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Title leader aids in rival’s preparation
Trailing by 25-points in the fight for GT Trophy, Brett Hobson has further enhanced his preparation and it’s with thanks to his chief class rival.
When the Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS returns to the track at Bathurst, Hobson will not only return in a rejuvenated Nissan GT-R GT3 after a rebuild by GWR Australia, but he will have clocked up countless laps around the Mountain.
However, no fuel or tyres were needed.
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Ensuring his GT-R GT3 is ready was one thing, but Hobson through rival Brad Schumacher purchased a simulator to keep match fit himself.
Schumacher’s I-Sim Motion Simulators has been in business for three years now and was founded after the GT Trophy leader decided to combine his expertise in electronics with a friend’s skills in robotics.
Schumacher describes the simulator as “very, very hi-tech and realistic.”
Releasing its first simulator last year, it was an immediately popular product as racing consistently became increasingly difficult.
“Whenever anyone talks to me about buying a simulator, they are talking to somebody who understands the concept of a simulator, who owns businesses, has raced GT cars for years and understands it,” Schumacher said.
“A lot of the drivers that do come to us and ask for a simulator, I get a lot of customers discussing with me the realistic features that blend between the real life racing and the simulator world, in particular with our product as it’s full motion.
“Our product was designed entirely by us from the ground up basically and we use only Australian suppliers, which is a huge part of our marketing tactic.”
Hobson isn’t the only driver to have an I-Sim Motion Simulator at his disposal, with fellow GT Trophy rival Nick Kelly also among those to own one, as does Schumacher himself for preparation during race week.
Friends off the track, Hobson asked Schumacher the benefits of the simulator and was quick to commit to purchasing one.
“Brett contacted me and he was half interested in getting a sim,” Schumacher said.
“I said to him ‘you’re behind the eight ball because without a simulator you’re never going to beat me’ and he literally ordered one the next day!”
“He’s racing at Bathurst now; we’ve set up his GT-R on the game. It’s perfect for him as mentally he’s going in with a bit of seat time and others aren’t due to not being able to.”
For Hobson, the simulator provided a necessary part of his preparation in the fight for the GT Trophy title.
“Purchasing the sim off Brad was one thing I felt I had to do to try and keep my eye in as much as possible,” Hobson said.
“I got the sim to try and better myself. Looking at Brad as a driver and what he’s done in that GT car in such a short amount of time as well, obviously the sim has helped him get to where he is. He’s very fast on track, he’s got good outright speed and with this back I thought what was the next best thing, which was to get a sim to see if it helps me.
Hobson has only owned the simulator for a couple of weeks, but is thrilled with the results so far.
“To be honest, it really has helped me in the way I can sit on there for 45-50 minutes just knocking out lap after lap,” he said.
“Just the consistency in training your mind to sit there for that amount of time to keep hitting the marks and hitting the spots.
“I think it’s going to help me a fair bit.”