Looking for the ultimate F1 gaming experience?

12/11/2009 Never mind buying F1 cars off Ebay, race fans with a little bit of dosh can now buy the exact same equipment used by top racing drivers and engineers to improve their race craft and evaluate new tracks and car settings. Cruden B.V. - the world's leading designer and manufacturer of interactive motion-based racing simulators - is offering its new racing simulator as an extreme alternative to popular home gaming equipment for affluent motorsport and performance driving enthusiasts. The Hexatech - a professional full motion simulator with six 'degrees of freedom' (6DOF), realistic g-Force simulation up to multiple g's, seat belt tensioners and 100 per cent realistic steering feedback - is normally found in Formula One factories and automotive research centres. Now, this same sophisticated equipment can provide the definitive motorsport experience at home, with prices for the base simulator package starting at £120,000. "Snooker rooms, swimming pools, gyms and cinemas have been done time and again. Now, enter the professional racing simulator," says Frank Kalff, Cruden's commercial director. "Let's be clear: this is not a video game linked up to a steering wheel, race seat and pedals. Although easy to operate, this is the exact same equipment used by the top racing drivers and engineers to improve their race craft and evaluate new tracks and car settings. Our simulator and the software it uses cannot be bought in a store." The Hexatech promises years of highly challenging entertainment both in terms of durability - it is built to endure hundreds of thousands of 'driving' miles per year in almost constant use and lasts 10 to 15 years without major overhaul - and in ensuring drivers never get tired of the quest to improve. Kalff explains: "Driving a real Formula One car is not easy and getting fast and consistent laps in the simulator isn't either. The simulator takes minutes to learn and enjoy but a lifetime to master, unlike most driving games which are conquered and then discarded before too long. The immense challenge of honing the same level of driving skill as a top racing driver is unbelievably addictive and satisfying." Creating a bespoke simulator - or even multiple linked-up systems - will introduce an unrivalled centre-piece within the home. The Hexatech is now available as a three-seater (3CTR), where passengers sit either side of the driver to experience the ride together. Cruden can supply open or closed cockpits, fit bodywork or use actual vehicles, and apply the livery of a race or road vehicle according to customer preference. Owners can choose between three 'wrap around' 42 inch screens or (stereo) projectors to view their virtual world of state-of-the-art graphics. Friends and family can watch the race projected onto nearby screens or walls. There is a wide variety of software packages and competition settings to chose from, allowing customers to host fast lap shoot-outs, 24-hour endurance races and full championships, as well as to select race tracks and cars; for example from F1, rally, NASCAR and sports car racing. Ownership is made easy with full installation, training, access to upgrades and on-call support provided as part of the purchase. The electro-mechanical system typically requires only five KWh of electricity, making the Hexatech economical to run. The simulator has a footprint of 2.3 m x 3 m, requires a floor loading of 1,000 kg/m2 and a minimum ceiling height of 3 metres. Cruden also makes static and 3DOF simulators to customer order. For more details visit the Cruden website, though be advised it is currently under construction and will not be running until Sunday (November 15). Article from Pitpass (http://www.pitpass.com): Published: 12/11/2009 Copyright © Pitpass 2002 - 2009. All rights reserved.

ALONSO vs MASSA

This season still has not ended yet and next season is still along way to go but it seems that the rivalry between Massa and Alonso has already started to simmer. Massa again was accusing Alonso of knowing about the plot to crash at the Singapore GP last year but a few hours later and after a dressing down by Ferrari, he issued another statement playing down his earlier accusation.

The second statement, although almost denying the first one still had some unhappiness sprinkled over it. One thing is for sure, Massa was extremely upset not to win last year's championship and is still looking for somebody else to blame. Lewis lost it to Kimi by 1 point and he lost to Lewis by 1 point, deal with it.

I'm looking forward to the Massa-Alonso rivalry next year. That should tear Ferrari up from the inside or at least trip them up through the season.

FIRST FOOTAGE OF YAS MARINA CIRCUIT

James Allen has published the first on board footage of a lap of the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi in a 2 seater open wheel race car driven by Bruno Senna. The track looks awesome and drives awesome too. At least on our F1 simulator. I was thinking it would be a good looking track but boring to drive but surprisingly, it was quite fast and challenging with some great 3 apex turns at high speeds. Can't wait to go to Abu Dhabi on 27th Oct. Woohoo.

MASSA TO WAVE THE FLAG AT INTERLAGOS

This is an interesting bit of news. It seems that the organizers of the penultimate race of this season at Interlagos, Brazil have decided to have some fun and add some novelty to the race by having Felipe Massa wave the chequered flag to signal the finish of the race.

Taking into consideration what happened to Massa and the fact he is currently out of the racing, that sounds nice and sweet. But imagine if the race was won by Lewis Hamilton this year? I can't imagine the look on Massa's face having to wave the flag for Hamilton at his home race after losing the championship to Lewis last year in such dramatic fashion.

Image courtesy of The F1 Files.

MASSA TO RACE IN 2009?

That's what the rumours are saying. I'd be very surprised if he did. Currently his fitness is not known so it's just speculation. Although he did come back to Maranello for meetings and sessions in the simulator. It also turns out that Ferrari have asked the stewards whether massa could test the F2007 with GP2 tyres just like Schumacher.

Williams have given their blessing to the test and Ferrari are not saying whether it is confirmed or not. But it seems we'll know something by next week.

JAPANESE GP 2009 RESULTS

Well, that was quite an exciting race. I say "quite" because it is not really exciting or great. I was expecting more based on what I saw during qualifying yesterday with all the crashes and spins and drama. There was a safety car today though and a heavy crash but still the results were no surprise. By that I mean the top 3 started and finished in the same position.

The start was exciting, yes more exciting than quite exciting, but that was it. Lewis had a good start overtaking Trulli into the first turn and almost taking Vettel with him but the run down to the first turn was too short for his KERS to be effective. On top of that, Vettel had an amazing start, defended his line well and just pulled away like he had an extra 200 horses on that Red Bull. He never looked back since.

Lewis took Trulli into that first turn and stuck to Vettel. All 3 of them had a pretty relaxed race all the way except for when Lewis' KERS gave some problems and switched off. Lewis couldn't restart the thing and it proved fatal in his bid to take Trulli later. Lewis' second pitstop exit was delayed by a couple of tenths. These 2 factors contributed to him unable to pass Trulli when Trulli was exiting the pits. Damn.

Alguersuari had a pretty big spin at 130R and whacked the tyre barriers pretty hard. It was a spectacular crash which brought out the SC with 11 laps to go. The field bunched up and upon the restart, again lewis couldn't take Trulli cos the KERS wasn't working. He also couldn't get near him as the Toyota was pretty much on the pace also.

The Brawns were pretty much in the midfield this race. Button just needing to take it easy and making sure he got some points not too far away from Barrichello which he did by finishing P8 behind Barrichello's P8. He was almost taken by Kubica though, the BMW Sauber looking quite fast hassling Button.

Kovalainnen again drove a "mising" race. By that I mean he was missing most of the time. The only time he stood out was when he was overtaken in the pits by Fisichella and wrestled his position back just after leaving the pitlane. It was a close fight and he won it.

Kimi was his usual self, sleeping from the start of the race and deciding to wake up and really race when the race was run to about 90%. He didn't do too bad though, finishing P4. Poor Mark Webber not only started from the pitlane but had to pit 5 times and finished 2 laps down. Taht was a nightmare race for him.

Overall, quite an exciting race but not exciting enough. I thought the way this track was laid out would give more overtaking opportunities and some brave driving. But in the end it was quite straightforward and by the book. Looking forward to Brazil which is also a damn good track which should produce some exciting racing.

If not for an exciting race, I'd stay up just to see Massa going round telling everybody how he was robbed by Piquet last year at Singapore.

Results
01 S. Vettel Red Bull 1:28:20.443
02 J. Trulli Toyota + 4.877
03 L. Hamilton McLaren + 6.472
04 K. Räikkönen Ferrari + 7.940
05 N. Rosberg Williams + 8.793
06 N. Heidfeld BMW + 9.509
07 R. Barrichello Brawn GP + 10.641
08 J. Button Brawn GP + 11.474
09 R. Kubica BMW + 11.777
10 F. Alonso Renault + 13.065
11 H. Kovalainen McLaren + 13.735
12 G. Fisichella Ferrari + 14.596
13 A. Sutil Force India F1 + 14.959
14 V. Liuzzi Force India F1 + 15.734
15 K. Nakajima Williams + 18.973
16 R. Grosjean Renault + 1 lap(s)
17 M. Webber Red Bull + 2 lap(s)
Did not finish
18 J. Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso + 10 lap(s)
19 S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso + 42 lap(s)

RESHUFFLED SUZUKA GRID POSITIONS

Following the various penalties given to drivers for speeding during a yellow flag, driving around a damaged car and gearbox changes, the new grid positions for today's race will be as follows:-

1st row:
Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull-Renault)
Jarno Trulli (ITA/Toyota)

2nd row:
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes)
Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW-Sauber)

3rd row:
Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari)
Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/McLaren-Mercedes)

4th row:
Nico Rosberg (GER/Williams-Toyota)
Robert Kubica (POL/BMW-Sauber)

5th row:
Adrian Sutil (GER/Force India-Mercedes)
Rubens Barrichello (BRA/Brawn-Mercedes)

6th row:
Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/Toro Rosso-Ferrari)
Jenson Button (GBR/Brawn-Mercedes)

7th row:
Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA/Ferrari)
Sebastien Buemi (SUI/Toro Rosso-Ferrari)

8th row:
Kazuki Nakajima (JPN/Williams-Toyota)
Romain Grosjean (FRA/Renault)

9th row: Fernando Alonso (ESP/Renault)
Tonio Liuzzi (ITA/Force India-Mercedes)

Pitlane: Timo Glock (GER/Toyota)
Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull-Renault)