Joining us today on the Traxion.GG Podcast is Jarno Opmeer, one of the quickest sim racers in the world. He’s a two-time, back-to-back, F1 Esports Series Pro champion and a Mercedes-AMG Esports driver. Earlier this year he won the eRace of Champions event and just wrapped up the Premier Sim Gaming League title for the fourth time. His career so far isn’t the normal route, coming from a karting and Formula 4 and Renault Academy motorsport background. Since then, he’s 100 per cent focussed on sim ...
May 19, 2022•31 min•Season 4Ep. 10
Joining us today on the Traxion.GG Podcast is the BMW’s Head of Sim Racing, Rudolf Dittrich. Dittrich has worked for BMW’s M Motorsport division in the past, his last role before stepping into the virtual racing world being Head of Vehicle Development. On this episode, he explains that BMW believes sim racing to be another branch of motorsport and equally as important to the business. The prevalence of BMW vehicles in racing games and sims is no coincidence, therefore, with BMW cars and motorcyc...
May 16, 2022•32 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Joining us today on the Traxion.GG Podcast is the Senior Creative Director for the new and upcoming official Formula 1 game – EA SPORTS F1 22 . Lee Mather has been working on the F1 games now since the very first one created by Codemasters, F1 2010. With over a decade’s experience working on these titles, we thought there was no one better to discuss F1 22 with. In this chat, we will discuss some key elements, like who made the VR functionality, how the online cross-platform multiplayer will wor...
May 09, 2022•34 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Joining us today on the Traxion.GG Podcast is David Brabham, son of three-time Formula 1 world champion Sir Jack Brabham. This is pertinent to our conversation as David is continuing over 70 years of Brabham lineage through new and exciting areas – be that a track and road car, Brabham liveried racing simulators and a brand new racing esports team . He has a long and fêted career in motorsport, racing in Formula 1 for Brabham and Simtek, but also two class victories and an overall win at the 24 ...
May 02, 2022•31 min•Season 4Ep. 7
In this episode of the Traxion.GG Podcast, we dig into the mind of possibly the world’s quickest Gran Turismo driver, Valerio Gallo. For those who aren’t aware, the Rome-based Italian won the FIA Nations Cup World Championship last year, which followed the inaugural Olympic Virtual Series crown. These accomplishments were in GT Sport , which also netted him an appearance within Gran Turismo 7 and the opportunity to race against Sony AI’s pioneering Gran Turismo Sophy . What I hope you glean from...
Apr 25, 2022•44 min•Season 4Ep. 6
For this edition of the Traxion.GG Podcast, we speak to Marco Massarutto, co-founder and Executive Manager of Kunos Simulazioni, an Italian development team headquartered near the Vallelunga Circuit. We discuss the background and inspirations behind Kunos’ biggest and most recent hit games, including 2014’s Assetto Corsa, plus the official GT World Challenge game, Assetto Corsa Competizione, first seen in 2018. The future of the Assetto Corsa franchise is also talked about; we already know Asset...
Apr 18, 2022•46 min•Season 3Ep. 5
In this latest episode of the Traxion.GG podcast, we are joined by none other than Jimmy Broadbent – the leading sim racing online content creator, former shed-dweller and now also a real-world motorsport competitor. He’s currently competing in the 2022 Praga Cup for Fanatec Praga Team 87 alongside Geordie Mutch and the duo are sitting second in the standings after a podium at Oulton Park recently. We talked here at Silverstone in the Praga paddock on a cold day of pre-season testing, hence why ...
Apr 11, 2022•18 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Enjoy a conversation with Dune Casu, the founder of Funselektor Labs, creator of Absolute Drift and 'art of rally'. Here we discuss the inspiration behind his two popular racing games, in particular where the visual style and love for rally originated from. As an independent game developer found out how he created his first game and used that as an opportunity to enter the industry. He currently resides in a camper van on the west coast of America, which is where he spoke to us from. The future ...
Apr 04, 2022•31 min•Season 4Ep. 3
In this episode of the Traxion.GG podcast, we speak to Federico Carlo Riccardo Spada, the Hot Wheels Unleashed lead developer at Milestone. He's worked for over five years at the Milanese game developer, before working on this hugely successful racer that has re-energised this segment of the racing game genre. Hot Wheels unleashed recently sold over one million copies, was profitable from only its second day on sale and has seen unique post-release content such as the Gucci Cadillac. We discuss ...
Mar 28, 2022•28 min•Season 4Ep. 2
We spoke to Romain Grosjean about his Andretti Autosport deal for the 2022 IndyCar season, his passion for sim racing and the future of his eponymous team, R8G Esports. Listen as we discuss how he decided to back young talent through creating an esports team and hopefully one day creating real-world opportunities. Grosjean is a keen following of racing esports and participates when his busy real-world schedule allows. Hear how he activity follows, supports and mentors the next-generation of raci...
Mar 21, 2022•23 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Join Monisha Kaltenborn, former Sauber Formula One Team CEO, Team Principal and Co-owner, who delivers insights into the future of virtual racing as the now CEO of Racing Unleashed – an innovative sim racing outfit that creates motion rigs, esports competitions, driver training and driving lounges. Having expanded around central Europe through 2021, we hear about the plans for a global expansion, creating its own in-sim circuits and the vision behind a new kind of simulator business. Monisha als...
Dec 20, 2021•27 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Hear from Nataliia Dmytriievska and Jared Samuelson, part of the team behind soft-physics simulator and driving game BeamNG.drive as we discuss its origins, the meaning of its name, developmental challenges and what the future holds. For those unaware, BeamNG.drive – or BeamNG or just Beam for short – is available via Early Access for Steam, and has been since 2015 following a demo in 2013, initially based up Rigs of Rods. A v.024 update was just released, with several improvements, PBR upgrades...
Dec 13, 2021•46 min•Season 3Ep. 10
In this episode of the Traxion.GG Podcast, we speak to the team behind the upcoming racing game GRID Legends by EA and Codemasters. Chris Smith, Creative Director and Steven Brand, Associate Creative Director, on the title chat through the vision, their aims and what's new for the GRID series. Hear about the new story mode, Driven To Glory, but also how the handling has changed compared to the last GRID in 2019 and the lengthy Career and online multiplayer options that include vehicle upgrades a...
Dec 06, 2021•40 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Three-time, and 2021, British Rally Champion Matt Edwards speaks to Traxion.GG about his career, his victorious season and his involvement in rallying esports events. Newly crowned the best rally driver in Britain for this year, and taking part in the Jersey eRally, Matt explains the differences between real-world motorsport and sim rallying, plus where he’d like the genre to progress in the future as technology evolves. He was thrust into the rallying esports scene when the Covid-19-related loc...
Nov 29, 2021•34 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Kevin Siggy has been there, seen that. The racing esports journeyman is incredibly experienced, starting out in series such as GPVWC as a teenager and witnessing the rapid evolution of the genre. The Slovenian is now based in the Netherlands where he races for the fêted Team Redline – one of the most successful racing esports squads of all time. In 2021 alone, he has competed successfully in V10R League, GT Pro Series (twice), ADAC GT Masters, Formula Pro Series, GT World Challenge Europe Esport...
Nov 22, 2021•36 min•Season 3Ep. 7
With the latest Gran Turismo 7 'Behind The Scenes' video series setting alight forums and social media thanks to the slow teasing of upcoming features, we dig deeper and explore our hopes and dreams for the upcoming Sony-exclusive racing game. We've seen, through a number of Kazunori Yamauchi interviews, that Deep Forest Raceway and Apricot Hill Raceway may be returning, alongside several new-to-Gran Turismo cars, a deeper career and PS5-maximising visuals. But - what is missing so far? Will the...
Nov 15, 2021•37 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Mortiz Löhner has made a successful leap from sim racing into real-world motorsport - and you can too. No, really. Löhner's tale is one that many of us can relate to. He grew up in a motorsport-following family with a game console. He then used that to become successful in the virtual world - three times an ADAC GT Masters Esports Champion within RaceRoom and currently competing in the REMUS GT3 Championship and VCO ProSIM SERIES. Form his sim racing exploits, he secured a one-off, last-minute d...
Nov 08, 2021•30 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Anthony, aka BushiAntz, has been creating F1 game content since 2019, so who better to ask if the game series and esports events are headed in the right direction? We delve into the recent track and feature additions, who we think will win the F1 Esports Series Pro Championship crown and the real-world Formula 1 title. Please follow or subscribe on your podcast app of choice and if you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review. Your feedback is invaluable and helps us to create more episodes i...
Nov 01, 2021•33 min•Season 3Ep. 4
A former NASCAR Cup Series champion, a two-time Daytona 500 winner, a Hall of Fame inductee and current driver in SRX, Bill Elliott has a storied career. He's also got plenty to say about video games and sim racing, as he once had his own game in the early 1990s, and his son Chase Elliott – 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Champion – uses simulators to stay sharp. Listen to the latest episode of the Traxion.GG Podcast as we ask Bill about his career highlights and what it's like being immortalised in vide...
Oct 25, 2021•17 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Forza Horizon 5 is launching soon. Like, really soon. 9th November 2021 to be precise. Well, okay, a few days before that if you buy the $99.99/£84.99 Premium Edition that comes with early access so you can play on 5th November. There’s been a deluge of information about this game in the weeks running up to launch. New cars, new Festival Playlists, new Showcase events, the new environment and new gameplay elements. In this episode of the Traxion Podcast, we dig through what’s important and what’...
Oct 13, 2021•41 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Stylised racing simulator Circuit Superstars releases in its final form for PC via Steam and Xbox One today, 12th October 2021 and so we spoke to the Original Fire development team about their journey so far, the initial reception, how they feel now the game is available and what's next. In this episode, join us as we speak to Caro Mastretta – Founder and Studio Lead, Carlos Mastretta – Founder and Designer and Alberto Mastretta – Founder and Creator. They have some fascinating insights about ga...
Oct 12, 2021•33 min•Season 3Ep. 1
This week on the Traxion.GG podcast, we are joined by Hot Wheels Unleashed ’s Lead Game Designer Federico Cardini, who works for developer Milestone in Milan. We discuss the upcoming racing game, which features diecast models racing around miniaturised circuits, a track editor a livery creator and an extensive post-release roadmap and split-screen multiplayer. We learn how the team managed to secure licences for real-world vehicles and how one of the most exciting games releasing this year came ...
Sep 20, 2021•35 min•Season 2Ep. 17
We visited the 2021 Esports WRC Grand Final in Athens to speak to the drivers, the organisers and the WRC 10 game developers. Find out what it takes to become a virtual rally champion, why the World Rally Championship takes esports so seriously and what it takes to put on such a big live event. Also, we speak to the WRC 10 Game Director for the full lowdown on the latest game and what the future holds for KT Racing. In order of appearance: Esports finalist, John Bebnowicz-Harris aka Izamusing Es...
Sep 13, 2021•44 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Following the explosion of racing esports in 2020, as motorsport series around the world turned to virtual events to keep fans engaged, we look at the current state of professional esports in 2021 and see if the buddle has burst. Are people still watching live virtual motorsport events? Which championships are succeeding? Is there growth or decline overall? Even if you aren’t deeply invested in the world of esports, we hope this episode of the Traxion.GG Podcast will help explain the pros and co...
Sep 06, 2021•39 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Last Friday witnessed a profusion of Assetto Corsa news, be that Assetto Competizione coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, Assetto Corsa Mobile releasing on the 31st of August or the new cars, a new track and visual improvements coming to ACC on all platforms. But, the reception amongst some parties was a little mixed. John and Tom discuss why they think that shouldn’t be the case, and why there’s plenty to look forward to in the world of Assetto Corsa no matter what platform you drive the simulat...
Aug 30, 2021•29 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Joining us this week on the Traxion Podcast is ROBO46 to talk about motorcycle sim racing. We cover all the big hitters on the market at the minute and, discuss the pros and cons and consider where we think the genre is heading. MotoGP, RiMS Racing, TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge, TrackDayR and Ride 4 are all talked about – so if you aren’t into bike games, you can get up to speed and see what you are missing out on. We felt that often sim motorbikes games get put in a corner during gaming deb...
Aug 23, 2021•43 min•Season 2Ep. 13
With art of rally now releasing on console, Xbox and Nintendo Switch out now and PlayStation coming soon, here’s why the Traxion team has fallen head over heels for the unique take on rallying and why you should pick it up. Maybe it’s the art style, or the handling, or the attention to detail or the rally call-backs? Perhaps a combination of all those elements? Listen to the latest Traxion Podcast as we discuss why we think you should be playing it, and how the successor to Funselektor’s Absolut...
Aug 16, 2021•32 min
GRID Legends is a blockbuster new racing game from EA and Codemasters that centres around an extended reality story, but what came before this 2022 release? Lots of other GRID games, of course! In this episode of the Traxion Podcast, we run through the TOCA lineage of the GRID series, which of the main GRID games we think was the best and why you should care about the future of the franchise. It’s a patchy history, filled with amazing ideas, lots of solid racers and one outstanding release. Here...
Aug 09, 2021•40 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Rudy van Buren has twice finished on the podium this season in the highly competitive Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, but his career path to this point has been far from conventional. Starting out in karting, Rudy then focused his effort on sim racing, where his natural talent shone through. This culminated in two GPVWC titles in 2017, the Superleague and International Touring Cup and winning the inaugural World's Fastest Gamer competition to become the McLaren F1 team's simulator driver for 20...
Aug 02, 2021•34 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Joining us this week on the Traxion.GG podcast is Jack Basford, founder and CEO iGP Games, creator of iGP Manager – a leading single-seater management game. Originally released back in 2011, the free-to-play online-league-based title is available via any web browser, or through PC, iOS and Android apps, all of which synch together. Earlier in 2021, a new 3D race feature was added to the game too, and the development team continue to evolve the platform. We speak to Jack about how he still innova...
Jul 26, 2021•32 min•Season 2Ep. 9
