh, and I know that you had a really good, uh, racing career in karting, so you’ve been into Kiza 2 class, uh, so tell us more about, uh, this and then how you moved to the Formula S, uh, and like, uh, started your, [00:03:00] um, big racing career after karting.

Beitske Visser: Uh, yes.

So when I was 14, I was, I was racing in junior still, um, but I was very tall, uh, for my age. Uh, so we were looking at what to do the next year and we thought about going to shifters. Um, everybody said that, uh, we were stupid because I was a young 14 year old girl. Uh, no way we could be strong enough. Uh, nobody would make that move, but.

We did it anyway, and, uh, we got the chance to do it with Intrepid. Um, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions in my career because, uh, against anyone’s expectations, uh, I managed to win the WSK championship, uh, on my first year. Um, and also the European championships, uh, I was, uh, leading until the, the last race.

Um, So yeah, that, that was a very good move and, uh, very [00:04:00] cool also to, to race in KZ, uh, like all over the world.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, KZ2, uh, absolutely incredible, uh, class and karting, I think it’s one of the best. It’s really, uh, fast cars and, uh, karts, um, and also, you know, competitive, uh, uh, Class as well. Uh, so I know that he moved to DAC formal masters after this.

And, um, I guess that you get into Red Bull during your program or that happened after a DAC formal masters?

Beitske Visser: Uh, well, the, the first year I, I raced in ADAC formal masters, uh, I was with And I had a pretty good season, even though I also had two very big crashes, so I didn’t do the whole championship. Um, and then after that, uh, I signed with Red Bull and did another year in, uh, ADAC formal masters.

But, uh, unfortunately the second year didn’t, we didn’t [00:05:00] get the results, uh, which we were hoping for. Uh, But yeah, we still got, uh, some podiums and some wins. So still not terrible season, but not, uh, not what we expected.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Mm hmm. Uh, how was it to you to be a Red Bull, uh, in Red Bull program? How was it for you?

I know that you, uh, left the program, um, and, uh, you, you wasn’t really satisfied with this. Uh, so. Tell me more about this.

Beitske Visser: Well, with the program itself, I was, I was very happy. Um, they, they helped a lot with preparing for the, for the races. Um, I went to the, the simulator in Milton Keynes, um, yeah, to do simulator work there.

And, uh, also they gave me a trainer. Um, so he would write me training programs. I would go on training camps. Um, To, to make sure I’m fit and, uh, fun fact, this trainer is still my trainer today. Um, so yeah, he’s definitely been, uh, been a [00:06:00] good trainer and, uh, yeah, I mean, they, they just give you a lot of support and, uh, for the races.

So the program itself has definitely been good. I was just disappointed with the results that year.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Uh, what kind of results do you have, uh, with Red Bull?

Beitske Visser: Uh, I think I finished B8 in a championship, uh, but we were hoping for a top three in a championship. All

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: right. So you just, uh, didn’t meet your expectations for the championship.

That’s understandable. Definitely. Uh, so then, uh, you moved to Formula Renault 3. 5. I remember I watched a few of your races when you raced there and, uh, you know, that’s a big car, uh, almost like a F2. Uh, and, uh, how was it for you to move from like a junior Formula to higher level Formulas?

Beitske Visser: This was again, a very massive step, like I did in karting.

Um, but like, [00:07:00] uh, ADHC Formula Masters is basically like Formula 4. Even a little bit slower. And then Formula Renault 3. 5 is like Formula 2. So I skipped all the steps in between and went straight, straight up there. So we knew the first year was going to be a learning year. Also physically, we knew that I would have to work very hard because, you know, there’s no force, um, power steering and, uh, Yeah, there’s a lot of G forces in the corner, so I would have to train very hard.

Um, so I moved to Spain to be with the, with the team. And, uh, basically every day I was there, I woke up, I went to the gym, then I went to the team, I drove on the simulator, I went back to the team. Gym to train again. And, and that was, that was my day. But, uh, yeah, I got, I got strong enough, which was good.

And, uh, yeah, for sure it was a, a very difficult championship. ’cause you, you had, uh, [00:08:00] basically it was the, the stepping stone for, uh, formula One. Mm-hmm . So, yeah, it was, was very cool to, to register.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, definitely. That’s a completely different series compared to what you raised before. Uh, you mentioned that you had, like, really hard training.

Uh, did you do this, uh, every day or you had, like, a few days in a week when you did this?

Beitske Visser: Uh, so Monday to Fri to Friday was like that. Uh, so two times gym. Uh, through the, throughout the day and then like in between, I was on the simulator at the team and then I was living in Barcelona and, uh, on, on, I remember on Tuesday and Thursdays in the evening, the, the track, the racetrack would open for bicycles.

So I would go cycling there and, uh, in the weekends I would have usually one day off and the other day some easy cardio, but yeah, it, it was, it was hard work. Yeah.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah. Uh, did this, uh, hard work [00:09:00] help you, uh, to feel better in the formal Renault 3. 5? Like, uh, physically, did you manage to, like, maybe feel more relaxed in the, uh, in the race, uh, with all this, uh, training, which you did?

Beitske Visser: Yeah, definitely. I mean, it’s a very physical car to drive. Uh, and if you get tired, you’re throughout the race, um, you’re going to lose concentration and you’re going to start to make mistakes. Um, and when you drive cars that fast, you cannot afford that. So you need to make sure you are fitting off, uh, which is what we did.

And, uh, yeah, so that was needed. That’s

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: great. Um, so, uh, moving forward for your career, uh, then I think you get into BMW Motorsport Junior program, uh, and started to race in GT force. Yeah. So that, that’s also different discipline for you. Um, how was the transition from open wheelers to GT cars for [00:10:00] you? Was it really hard to get used to GT cars after foremost?

Beitske Visser: Um, it’s a very different driving style. I mean, first of all, the, the formula car is like 700 kilos and then you go to the GT4, which is double. Um, so yeah, the driving style is very different. Also, um, suddenly I was doing endurance racing. I suddenly had a teammate. So yeah, that’s also different like, uh, Yeah, you need to take care of the tires and all that stuff, but also on the setup side, normally I was used to make the setup like how I wanted.

And now you had to discuss with your teammate, what do you like? What do I like? What’s a compromise? How are we going to be together the quickest? Um, so yeah, it was a bit of a change, but, um, with BMW, uh, my teammates was that year also a junior. Um, and yeah, we, we, we were all [00:11:00] coming from formula cars, but, uh, uh, we all knew each other from a long time before already.

So we got on very well and, uh, yeah, we spent a lot of time together and, uh, we’re working well together.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Mm hmm. That’s awesome that you get this different experience. Do you prefer spring races or endurance is like after all this years being in spring races? Do you feel that you, um, you know, like feeling that endurance is?

Uh, better in some ways, uh, because personally, I really like endurance races and, uh, racing. Uh, it’s a completely different, um, mindset, which you got for the race. And I really like to work with the team all the time. So how was it for you?

Beitske Visser: I like both. If I can say that, um, yeah, I like sprint racing because I think the fighting on track is a bit more aggressive, but then I also like to drive a lot.

And in endurance racing, you drive a lot. [00:12:00] Um, So, uh, yeah, I, I would like to do both.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: All right. That’s great. Uh, note that you’ve been a part of a W series. Uh, let’s talk about this and, uh, how do you feel about this program? And do you feel, uh, sad about the W series? Uh, unfortunately stopped to, uh, continue their program, uh, for this years.

Beitske Visser: I enjoyed racing there, definitely. Um, I mean, it was, it was a good chance for, for many girls to, to show what, uh, what we could do and that, uh, we can be as good as the guys. And also to, to show to many little girls that, um, are, are maybe like seven, eight years old or whatever age, uh, that, uh, it’s not, Just a men’s sport that a woman can do it as well.

So, uh, yeah, I enjoyed being there.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: How do you feel for your [00:13:00] career to be a female racing driver? Do you feel any pressure being in a men’s dominated sports? Uh, so what do you think about this?

Beitske Visser: I mean, I don’t feel any pressure from it. I mean, many people are. ask me like, how does it feel to be like the only girl or one of the few girls in a man’s world?

Let’s say, um, I don’t know any difference of me doing this since I’m five years old. So I don’t know any other world than this, but, um, I think for woman, it’s, it’s harder to, to get the respect. Let’s say, uh, if you win one race, they say, oh, it’s lucky. Uh, you need to win quite a few more before they say, okay, She’s actually good.

But, uh, yeah, I think, um, with my results, I have gained that respect at least from, uh, when I’m at the, at the racetrack and stuff, I think every driver, uh, uh, respects [00:14:00] me. So I’m, I’m quite, quite happy, or not every driver, but almost every time you will never have every driver respecting you, I think. A lot of drivers do respect me and the teams as well.

Um, I think most of the, the hate or, yeah, I don’t know how to call it against women is actually on social media. Um, it’s when you are like anonymous, uh, typing on your keyboard. Nobody knows who you are. You can say whatever you want, but they’re not going to say that to your face.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, definitely. I agree with you.

And also, you know, some, some guys, they’re really upset when you are winning them on track also.

Beitske Visser: Yeah, I have to say it has taken me some time. I know in karting many times, um, they, they pushed me off the track a lot. Um, yeah. And I mean, you notice when they push you off more than they push [00:15:00] others off. And, um, basically my, my parents raised me with, uh, They basically told me, if they push you off, you push them off harder.

You have to, even if it’s going to cost you a race, cause I’ve gotten penalties for that as well, but, um, I had to do it to get respect and to, to show them that they cannot mess with me. And I think the best way to show it is, uh, being quick and being front. at the front every time again, but, uh, also you, you have to show that they cannot mess with you by just pushing you off.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah. I think that’s the right way just to pay back what they give to you. Yeah. Uh, kind of, um, can you tell me when did you start, uh, sim racing? Like, uh, was it long time ago? You started, uh, like when you get into once 2020.

Beitske Visser: [00:16:00] Um, I started quite late, actually. Well, I’ve done a lot of driving on the simulators, like the race teams I raced at, but actual sim racing, like the rig I have at home, I started during COVID.

Then I was still with BMW, so they told me what simulator to get. And, uh, Yeah, that’s, that’s when I started. So 2020.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: So as, uh, many racing drivers, I think get into sim racing in 2020 during pandemic, uh, here we had, uh, like a lot of e sport leagues, uh, going in a lot of, uh, championships. Uh, that’s really cool.

Um, So, you’ve been a part, also, of Richard Mille’s, uh, Mille, uh, racing team in, uh, European Le Mans series. Um, how was this experience, uh, compared to Formula 3. 5, uh, because you’ve been driving the prototype, uh, as I’m aware?

Beitske Visser: Uh, yes, I did a lot of this different disciplines. Um, yeah, the LMP2 was a very [00:17:00] cool car to drive very fast.

It’s a bit in the middle between formula car and GT car, the way you drive it. And yeah, I’ve been lucky enough to do Le Mans twice. Um, so yeah, that was very special to be part of that team. Um, I think we had a good team of drivers with Sophia and Tatiana, uh, who I also already knew from, from karting and, uh, we were a very strong team together.

So, uh, yeah, that was, uh, very, very cool that Richard Mill gave us, uh, the chance to, to do that program.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: That’s really cool. There you got, uh, You know, you’re into different disciplines of, uh, racing and, uh, you’ve been driving the different cars and how you managed to, like, uh, balance and get used to, uh, fast enough to the new car when you jump into it.

Beitske Visser: Uh, a lot of simulator. Uh, that. That helps a [00:18:00] lot. And, uh, yeah, even when I drive on the simulator now, I, I drive, uh, random different cars. Um, I think it helps with getting, uh, adapted quickly to two different cars. So I drive in real life as well. And, uh, yeah, also when I arrive at the track, you, you need to sort of turn a switch like in your head.

Okay. endurance driving style, GT driving style, uh, prototype driving style. Um, yeah, it’s just a switch you need to, to change. And, uh, depending how quickly you can change that switch.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Um, what’s your thing about, uh, how close the simulators right now in 2025, uh, to real life? Um, so what do you think about this?

Beitske Visser: I think it’s pretty good. Um, I think the driving style, uh, for me, for me, I, I like iRacing the most. I think it’s the most, uh, realistic, um, and yeah, [00:19:00] just the way you need to drive. Obviously you’re going to have, uh, some, some differences, especially in, in races. Uh, people, uh, crash a little bit more in the sim than in, in real life.

Um, But yeah, there’s a lot of things you, you can already get used to on the same, like breaking points might be slightly different, obviously, but, uh, you can get reference points already, like curves and stuff, what to use, what not to use. Um, so yeah, I, I think it, it helps a lot to prepare for the rewards.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: That’s great. They’re using a simulator to prepare for your Real life racing, uh, I think many, uh, racing drivers doing this. And, uh, actually I did also, uh, when I race in real life. Um, I remember that you had, uh, some kind of tradition that you, uh, got one glove blue and the other red. Are you still doing this tradition?

Beitske Visser: Uh, [00:20:00] yeah, I think I had it since I was like six or seven years old. So, um, right now I have, uh, one red, one white. Um, I don’t really mind the colors anymore, but I like to have two different ones.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: How this, uh, actually started? Do you remember this? I have absolutely no idea.

Beitske Visser: Judging by the fact that I was like six or seven years old, I think it was, uh, my parents idea, but, uh, uh, yeah, I just kept it, kept doing it and, uh, yeah, I like it.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: That’s awesome that you got some kind of mini tradition for yourself. It’s really cool. Um, so what races did you do in, uh, uh, in the previous year and did you do any in real life?

Beitske Visser: Uh, so last year I, I raced nor Life mm-hmm . Um, in, in the GT four with the girls only team, [00:21:00] uh, and the 24 hour Newberg Green. Um, so yeah, that was, that was very cool. Um, I did, uh, 24 hours older in, uh, M two. Um, and, uh, I did, uh, some, uh, did the 24 hour spa in C1 cup, um, which is also fun. The car is not very fast, but it’s 120 of the same car, so it makes for, for really fun racing.

And, uh, I tested, uh, formally in, uh, November, so yeah, that was also a very cool experience.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Tell us more about formal e experience and, uh, how is it to drive a car. with an electric car on the racing track?

Beitske Visser: It’s again, very, very different. Um, because, uh, yeah, with, with normal combustion engines, um, the amount of power you get depends a bit on the RPM as well.

And, um, with, uh, the electric [00:22:00] engine, you get like the full power instantly. I think it’s definitely, I think the Formula E is the fastest racing car in the world from zero to a hundred. Uh, I, I actually did a practice start there as well, and I could really feel my head moving backwards cause it’s 1. 8 seconds from zero to a hundred.

Wow. So yeah, it’s, that’s very cool. Um, and yeah, It’s just, just a very different feeling, especially on the brakes, I would say, um, because you don’t really use the normal brakes, um, or you try not to, you, you’re mainly braking with regenerating the energy, um, so the feeling of the, of the pedal is very different.

But yeah, in the end, all in all, it’s a very cool car to drive.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: And speaking about braking, I think, uh, car weight, uh, a bit more, yeah, due to, uh, all like [00:23:00] electric side stuff and, uh, batteries and all these things. And that’s, uh, definitely also, um, Kind of changing the breaking, right?

Beitske Visser: Yeah, it’s, it’s, yeah, because of the batteries, it’s a little bit heavier than the, than a normal formula car, but it’s still a lot lighter than a GT car.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: I

Beitske Visser: think in terms of weight, it’s quite similar to a LMP2.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Got it. Uh, and you mentioned that you race in, uh, Europe, uh, 24. Was it your first, uh, 24 hours of, uh, N Life or you did this, uh, before in your career?

Beitske Visser: Uh, I think, uh, well I did one in 2018 with BMW. Mm-hmm . So I’ve only done 24 hour neuro recruiting in A-B-M-W-G-G four

Uh, so I did it 2018, um, 2022, and. Three.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Mm hmm. Um, how was this, uh, experience, uh, like, uh, this is a [00:24:00] absolutely unique, uh, racing track, uh, thing which we got, uh, on our planet, uh, it’s really long and how was it for you to, like, memorize all corners and, uh, all track, uh, put all things together?

Beitske Visser: Uh, yeah, I think the 24 hour Nürburgring is the most crazy race there is in the world.

Um, I think you cannot compare it to anything else. Um, you have 150 cars on track. Okay, the track is a bit longer than normal, but the speed difference between the classes is crazy. You have a GT3 who does eight minutes per lap, and then you have a Dacia racing there who is doing 13 minutes per lap. So you can imagine how crazy it is on track and especially during the night because there is no lights at all around the track.

So it’s super, super dark. And the crazy thing you have around there is there’s fans everywhere around the track camping [00:25:00] And uh, they have barbecues at night, but when they turn the barbecues off it becomes, uh, foggy on track So at night we have fog on track, which is not actual fog but it’s from the barbecues.

So, and you can actually smell the barbecue in the car as well.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: This is funny. Um, what, uh, kind of events, uh, do you take a part in sim racing, uh, like long endurances and what upcoming, uh, endurances, uh, you planning to do, uh, near time?

Beitske Visser: Uh, so this weekend I’m doing Daytona 24 hour. Um, and for the rest, I have nothing planned yet.

It depends a bit on my, my schedule with real racing as well. But, uh, yeah, when I’m at home in between races, I, I try to drive on the simulator and then I’ll see what comes up.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: [00:26:00] Uh, I know that you’re going to take a part in Daytona 24, uh, with the Dream Team. Um, so how’s, uh, practice going for this event? Do you like this track?

Do you like the car which you’re going to drive in iRacing? Uh,

Beitske Visser: yeah, it’s been good. Um, the track is a nice track. It’s, uh, quite, quite tricky. Um, with, uh, with some break, hard braking zones. Um, and also we don’t know yet, uh, might be some rain during the race. So that could be entertaining. Uh, we’ll be driving the LMP2 car.

Um, so I, I know the car quite well from real life, um, and I’ve done quite a few, um, I racing races in that car as well, although it’s quite some time ago. So, um, yeah, I’m enjoying the car and, uh, we’ve, we’ve actually, we’re practicing just until we started, uh, this stream now. So, um, yeah, it’s been good. Uh, I [00:27:00] think we have a good team.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Nice, uh, wish you good luck for this event, uh, I think a lot of sim racers are going to take a part in this, as this is one of the biggest events, uh, which we’re running in sim racing, um, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a cool one, uh, especially with adding some rain, uh, I remember, uh, People, previous year, um, was thinking about that we’re going to get rain maybe by surprise with, uh, with iRacing because iRacing didn’t, uh, like, edit, uh, yet.

Um, but yeah, this year, uh, it’s going to be with rain, I think, during the night or something like this. Uh, we’ll see how it’s, uh, going to be. Um, what is your plans for, uh, upcoming year and real life racing?

Beitske Visser: Uh, so I will race at the Nordschleife again, uh, but for the rest, uh, I don’t know yet.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: What would you like, uh, to, to have?

Maybe, maybe you dream about some kind of, [00:28:00] uh, racing series, uh, where you want to see yourself?

Beitske Visser: Not specifically for, for this year, but, um, I would love to, to be more involved in formally and to, to raise their, and if you share, um, and, uh, I’m doing that on a 24 hour, the same this weekend, but I would love to, to do it in real life.

Um, and you know, like all the, the big races, uh, I’ve done Lamar twice, but it’s still pretty high up on my bucket list. Um, And, you know, the, the big GT3 championships or, uh, or, uh, prototypes in ELMS, WEC, uh, GT World Challenge, IMSA, um, I don’t know, I can keep going, but, yeah, like, like all those big races, I, I always, uh, enjoy to do.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, because you, uh, you’re good in, uh, like many different disciplines. Uh, you don’t mind what to race. Yeah, really? I [00:29:00] would love to race every weekend. Yeah, I got it. Uh, would you like to race in United States? Maybe, uh, what do you think about, uh, American tracks? Because personally in racing, uh, as we got a lot of American tracks here, I really like them.

I like, uh, Road Atlanta, Road America. I think, uh, these are great tracks and, uh, they, A bit different with feelings compared to European tracks.

Beitske Visser: I would love to race in the US. I think I’ve said that many times already. I’ve done two karting races there at the Scusa International in Vegas. And I did Daytona, but the four hour race before the 24 hour.

I think it was very cool. I like the atmosphere there. I like how enthousiastic the people are. So I always enjoy when I’m there. And I think the tracks are [00:30:00] super cool. They’re a bit old school. Um, so you have no room for error, which also makes it very difficult. Uh, especially if you are new there and having to learn the tracks, you cannot afford to, to make any mistakes.

But, uh, yeah, I think on, on iRacing, one of my favorite tracks is actually Watkins Glen. So that’s already in the U S uh, that’s. Yeah, apart from Daytona, I have not raced, uh, driven on any, uh, track in the U. S. yet.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Mm hmm. So hopefully in the future, uh, you’ll get to Watkins Glen. Uh, this is one of my favorite track too after Road Atlanta.

I really like it because it’s with up and downs, uh, and going with a really good flow. So I love the road Atlanta. Um, what can you tell to girls, uh, who wants to start racing? Who wants to start some racing? What will be your advice to them?

Beitske Visser: My advice is, um, do what you like. So [00:31:00] if you enjoy it, go and do it.

Um, don’t care what anyone else says. Um, I mean, if they give you advice, listen to it for sure. But if they tell you anything stupid that you can’t do it because you’re a woman or whatever, don’t listen. Um, and yeah, just, just start, uh, by practicing whether it’s on the same or in real life. Um, for sure it’s not a cheap sport, but, um, you can, you can definitely find ways to, to start cheaper.

And, uh, work your way up from, from there.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: What do you think in your opinion, uh, what we should do for the future, like to get more girls into racing and sim racing, maybe like another, uh, women’s series, uh, racing series can help, or maybe some leaks in sim racing, uh, something like this. What do you think about this?

Beitske Visser: I think it’s [00:32:00] already changing a lot in the right direction. Like you, you have one academy now, um, and you have the girls on track program. I think that’s actually a really good program because they’re, they, they find the girls at the, at the young age in, in schools and at events and stuff. Um, and then they show you.

Show them not just the, the racing driver, but also the engineering side, the mechanic side. Um, because in the end there’s also a lot of, uh, girls and women that want to be an engineer or a mechanic or any other part of the, of the racing business. And, um, so yeah, I, I think that’s actually where it should start at a young age because, um, everyone that’s at the top started for the driver started at a, at a young age.

So, um. Yeah, you have to start getting the, the young girls excited for, for racing and then, uh, work their way to, through karting and then [00:33:00] into motorsport. So it’s, it’s not a thing that one year to the next, you can change it because, uh, six, seven year olds are not from one day to the next going to be ready for Formula One.

It, it takes 15 years or even more. Um, so yeah, it’s, it’s a long progress, but I, I think, uh, they are definitely doing, uh, doing the good things.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, definitely. Like, uh, given more visibility for girls who’s like already in racing and, uh, in some racing, uh, going to help, uh, to show, uh, young age, uh, girls, uh, to get into racing as well.

I agree with you in this. Um, what do you think when we’re going to see, uh, a woman in, uh, formal one, like, is it going to happen really soon or maybe in 10 years? What’s your opinion about this?

Beitske Visser: That depends on a lot of things. Um, you need to have someone that’s good enough. You need to have someone that has enough money.[00:34:00]

That’s probably the most important part. And you need to have a chance available. Like, um, you see it also with the guys. Um, Actually, this year is going to be a very good year because we’re going to have like four or five rookies in there, which is very unique, because if you look at previous years, I think there has been three or four years in a row where the winner in Formula 2 did not get a seat.

Um, so, yeah, it’s going You need to have the talent, you need to have the money and it, you need to be there at the right moment.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Mm-hmm . Yeah. I

Beitske Visser: think, and that all needs to, to fit together.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Mm-hmm . It’s really complicated. I agree with you. Um, it’s, it’s funny because, you know, in IndyCar for example, we see women like racing in two thousands and, uh, like, uh.

Quite a lot compared to formal one, of course, uh, because in formal one, we didn’t get any, uh, girls [00:35:00] racing, uh, in recent, like 10 years or so. That’s really sad. Yeah, well, hopefully in the future again, yeah, hopefully we’ll get someone in the formal one and, uh, maybe more girls going to go into the karting, into simulators.

as well. Um, and did you try any other simulators or are you just really focused on racing only?

Beitske Visser: I’ve tried some others. Uh, I’ve done a couple of races in R Factor. And I think that’s, I’ve tried some other sims, but not really races, but, uh, Personally, I find iRacing the, uh, the most realistic in the way I have to drive.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Mm hmm. Okay. And, uh, the last one will be, I think, um, so I already asked, uh, but if you have like a free time, uh, during the, uh, this year, yeah, um, apart [00:36:00] from your real life racing, uh, would you like to do some, uh, other special events, uh, maybe in iRacing, uh, like some endurances?

Beitske Visser: Uh, yeah, sure. Um, I mean, I don’t know my full program yet for the, for this year, but, uh, when I’m home, I always enjoy joy sim racing.

So, uh, yeah, I will try to, to do maybe some iRacing specials or, um, maybe just some random iRacing league race or, uh, I received official races, uh, during some weeks that, that I’m home.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Okay. Uh, so thank you so much for being here. That was a pleasure for me to talk with you about your absolutely amazing career, which is started at a fairly young age.

Uh, and we really hope to see more girls into motorsports and to some racing as well, and, uh, we wish you good luck for Daytona 24. I hope race will go well. [00:37:00] For everybody in your team. Thank you so much.

Beitske Visser: Yeah. Thank you.

Crew Chief Brad: Innate Esports focuses on sim racing events and digital tournaments. They bring Esports content to fans and sponsorship opportunities to brands while maximizing audience reach across multiple sports, industries, and platforms. eSports is a woman-led company where diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility is in their DNA and their platform aims to combat bullying and cheating to help make the eSports world as safe and fair as possible.

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Skip ahead if you must… Here’s the highlights from this episode you might be most interested in and their corresponding time stamps.

• 00:00 Introduction to Screen to Speed
• 00:59 Meet Lena Bee: Sim Racer, Cosplayer, and Sound Designer
• 01:11 Exploring Thailand’s Car Culture
• 07:36 Lena’s BMW Project Car
• 13:32 From Real Racing to Sim Racing
• 15:00 Journey into Sim Racing and Streaming
• 23:49 Favorite Cars and Racing Series
• 28:54 The World of Gaming Sound Design
• 32:56 Gaining Confidence in Streaming and Racing
• 33:27 Balancing Multiple Roles: Streamer, Cosplayer, and Game Sound Designer
• 33:50 Challenges of Streaming and Racing Simultaneously
• 35:04 The Importance of Dynamic Hobbies
• 35:49 Returning to Twitch and Overcoming Technical Issues
• 37:30 Experiences with iRacing and New Features
• 41:44 Discussing Car Preferences and Racing Strategies
• 52:07 Future Plans for Social Media and Content Creation
• 59:41 Travel Experiences and Aspirations
• 01:01:25 Advice for Women in Car Culture and Sim Racing
• 1:03:13 Conclusion and Social Media Links

Crew Chief Brad: [00:00:00] Welcome to Screen to Speed powered by INIT eSports. In this podcast, we dive into the journeys of remarkable individuals making waves in sim racing and bridging the virtual with the real. From the thrill of digital circuits to the roar of real life racetracks, we explore the passion, Dedication and innovation that drives the world of motorsports.

We’ll hear from athletes, creators, and pioneers sharing their stories, insights, and the powerful ways sim racing is connecting communities and creating pathways into motorsports. So buckle up. Screen to Speed starts now.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Hi everyone. Welcome to any talks. Happy to see you here. I hope you’re doing well and hope you spend your New Year in a good way, uh, welcome. We got today. Let it be with us. [00:01:00] She’s a sim racer cosplayer and gaming sound designer. Welcome, Lena. Hey, nice to be here. Hello guys. Been a while. Hello. Hello. Um, let’s start with, uh, I saw your last video, uh, on YouTube, uh, that you, uh, visited Thailand and can you tell more about car culture right here?

And I know that you also working on your project car. So let’s start with this.

Lena Bee: Yeah, sure. Um, so I somehow, um, dropped into the real car scene. Usually I was always around sim, sim rigs and sim racing, but, uh, somehow I drifted into the actual car scene, into the tuning scene. I was always into cars. So ever since I was a kid, I grew up around this, especially the Thai car scene, right, which, um, I’m half Thai.

So every year we went, there was this huge car scene. Um, just [00:02:00] happening. It’s like it evolved in front of my eyes. Right. And, uh, as a kid, you, you take that in and you’re like, wow, that’s, that’s crazy. Like, uh, that’s all the cool stuff. And I want to do that too, one day. So I always came back from Thailand and, um, I told my friends, I was like, guys, guys, you won’t believe me.

Like there’s like street racing happening on highways and stuff. Everyone’s like, yeah, sure. You know, like whatever they, they can’t imagine very much, but, um, yeah. So this year I actually took a camera with me and I was like, I have to film this, have to document this because, um, we all love racing and we all have motorsports, but I have a huge passion for cars, right?

So I really wanted to, to capture the scene there. Cause I feel like no one really knows about Thailand car culture here. And, um, yeah, it was, uh, it was quite a [00:03:00] journey because, uh, getting to know the people that take you to these like underground locations and meets was fairly difficult, but we were, we just got lucky.

Uh, we were so lucky that the first guy who was our Uber driver just happened to be, uh, uh, I don’t want to say street racer because we have the wrong picture of it, but they, they build cars to, to race, uh, In locations that are quiet, right? And he just happened to be one of those people. So we were telling him about car culture and stuff.

And he was like, Oh yes, yes, yes. I built this. And he was showing us his car, which was like a Mitsubishi Evo, completely tuned. And, um, yeah, this way we got into, uh, the underground car scene in Thailand and we got to film it. So, uh, if you guys don’t know it, it’s on my YouTube, I’m starting to do more videos.

Uh, those that know me probably know me mostly from. [00:04:00] Simracing and Twitch, but I’m trying new things now as well. So it’s

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: yeah, that’s really cool You know, I’ve been to Thailand long time ago. Didn’t really see, you know, a lot of modded and Cool cars here, but when I’ve been into Malaysia, which is not far away.

I saw that even You know people who’s working in taxi. They got This, uh, yeah. Little cute cars with the cool reams and, you know, they, uh, with, with low suspension, it’s really cool, you know, like, uh, even on the streets, uh, you, you see a lot of, uh, motor than tuning cars. It’s, it’s really cool ,

Lena Bee: it, it’s, it’s much easier there to, um, which you, uh, express yourself.

Mm-hmm . Um, uh, in the car scene, but not just in the car scene. I feel like also as a person in fashion and stuff. I feel like Southeast Asia really likes to express themselves in certain ways and it’s it’s a [00:05:00] breath of, uh, fresh air if you come from places like here, I think. Where are you from, by the way, love?

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Um, I’m from Kazakhstan, from Almaty. Uh, you know, we got some car culture right here as well. Um, but. It’s not really huge, uh, but as we got a racing circuit right now, I hope it will grow Um from time to time so we got a really cool bmw club here with a lot of you know, classic bmws and Some modern ones as well And I think we got porsche club also And you know some people really like drift here Yeah, drifting is really popular right here.

So we got two drifting tracks. Uh, uh, that’s, uh, next to the Sokol international circuit, which, uh, work, uh, should work, uh, this summer already for some testing [00:06:00] days and some stuff. Uh, and other one, uh, it’s like 50 kilometers, 70 kilometers also from Almaty. That’s a huge, uh, drift, uh, track, uh, which people using for, um, Competitions and for practice sessions as well.

Lena Bee: And so, yeah. Nice. Nice. Nice. I don’t know anything about Kazakhstan, uh, car culture, if I’m honest. So it’s also really, I guess, an insight I’ve heard very.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: It’s, it’s really funny actually, because, uh, maybe 10 years ago we had only SUVs, you know, like Land Cruiser Prado, uh, or something like this, uh, that, uh, yeah.

Like the favorite car here for people, uh, but right now I see, you know, a lot of smaller cars, a lot of Chinese cars as we living next to China and some people modding the Zikr, for example, that’s a [00:07:00] Chinese, uh, top tier electric car. Uh, so they trying to boost, uh, and, uh, like electric motors and all this stuff.

Uh, it’s really cool. So, yeah, it’s cool to see that, uh, right now, uh, in Almaty, you can see different, uh, kind of cars and not only SUVs. I’m happy because I’m not a big fan of SUVs, to be honest.

Lena Bee: I feel you. There are, I think there are some, like a few expectations I have, where I like SUVs, but. Mostly I agree with you and then it’s not my thing as well.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: I know that you got a BMW first series, uh, can you tell me about plans for this project car? What do you want to do with it? And do you want to like race it on a racing track? Or do you want to go to the car show with it?

Lena Bee: Yeah, uh, uh, my plans are now to just repair it and have it [00:08:00] working. Because, uh, BMWs are notorious for just staying in the garage, right?

But, um, yeah, once it’s back on, on running perfectly again, I do want to take it to the Nürburgring, so I do actually want to, uh, drive over the track currently I’m putting on some proper, um, tires, uh, some, some better specs because the ones that I have run right now, they’re mostly just for show. Uh, and then I put on a new suspension.

Um, Yeah, depending on if I do it this year, I wanted to put on, um, a downpipe, an intercooler, the typical BMW tunes, right, and just go for a bit more horsepower and, um, yeah, a tune and then it’s, it’s basically, it’s my, my dream car, because the one series, the E82. It’s my dream car. Um, there’s the one M which is my absolute unaffordable dream car because it’s so [00:09:00] expensive, but the one 35, I just comes a second because it’s the car before that.

And I, I liked the engine more. It’s the N 55. It has the, in my opinion, better sound and it has more reliability and I’m not rich, so I need to, I need a reliable car, you know, so a reliable car, so. Yeah,

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: it’s really nice. I used to really like BMWs back in the days. I’m a big fan of E46 third series and I really like the old fifth series, which is like E34, I think.

But I’m not a big fan of modern BMWs, unfortunately, so they look a bit weird for me. Um, so I really like the classic design and, uh, I think the last BMW, which I really like, uh, that’s this first, um, series, uh, BMW, which you got, uh, so yeah, after this one, uh, not a big fan of [00:10:00] design, unfortunately, guys, sorry.

Lena Bee: It stops for me at the F series. I think that one was still all right. Not all of the models, but I think the F 80. The F 82, that was still really nice, the, the F Gen M3 and the M4 from that generation was also really nice. But, um, I wouldn’t say I’m a, I’m not a fan of the new ones. They get, they take time to get used to, I think, like, the new M2 looks, um Interesting.

Uh, I, I don’t know, maybe with the time they get normal, you know, because, uh, this was always the case with BMW when the E46 came out, people were like, Oh, what is this? It doesn’t look anything like the E30. And now we love the E46. It’s like a classic model. I think this will repeat itself over and over. I think that’s the same with the five [00:11:00] series from the E generation, the late E generation.

When it came out, people were like, Oh my God, it’s ugly. And Top Gear was like, Oh, it’s the worst looking car ever. But now, like, I think like it’s already 18 years old or something.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: People

Lena Bee: call it the best, the best looking five series. So I wonder how we will look back at the current generation. Um, BMWs because we make fun of them now and they look very different, but.

I wonder how we look back at them in 15 years, if you say, Oh, that’s a classic, you know? Oh, with the big nose and the pig nose, that’s a classic. Well, who knows, maybe, yeah. Yeah, I think so, because, um, they’re really leaning far out of the window of, of their usual design, of their classic design, so, it’s very distinctive, I’m pretty sure that, well, still people calling, because it just looks like a pig, I guess, it looks like [00:12:00] a pig nose, so the car will always be known for that, but I’m pretty sure that it’s, like, having a distinctive look.

So I think 15, give it 15 years, it will probably age all right, but, um, I agree with you because we are from a different generation. Those cars are just, the older cars also appear a bit more to me currently.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, so I kind of agree with you, maybe in the future, like in 10 years, we’re going to say like, wow, that’s the most beautiful BMWs that we had

Lena Bee: in the history.

Yeah, and then the BMWs that come out at that time will be like, oh god, what are they doing? Go back to the other design, yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. I wonder how they’re Yeah, going to make new jokes,

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: yeah. Yeah. Yeah, what are your favorite cars? Yeah. Oh, my favorite car. I think everybody knows that this is a Porsche 911.

Absolutely my favorite. I really like. Which one? I think I really like old [00:13:00] generation. The last one is, uh, is really cool. Um, my favorite is from 2007, something like this. I really like this, uh, the body of the Porsche. It’s really nice. Uh, and I’m a big fan of Targa. So it looks really, um, I know classy and nice looking at the same time.

I love it. Nice, nice. Are you, uh, driving a Porsche already, perhaps? No, unfortunately no, but hopefully in the future I’m going to take the 911 for a ride. You were, uh, you were in motorsports, right? Yes, uh, I’ve been into racing. Um, I was working, um, As a coach on the racing track also after my racing career, uh, then I moved to sim racing.

So that was like this, uh, yeah, I raced some open wheelers, uh, before that I did some karting, uh, won four times. Championship of Kazakhstan. Uh, and then, yeah, [00:14:00] unfortunately I didn’t continue my racing career just because, um, they completely, so my team who sponsored me, they completely shut down the program here in Kazakhstan.

Um, and yeah, then, you know, the COVID happened and all this stuff. So we, we just have to, uh, start, I started streaming at this days and I started Uh, iRacing and, uh, full time simracing also. Uh, but I’m so happy that things, uh, went this way. Uh, because, uh, streaming gave me a lot of, um, experience, new experience, uh, which is, uh, makes me a, like, better person every day.

And, you know, you just, in streaming and in simracing, you’re growing every day, and you, like, you never stop, like, uh, The same as you building your rig, you can stop this process. Ah, it’s

Lena Bee: a downward spiral, yeah. You always make something new, yeah.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, true. [00:15:00] So, I know that you’re doing some cosplays, and you’re also working as a gaming sound designer, and you’re also a sim racer and streamer.

Can you tell me what was your, like, first activity which you started to do? Yeah. So,

Lena Bee: I always did cosplay, that like is just, I feel like that’s such a, like a separate part from, from everything else I do, because that’s like my, everyone has something they like to do, like, some people like to go and, uh, I don’t know, plant flowers or something, right?

Like, you have like this, this peaceful thing that you do. For me, that was always, uh, preparing cosplays, your outfits, and, uh, I’m big into fashion and that’s also how I got into like cosplay and stuff because the fashion of anime and, um, of, I don’t know, games I always loved. And I was like, I want to do this too, of [00:16:00] course.

And I saw other cosplayers like, uh, like Imiru and everyone. I was like, yeah. I want to do this too, you know, and, um, this is just a very separate thing from everything as like my, my wholly untouched, like I always try and cosplay every week, right. Or do something for that. But, um, uh, sim racing, I’m honest.

I got into it super randomly, like my, so I didn’t even know I was sim racing. Um, my dad, he had like a sim rig. Like not a SimRig, but like he had like this old Thrustmaster, you know, like, uh, and, um, I played on it as a, as a kid. I didn’t even know what it was, but he had this old, uh, Formula One game. And, um, I grew up around those things, I guess.

And then my dad always tried to, to push me into liking cars and motorsports and stuff. And he, he also, um, [00:17:00] uh, So when, when the PlayStation one came out, he was like, ah, yeah, I’m going to buy this so I can play Gran Turismo and you can play Spyro. But we ended up playing Gran Turismo together, right? So I got my first feel like really, really early, but I don’t, I don’t think that was the Simracing we know nowadays, right?

But, um, it was more like arcade, right. Um, and then, um, this like how I actually got into like normal sim racing for me was just through, uh, making liveries in Gran Turismo, you know, like, I just like making cars, like that was all. And then I wanted to show the liveries. So I just drove and I guess I had a talent or something, cause I got better fairly quick.

Yeah. And then I tried out, um, cause, uh, Gran Turismo was not really that [00:18:00] serious at sometimes you just kept punting each other out and stuff. It was really dirty racing. So it’s like, I want something more serious. And the most serious thing that was, it was eye racing. Right. And I, I actually tried it first.

I was like, Wow, this is awful. This is terrible. It was really bad at the start. So I didn’t pick it up. Then I left it for like, um, like, um, a month and I came back and I just drove. And I was starting to feel like, cause I had a direct drive then, I was like, wow, this feels amazing, you know. And somehow it didn’t stop anymore.

It was like an addiction, you know, like you had these small rewards every time you were getting faster and your rank was getting up and you were, it just, I didn’t even like, I don’t know. It just came naturally for some reason. And all of a sudden all the people came like, uh, Dan Suzuki, you and [00:19:00] everyone was like, all of a sudden around me, I was like, wow, that’s like a whole community.

And, um, Yeah, I really, I actually did really love the time when I was, you know, regularly also streaming and, and driving and was having fun, you know, so.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, it’s really cool. You know, um, our racing community is truly amazing. Uh, so when I started to stream, a lot of streamers started to support me with their raids and a lot of people came to help like with, you know, whatever, some settings, some, you know, maybe some tips on track in ovals, uh, especially because I was completely noob in ovals when I started racing, never tried this before.

Um, and I really like this category right now, really like to do it from time to time. Um, can you tell me how was it for you to like develop your driving skills? Because I know you Like over 4k iRacing, which is quite high, [00:20:00] so that’s like top 3 percent of all iRacers. Um, so yeah, I would like to know more about this.

Lena Bee: I’ll be honest, I was just driving. I, I, I really just like, I think I’m a person like if I really have fun with something and I’m like fascinated, I want to get better at something. I just keep going. Like I cannot stop it’s, but almost every game it’s like you get hooked and you, you keep pushing yourself to get better.

I feel like, and, um, uh, I work for a sim racing title and, um, I, what I will be saying is completely unbiased, right? But in my opinion, from all of the sim titles I’ve ever played and racing games, iRacing has always felt. The, like, I am connected to the car, you know, I like, I know what it’s gonna do. That’s why it was so easy for me to just, if you [00:21:00] know what’s gonna happen, if you know what’s gonna happen, if you go into the turn, if you know what to expect from the car, if you know what the tires are doing, if you know the, you know, if the physics all make sense.

Then it’s really easy, I think, to, oh, easy, but it’s easier to, to learn, you know, um, and yeah, that’s why I think, uh, out of all of the sim racing titles, iRacing was just the most natural for me, because I really struggled when I tried ACC, I don’t know if you ever.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, I’m with you in this, I think.

Lena Bee: It’s, it’s, it’s much, it’s much different, right? And all of a sudden it’s like, um. All of the cables are plugged in different, uh, cables, uh, connections, and I was like Hmm, this feels not familiar with me, so I struggled a bit more there, but on iRacing I really felt like it just all came sort of natural.[00:22:00]

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, I agree with you in this, um, I think iRacing, uh, one of the best simulator for me, uh, right now, because of community, because of, uh, how you feel the car with, uh, force feedback, with, uh, like, uh, how you, uh, See the track with your eyes on the monitor and all this stuff. Um, I think that I was struggling with, uh, set a course competition a little bit.

So when I, um, tried some races in it after racing, I felt really weird, especially with, uh, with breaks. Um, and I don’t really like that. You really have to set up the tire pressure. Um, yeah, you know, pretty. Careful, uh, so I don’t really like this thing about ACC and also performance on triple screen So I had a 1080 ti these days and it was not really good for me Uh, so racing, uh was a lot better smoother with fps with everything But I think [00:23:00] the closest simulator, uh So transition to air factor 2 went kind of smooth for me after racing Um, it feels really Really good, um, and quite close to what we got in iRacing.

I think that was the easiest, uh, simulator, um, transition for me. So yeah, but I agree with you about ACC, just, that’s not my type of a simulator, unfortunately. I know that many people like it. Unfortunately

Lena Bee: too, because it’s super pretty, it’s like, it looks amazing. I love, I love everything about the game.

It’s just, it’s just I hate that I suck at it, you know, I wish I was better at it. So I really tried it, but I think once you, you figured it out, I’m pretty sure it’s like every other sim. So, yeah.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, true. Uh, what’s your favorite series in the racing and, uh, what, uh, do you race, uh, more and, uh, can you tell me also what do you prefer spring races or endurance [00:24:00] races?

Lena Bee: Um, my favorite series, actually, I think a lot of the, like, if my, if my viewers from Twitch were still here, they would be able to tell this immediately, which is like, uh, TCR. I love TCR. I don’t know why it’s, uh, I, I, I’m not even a fan of front wheel drive cars, but it was so fun because they were, they were like low powered cars compared to GT3s.

And you could just really. race hard, right? I love that. You could, you could, the cars didn’t immediately explode, you know, it was really fun to just, uh, go door to door. And, um, I actually like short races more. I am going to be honest, I, I’m, I get too anxious, uh, during long races. Uh, they make me really anxious.

Like, especially if it’s with a team, um, then I don’t want to let the teammates hang. You know, it’s, it feels like a big [00:25:00] responsibility. Like if you mess up, you ruined it for everyone. So, yeah. So I, I enjoyed the shorter races a bit more. So.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Okay, I think that from my side I enjoy, um, both, so I really like to do sprint races and endurances because here’s a different, um, strategies, uh, endurance races, so you just, uh, have to save fuel, you have to, uh, bring the car in one piece, so it’s really cool for me. I really like it. Um, favorite series. I think everybody knows that this is a Porsche Cup for me.

Uh, but I do like TCR because, you know, we did some community races with TCR. And I really like this, uh, uh, feeling when you break in. Uh, the back sliding a little bit. Yeah, the back slides into the apex. It’s a really nice ceiling. Yeah. Yeah, it’s, it’s really cool. And you [00:26:00] just, uh, like go in sliding with four wheels into the apex and then just go on throttle and car, uh, like.

Straight, uh, to, to the exit. And it’s really cool. So I really like, I think that TCR is a really fun, uh, series. And I really like that in iRacing we got different series and different categories. Uh, so you can jump to like front wheel drive cars. You can drive to the cars without traction and ABS. You can drive GT3s.

You can go to ovals, uh, do some rallycross and all this stuff. I

Lena Bee: think, uh, the camera disappeared on stream, but I’m still there in Teams.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, well, I will check. Wait a moment, guys.

Lena Bee: Hello, Cush, by the way.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Slightly technical, uh, issues. [00:27:00] Yeah. Are you a part of the sim sim racing team right now? Or, or not, or you, you just, uh, you know, like racing on your own?

Lena Bee: Usually I just like to race on my own with my friends, and then we just choose a silly name for a team and we sign up for our races on the weekends sometimes, or events.

Uh, it was back briefly. It’s not on my side, right. Or mm-hmm .

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, that’s on my side. No worries. Good. Okay.

Lena Bee: But, um. Yeah, I think, um, the, the most, like I was in a few teams, I guess, uh, the team that was the most serious, uh, was, um, RSR. I guess they were taking things very serious. Um, and, oh God, my ex teammates are probably really disappointed in not being able to name all of the team [00:28:00] names.

But I was in quite a few teams, but I, like I said, like long endurance races were never my thing. I did, I never wanted to have the responsibility of crashing everyone. So, but it’s, if it works, it’s, it feels like very fulfilling. Like I can’t get by people like to do it, especially with the team together.

If you get to the finish line after two to four hours. It’s uh, really fulfilling

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: That’s great. Yeah, uh, so, uh, i’ve been a part of olympus sports a long time and you know It’s really funny because we started team was like two three people only and right now we got A lot of people in the team. I don’t know all of them.

So it’s really cool how teams are growing and the overall community in racing is growing as well. So can you tell me more about gaming sound [00:29:00] design which you’re doing and how long are you in this industry and what do you like the most about it?

Lena Bee: Okay, so of course I cannot say Uh, things, uh, in detail, cause, well, NDA, right?

So, I can’t really get into details of things, but, um, I am working, um, Well, I’m part of a team that works on, um, a sim racing title and, um, we’re making, uh, we get to record sounds, which is, um, a really nice experience. If you get to see certain cars you’ve never seen before, this close and you get to touch them, you get to work with them, which is really cool.

You get to know the teams and stuff. Um, it’s always really like, um, like I’m, I’m really fortunate to. be able to work in a field where I have actual, [00:30:00] like, personal interests in, right? Um, honestly, I never thought I was gonna end up in the game development space. Because I was more so in the overall audio space, but when the opportunity opened up for me, since I love motor sports, since I love sim racing, um, sure I took the, it was basically right after university, right.

And, uh, the slot was open. So I was like, why not? You know, and, uh, I got the chance to work along, uh, really professional people. Learn some stuff. It’s a huge stress sometimes because working in game development in 2025 in general is It’s very stressful because, uh, yeah, it’s, it’s different times now, right?

Games, they do ship way too early in a way too early state. People get to test them. [00:31:00] Um, you don’t always have to expect constructive criticism. It’s gamers, like you get a very, very unfiltered criticism, but you’ll definitely learn to learn. To deal with it, and I think this entire job also made me stronger as a person because, um, If you are, like, you are just part of this entire project that constantly stands in the light of a lot of things, right?

Like, um, if you, like, any game that’s in an early state and releases, And, uh, things are not really that finished. There’s always this, this, uh, feedback that comes in. And if this is your first title that you work on in game development, it’s overwhelming at first. You have to imagine this, like you, it’s not you, you’re just part of it, but all of these people talk about [00:32:00] this and you’re just on this ship and it’s, it’s very overwhelming at first, but.

You start to really get tough skin, you know, and I feel like with everything I do, it’s cosplay because you can also imagine that being a cosplayer is, is the same thing, right? You put yourself out there and people are just gonna say things. You know this as a streamer as well, right? Like, when you start first, you have like, you’re like, uh, you don’t have tough skin yet, right?

And I feel like over the last year, I really got some tough skin from, from all of the things that I did, if it was cosplaying. If it was game development and getting used to how, how things go there, you know, so it’s, um, huge. Like, I’m experiencing a huge character development arc, you know, so, yeah.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, I know that, uh, you know, you’re gaining experience, you’re also [00:33:00] feeling more confident and comfortable, uh, in the, like, in, in job where you’re working and, uh, with more experience you’re just, like, feeling better.

Uh, so when I started streaming I also was really shy, was, you know, getting nervous on the stream, uh, usually, but right now it’s like, natural, uh, for me and I really like, uh, to communicate with community and also racing in the same time. Um, and so speaking of this, um, how, how’s, uh, for you to balance, uh, with racing and, uh, talking at the same time on the stream and how is it to balance with also, uh, being a cosplayer and, uh, game sound designer?

Lena Bee: I’m really bad with talking and racing. Um, this is, this is why I actually didn’t like streaming and racing at first, cause I kept performing worse. I don’t know if you’d experienced the same. [00:34:00] If by now you’re probably natural at it, but at the start was really difficult for me. I would end up way worse than if I was just racing by myself.

Right.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: But,

Lena Bee: um, I guess I’ve gotten better at it, but I keep crashing. Sometimes if I rechat and do stupid stuff, like the typical streamer stuff that we get them called out for on YouTube, you know, when we end up in those compilations and do something stupid, uh, But yeah, those things happen sometimes, you know, so I was not, uh, I was not really that good at it, but I, I got better at it and, uh, balancing all things together, I guess, um, it’s also a reason why I don’t simrace that much, um, I’m pretty sure you can imagine that if you work, like if this is your work, you work on a title that after eight, nine, 10 hours of work today, you [00:35:00] don’t want to sit in the rig and play the other sim racing titles.

So I like to have a dynamic currently. So after I’m done with work, I like to cosplay or I like to work on my car or go for a ride, you know? So. I like to have some sort of dynamic because Otherwise, you feel, I feel like, and that’s with anything, you burn yourself out, you know?

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, when a lot of stuff running around you, yeah, it’s really hard to balance all these things around.

And I understand you, that’s the reason why we didn’t see you streaming and racing and racing. Long time, uh, but hopefully you’re going to have more free time. So we’ll see you once again on Twitch. Oh, for sure. Yeah,

Lena Bee: for sure. I, I just got, um, access back to my Twitch as well. So, uh, I lost access to my Twitch account because, um, the, the old phone [00:36:00] number.

So I had, I had a phone and it was set up a two step verification and I, I got a new contract and, um, The phone, the person from the phone, um, contract thingy, he was like, yeah, yeah, we can take your new phone number. It’s not a problem. And right before I went to Thailand. It didn’t work and I lost my phone number.

So I lost everything that was connected to the two step verification. I was so, I was so mad. Yeah. Including my bank and you’re like in a different country, right? I hate this guy. I swear to God, this guy. Yeah. But I will be back. Definitely streaming. Um, I take it easy with sim racing. I don’t think I will ever try and be super competitive and put in.

Okay. six hours of, uh, practice again, I just try and enjoy, you know, like,

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: so you would like to have more relaxing sim racing, I guess.

Lena Bee: Yeah, relaxing, [00:37:00] like, as relaxing as it can be, you know, but, um, yeah, just not take it. I try and not take it too serious because I’m pretty sure like, you know it yourself, like, we are just competitive people when we race.

And it can sometimes be consuming the fun, I feel like, especially when you’re getting too competitive. So, I just like to keep it fun, I hope, and then See where that goes. I missed so much stuff on iRacing. You guys have so many new cars. You have so many new things

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, I don’t know if you try rain in iRacing.

We got this right now.

Lena Bee: Not yet But I saw it and I was like, oh god, that looks painful It’s gonna be fun for around a week and then everyone’s gonna be Uh, worried about their rank, right?

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: I know it’s, uh, you know, it’s really fun. Uh, I really like rain races with Formal 1600. It feels really good on [00:38:00] track in the rain conditions.

Porsche Cup also really fun, uh, especially, you know, when people just, uh, starting to rush, they, uh, just fail their break ins and you gain a lot of positions. Uh, but most of the time I. I was surprised that races, uh, kind of clean and nice in rain, so just people trying to be really cautious and careful on track, it’s, uh, it’s nice to see.

Yeah.

Lena Bee: I thought it was gonna be that rain would be there, and for a week everyone loves rain. And after a week, everyone’s like, Oh, no, my rating. I’m not going to drive. So the FO, uh, what’s it called? SLF goes lower. I was expecting it to be more like that. But it’s good to hear that people actually enjoy it.

So

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, I think people enjoy it. And also, you know, having, you know, rain, like every week in some series, it just from time to time. I think it just connected [00:39:00] to the real life weather as well. Oh, really? Yeah, it’s like

Lena Bee: Ah, that’s so cool. So after location you have the.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yes,

Lena Bee: the extra. Oh, that’s so cool. Yeah, it’s really

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: cool.

And we got the series which got rain all weeks in our racing. I think it’s with Ferrari GT3. Um, but yeah, on the series like Porsche Cup, I think previous season we had like two, three weeks with rain, there was Red Bull Ring, Suzuka, and I think another one track, rest of the race has been with a sunny and good weather.

Yeah. Um, so yeah, just, uh, people who don’t like rain and, uh, they got no clue how to race in it. Uh, they just can skip few weeks and, uh, still gain some points to championship. Um, so it’s, it’s really cool, uh, because, you know, some people were joking about that, uh, when iRacing added, uh, the, uh, the [00:40:00] day switching, uh, here being all sunset races.

Every time, um, for the, like, a few months or so, so people been joking that it’s going to be, like, in all series will have rain, whole month or two, but that didn’t happen like this, so yeah, everybody been, you know, scary, scared about this.

Lena Bee: Yeah, I remember people were so hyped for Reign, that’s when I was still playing.

Every time they did a stream or something, the chat was going like, Oh, now they’re going to reveal, like, surprise Reign in Daytona 24 hours or something. And I was like, there was actual conspiracy that this was going to happen. Think I was hoping like, hopefully they do this. That would actually be super cool.

But sadly that never happens. Uh, iRacing has have wasted their chance there to make the coolest, uh, the coolest, uh, I guess, release of their range just randomly make it happen [00:41:00] during. like a big event, right? That would have been so cool. But yeah, I’ve, uh, I’ve seen some videos about how you guys have like the dry line and the wet lines and the puddles and stuff.

And they are like form really realistically. So I think because I want to go to the Nordschleife this, uh, this year, I, I might just give it a try, I guess. Is it the updated version of the Nordschleife? Do you know? Like the

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Um, I think so, that not, I’m not sure if they’re planning to update it, the last track which they updated was Spa Frankenchamp, so it’s updated right now, actually the newest version we got in a racing, it’s really cool.

Um, also speaking about Nordschleife and all this practice, we got also BMW M2, you can try it, so I think it should be quite close to your car. Oh, yeah, I mean, yeah,

Lena Bee: I mean, there’s still quite some difference, but yeah, I [00:42:00] guess from the, which one is it? Um, it’s the first generation M2, right? So it might even have a dissimilar engine inside the M55.

so. I think

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: so.

Lena Bee: Yeah, so, that’s cool. No, I, I think, I don’t know which engine it has, but, yeah, I will definitely try it out. Did you try the M2s? Are they fun? Yes, I

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: tried, uh, you know, we did a lot of races, uh, during week, uh, 14th, because we had, uh, This time, uh, it was really fun, uh, because we’ve been racing at spa and, uh, here’s a cool draft.

Uh, all cars are really close to each other and it’s, uh, it’s bring a lot of fun and a lot of cool fights. And, uh, compared to GR86 and, uh, MX5, uh, this car is more predictable for me. So it’s, uh, like, uh, less on the theory. Uh, it’s really predictable when it’s starting to lose [00:43:00] the rear, uh, you can catch it really easily.

So yeah, I really like this car. And, um, yeah, guys, if you’re starting a racing, I highly recommend to try this car. This is free car in a racing. Uh, this is also cool.

Lena Bee: Nice. Uh, did you like the GR 86? Oh, no, really. Doesn’t sound like you. Yeah. You know,

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: I’m, I’m struggling with the MX 5 and GR86, uh, because this car feels really weird for me.

So I don’t know how to balance it for the corner, how to make it, you know, uh, work on like 100%. Uh, let’s say like this. So it’s for me either, uh, you know, it’s like, it’s like, I’m loading tires on like 60 percent or I’m just overloading them and, you know, car, uh, doing a really weird thing. So I just really can’t find the balance on this car.

I know why. Um, speaking about the MX 5, MX 5 is, uh, trying to kill you, especially with, uh, with the advanced set for my [00:44:00] racing. It’s just really tricky with cold tires, uh, Yeah. We’ve been doing some community racing, uh, races recently, and I’ve been struggling with MX 5. Uh, so yeah, when I jumped to a racing, I tried to get out of MX 5 as soon as possible, and then I just started to do some formulas.

Uh, so yeah, it’s still, still the same. I don’t know why, but, uh, I don’t, not a big fan of these

Lena Bee: cars. Do you think, do you think it’s because you’ve raced, uh, open wheelers in real life that much? That maybe you just. You, you went from MX 5, you were like, Hmm, this is not for me. And then immediately went to OpenWheelers and It feels just more natural to you.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Well, I don’t know. Um, maybe open wheeler is more natural for me because I got like more experience with them. Uh, so I never drove any road cars on a racing track before, uh, that, uh, so, you know, tried some, uh, Porsche 911 on track and, [00:45:00] uh, also in W Series selection event, we had a Porsche Cayman, uh, GTS, uh, been driving the small track in Austria.

Uh, but You know, just maybe a lack of experience or something But right now I’m quite Experienced in Porsche Cup series. I’m doing really good flip times in Porsche Cup And I understand car and how it handles for the corners, and I still don’t know what to do with MX 5, really.

Lena Bee: I don’t, I don’t understand Porsche Cup.

I’ve never understood it. The car is very You need to drive it in such a special way, like, especially now, before, I remember it was very, uh, it wanted to kill you on throttle all the time, if you were, um, giving it too much throttle, and if you had a tiny bit of slip, you’d just die. Like, it was just over.

Um, but now I feel like when I tried them again, they are [00:46:00] just very understeery. Like, I don’t know if it’s still the same. You

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: know, on cold tires, it’s a little bit understeery right now, uh, but, uh, when you warm up tires and, uh, temperatures, uh, and, uh, tire pressure getting normal, um, Absolutely no issues with it.

So it, it has a really good grip, even, you know, on the throttle. Yeah. Sometimes you can, um, you know, slide a little bit and overheat the back and you’re going to have some issues, uh, with tires, uh, for a couple of corners. Um, but you can, you know, switch the brake bias, uh, play with it, uh, just to get back, uh, the tire pressure into normal and everything will be fine.

But yeah, uh, cold tires, uh, Like, unpredictable, so you need time to get used to this, uh, you, like, you need two laps, uh, to warm up tires on Porsche Cup, and then you’re going to feel okay with it, and right now it’s more friendly with [00:47:00] brakes, so it’s harder to look up, uh, wheels on it. So overall it’s really fun series and compared to GT3s people Because we don’t have traction.

We don’t have ABS system in my opinion Porsche Cup series more cleaner and You know just better racing compared to GT3s Uh recently I had a GT3 race at Monza, uh, like that was maybe three four weeks ago or something like this uh, and You know, guys crashed after Lesmo before Ascari on a straight line.

I was like, how you did this?

Lena Bee: But, uh, so I haven’t raced for so long. Where are you now, in terms of fine rating?

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Um, so I just, uh, I get 5k and, uh, now dropped to 4. 6, 4. 7, something like this.

Lena Bee: Yeah,

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: yeah,

Lena Bee: I tried, I tried my best. I was almost at [00:48:00] 5k. I said, uh, 4, 800 something, it’s getting almost to 5k and then Road Atlanta happened.

I remember this very vividly, like very clearly. And I’m, I’m good at hot lapping Road Atlanta, but I’m terrible at Keeping my tires, uh, in a good condition. So every, like, at the last few laps in the GT4, I was leading the race every time. And I was just grinding. I was just farming every goddamn time in that like section, when you go like the.

This spiral down section, this S, uh, with the downhill section, right? Uh, this, you go right, you stay on the right side and then you, the apex is on the inside and then you really fly out and then there’s the wall, right? There’s this wall where if you go too far, you go into the wall. But I already died every time clipping this curb on the [00:49:00] inside.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: And

Lena Bee: my setup was just not set up correctly for the car every time I died in the last lap. So I went from 4, 800 iRating to 4, 600 iRating to 4, 400 iRating and at some point I was like, I guess uh, it’s just not supposed to be to get to 5k this time Yeah, that’s the last attempt that I had and then another track.

I’m really good at I guess and a combination I’m also pretty good at is um when the ferrari, uh The, what is it called? The Ferrari challenge?

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah. Was it? Ferrari challenge. Correct.

Lena Bee: Yeah. That, that one was really fun at money, money core, money core. I don’t know how to pronounce it. My French friends will be angry, but, uh, that one was always super fun.

But also it’s just a hot lapping track. So all of these like hot lapping track, I was always really good at. And, um, [00:50:00] The, the ones where you have to actually really race. I was not that good at, I was just good at hot lapping, I guess. Uh, yeah, that was also really fun, a really fun car, the 488. I really enjoyed it.

People didn’t like it, especially the Ferrari challenge. I remember everyone said, uh, the chat, the Ferrari challenge set up was not good. I liked it. I don’t know.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah. You know, it was, uh, in my opinion, bit understeery, but, uh, I think you can get used to this and you can make the car, uh, driving in the way how you want it to drive it.

So usually I’m just saying like, uh, I don’t have enough skills for this, for this setup. Yeah. It’s a weird setup. Yeah, it’s weird. It’s just different compared to what we get used to in GT3s, in open sets, for example.

Lena Bee: But what I felt like, [00:51:00] and I think that was the intent behind it, maybe, I’m not sure. But, um, when I drove it, it was so difficult.

But when you got good at it, and you then went into the normal GT3, it was super easy to drive. Just, uh, a good setup with, like, uh, Like a proper setup, but, um, yeah, so for me, it was easier to go to, like, I like starting with the Ferrari fix challenge. And then when I got into IMSA, no, what was it? Um, there’s like two, two series, right?

One is IMSA and one is the VRS. Yeah. Yeah. And I got into VRS. It was actually much easier for me to just drive it to normal set up. And I was still competitive. Yeah. But only in a Ferrari, no other car, because I knew it, you know, so.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, usually it’s really good when you’re starting GT3s, just stick with one car, because you get used to it and you just need [00:52:00] to adapt to the tracks and don’t spend time to switch around cars, so I think that’s a good thing.

Yeah. Um, can you tell me, uh, what is your plans for, um, for social medias? I know that you got 65, 000 followers on Instagram and, uh, I saw that you, uh, doing some videos for YouTube. So what are your, what are your plans for the future in social medias?

Lena Bee: Well, um, a big focus right now is on the, on YouTube. I really like making long form content and, uh, Instagram is the same stuff like always.

I, I just make cosplay and fashion and stuff like that. Uh, I also like to mix those things up sometimes. Um, like I, I do really enjoy, uh, streaming, cosplaying, simracing, and cosplaying, even if it was a bit goofy, but it was still really fun with the community. Uh, yeah, things like this. Like, I like to combine, [00:53:00] So I think my community is a mix of people who enjoy anime, who enjoy Japanese cars, drifting, and cars in general.

And yeah, so that’s basically who I tried to cater to, to, right. So I tried to make these, uh, long form videos with, um, yeah, this, with my, with my influence of, of my hobbies and things like even in the last Thailand video, we still Into the shopping mall. So I guess you’re the normal car guy to be sitting like in front of a video he’s like thinking he’s gonna see like cars and exhaust flames and stuff and then I take them to like the ketchup place and Shopping mall at first and it’s it’s different.

You know, I like to just make my own content sort of and I I really don’t care if what’s trending right now [00:54:00] is, uh, this or that, you know, I just like to do, I just like to do what I do and I’m a believer that if you do something with a passion, it, it will find its way, right? Yeah, that’s true. Yeah,

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: I think if you, if you like to do what you, what you like to do, uh, then you can find people who like the same stuff which you enjoy.

So, yeah.

Lena Bee: Exactly, yeah. And then, um, people will also see that you’re having fun. And I feel like with sim racing, like, as much as I, I love sim racing, but I, when you only stream it, and you don’t do anything other than sim racing all the time, then For me, that was just like, it was not everything I wanted to do, you know, there was like, I still want to come back to simracing for sure.

I also want to practice Nordschleife on the sim. I want to see how much the sim actually can prepare me, you [00:55:00] know, for it, or how much, you know, It can compare, I mean, of course, on iRacing, I get to drive a race car and it’s going to be much different than my car, right? But still is, I’m pretty sure that I have a big advantage already.

The moment I get on track, I know much more than someone who never drove on a sim or something before, you know? So, and I’m also super happy to be documenting the entire process on YouTube basically. So, it’s also something I want to do. And then, yeah, I try and either go or both places, I want to go back to Thailand this year and I might stop in Japan on the way and then also film something about Japanese car culture.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: I just wanted to ask you, like, if you’re planning to go to Japan, [00:56:00] because you, uh, really like anime, cosplay, and also, I think, car culture in Japan is just huge, with a lot of different tuning, a lot of different, uh, you know, styles, and, uh, all the stuff, it’s going to be really interesting to watch on your YouTube, uh, so, when you get the chance to get into Japan.

Lena Bee: Yeah, I wanted to go always. Um, but, um, since, um, so like, it’s so Asian culture, I grew up with it, right? So like, cosplay or stuff like that, like Japanese influences, or like Japanese pop culture influences, like the entirety of Asia, right? You have like, everything is inspired by Japanese pop culture or Japanese car culture as well, right?

Because Like, uh, but, um, I, I grew up with it, but every time I get the chance to go to Asia, I love Thailand so much because it’s my home, right? It’s also my home that I, [00:57:00] I, I don’t leave. Like, I always plan to go to Japan. I just, I, I can’t, I can’t leave. It’s, I, I can only recommend if someone has never gone to Thailand, it’s paradise, like, and, uh, it’s just really nice to have these.

You have, you have Bangkok with these like skylines and modern buildings and you’re surrounded by this gigantic city, but then there’s palm trees and beaches, you know, and I just, I just love it. So, but this year I try for sure to make a stop at Japan and, uh, I’m going to be excited to also see, um, Japanese culture and how it really is.

Cause I only experienced it on the internet, right? So. I have no idea what to expect actually, so I wonder, uh, I heard a lot of things from my friends that are from Japan and stories, but it’s always different if you go, I guess, you know, it’s always, uh, [00:58:00] it’s always going to be a bit different from what you’ve seen on the Internet from what you’ve got told from your friends.

I’m really excited to see it for the first time. Yeah.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, I think when you will go in real life, uh, to whatever places, you gain, uh, gaining your own experience, uh, so this is not a problem. Which is something you can take from internet or something like this. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And speaking about Asia and like Thailand, Malaysia, I think if someone got opportunity to go to this countries ever, they just have to go here because it’s a different culture and it’s nice to see for experience and truly Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, so beautiful cities with a big skyscrapers.

Just amazing. Absolutely. Uh, so real like, uh, Kuala Lumpur. I’ve been to Malaysia eight times because I race in the Asia Cup series and, uh, for more BMW. So I really like this [00:59:00] country.

Lena Bee: It’s super hot in the car. Indonesia has also Oh, yeah, it

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: was really hot. We had like 58 Celsius in the cockpit. Or foremost, we had 34 outside.

Uh, it was, it was really hot. But, you know, I still enjoy racing here, Sepang. It’s a great track. I’m still waiting until it’s going to be in a racing. I heard some rumors about this, uh, and yeah, just, uh, you know, food is amazing. People really friendly. And just I’m big fan of Asian countries. They really nice.

Lena Bee: Where have you are like, where, where have you already been continent wise? Um, where have you traveled already? Like, have you been on all continents in the world already or?

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Uh, no, you know, I, I just, uh, I’ve been on my, uh, continent, unfortunately I didn’t, [01:00:00] uh, visit United States or Canada, uh, but in the future I’m planning to do this because I got, uh, like, a lot of friends living in United States and also one of my dream is, uh, to try maybe some street stalk on Oval, uh, track, uh, that would be great.

Uh, because, you know, iRacing really pushed me into the ovals. Into oval, yeah. So now that that’s my little dream to try oval car in real life, uh, that’ll be great. But I’ve been to Austria, I’ve been to China, Thailand, Malaysia, Turkey, so yeah, quite a lot of countries, uh, but I’m planning to visit the United States, uh, because, uh, this is place, uh, which I have to visit because iRacing is from, from United States.

And, um, most of my community from United States also really, uh, would love to see their culture and their people also.

Lena Bee: Yeah. Um, fun fact. It’s like [01:01:00] the, the Arkham and Arts car. I don’t know which one it was, but the VA is one of the best sounding race cars I’ve ever heard. In general, NASCARs just sound like absolute forces of nature.

I love it. I love it. Especially if they are all in one pack and they fly by, it’s insane, yeah.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: That’s true. Um, so before we wrap up, uh, can you give an advice to girls who want to go into the like car culture, uh, maybe tuning their car and they want to jump into some racing as well? So what can you tell for them?

Lena Bee: Just do what you like. If you want to, if you want to modify a Peugeot 106 or something, just do it. Uh, I feel like. The car culture is about expressing yourself. It’s, um, it’s turning into a [01:02:00] very toxic place. I think in the West here, it’s turning into like, Oh, this isn’t an M car or, Oh, don’t care, just do it for what you really want to do.

And if it’s something that you really want to get into, don’t shy away from doing it. I really encourage you to go and try and, and just express yourself through You know your car or whatever you want to do I think it’s really important that people just don’t like just do what you want to do and don’t don’t listen to the internet Don’t listen to the cool people that say like no you have to do this or that If you want to try out something and yeah, don’t, just do it yourself.

That’s my tip.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, that’s the best advice I think. Many people in sim racing also go on to tell that, Oh, you have to drive like direct drive wheelbase. You have to have really, um, I know expensive equipment to be competitive. [01:03:00] So yeah, I would, I would like to say that, uh, with any equipment you can be competitive and you just, uh, need to have fun in it.

And, uh, doesn’t matter what you’re doing. Uh, the main thing is to have fun. Uh, so guys, here’s the links to social medias of Lena B. So be sure that you follow her on Instagram, on Twitch also, and on YouTube channel for upcoming videos. Uh, Lena, thank you so much for being here with us. It was awesome. Thank you so much.

Yeah, guys, we’ll see you next time. Bye. Thank you for having me.

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