The Simon Racing Report

The Simon Racing Report has moved to Channel Klaxon and the Channel Klaxon Podcast Network! Visit channelklaxon.com for more information.

Jonathan Simon speaks to Brad Jones Racing driver Jake Burton ahead of the 2020 Repco Supercars Pro Eseries, talking how the championship dynamic/contenders will fare in 2020, his test in a Supercar @ Winton Raceway, what would Jake change from last year's Eseries to this years', broadcasting the Supercars Eseries draft, Josh Rogers sending Uber Eats to congratulate Jake Burton on his first Eseries win, Jake's involvement in the 2020 BP Supercars All Stars Eseries, including setting reference laps for Brad Jones Racing and spotting for Jack Smith, and going sandbox mode: creating our own fantasy/dream Supercars Eseries.

Jonathan Simon speaks to newly signed Triple Eight Race Engineering / Red Bull Holden Racing Team driver Jarrad Filsell – ahead of his second campaign in the Repco Supercars Pro Eseries. The two chat about how Jarrad signed with the team, the growing competitiveness of sim racing, visiting both Walkinshaw Andretti United (2019) and Red Bull HRT (2020) at The Bend, hanging out with Supercars drivers during the COVID-19 global pandemic, the new iRacing Supercars, working with Josh Rogers in 2019, Jarrad's broken wrist, media day for the 2019 Supercars Eseries, whether live “in person” rounds are necessary, the BP Supercars All Stars Eseries, Supercars around ovals, and more.

Jonathan Simon is joined by officially licensed iRacing Rallycross World Championship driver Beau Albert – previewing the 2020 iRacing Rallycross World Championship, presented by Yokohama. Guest drivers include 2019 champion Sami-Matti Trogen, Yohann Harth, Bobby Zalenski and Josh Fox.They preview all 2020 licensed drivers, the series calendar for 2020 (including brand new circuit – Hell Lånkebanen), the drivers' survey results where the 2020 field were able to voice their opinion on a number of series related topics, flashbacks to the greatest moments of the 2019 season, as well as some playful fake Vegas bets.The 2020 iRacing Rallycross World Championship, presented by Yokohama will commence on the 26th of September where we head to Hell Lånkebanen for the first time in the series. Coverage will begin at 4:45pm GMT – provided by RaceSpot TV, streaming live on the iRacing eSports Network.

Jonathan Simon is joined by Nick Rowland to rewatch the historic 1998 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, talking which Formula 1 TV intro was the best, the biggest crash in Formula 1 history, the second start, which corners look better or worse at Spa in the modern day, the Michael Schumacher – David Coulthard incident, the commentary team (Murray Walker, Martin Brundle, incl. James Allen in pits), the crazed fan who crossed the track at the end of the race, and more.

Jonathan Simon is joined by sim racing entrepreneur Richard Arnaud to discuss how the coronavirus (COVID-19) is sim racing's opportunity to shine, how having motorsport teams involved in sim racing doesn't mean the sport has reached a level of professionalisation, copyright and Formula 1, F1 Esports and developing sim racing teams, the status quo of sim racing broadcasting, race formats for world championship level sim racing, the high turnover of sim racers and esports athletes (retiring early), and VRS Coanda Simsport's new team house.

Jonathan Simon is joined by Randolph Chenowth — reviewing the 2019 Thrustmaster iRacing Rallycross World Championship, discussing the final championship standings, green and red flag moments, and handing out as many awards as the NHL do to our 2019 grid.

Jonathan Simon is joined by Brad Jones Racing driver Jake Burton talking his experience in motorsport including Aussie Driver Search and the Toyota 86 Racing Series, the realism of modern day sim racing, the new and old Supercar in iRacing, the Aussie Driver Search Sim-to-Supercar Showdown, passing Garth Tander around the outside at Phillip Island in the Toyota 86 Series, the Gfinity Supercars Eseries media day shenanigans, the public reception and future of the Gfinity Supercars Eseries, Positive SimRacing, Virtual Racing School coaching, and why Jake left Trans Tasman Racing.

Jonathan Simon is joined by Shannons Racing / Trans Tasman Racing driver Madison Down discussing sim racing in the 2000s, why some real world drivers are quick in a sim, and some are slow, his racing experience in Shannons Nationals, Shelby Cobra, Aussie Driver Search, the media day experience for the 2019 Gfinity Supercars Eseries, the live round of the Gfinity Supercars Eseries, why Madison had to go through the draft for the series, and improvements to the future of the Gfinity Supercars Eseries.

Jonathan Simon catches up with Apex Racing Team driver Kevin Ellis Jr to talk off-season sim racing, improving over the summer, Porsche Esports Supercup for 2019 and 2020, Kevin's success in 2019 in both the Porsche Esports Supercup and endurance special events, live stewarding in world championship sim racing, and more.

Jonathan Simon is joined by Virtual Racing School driver coach, and open wheel extraordinaire Julian Dunne who drops by to talk about his involvement with Virtual Racing School as a driver coach, the nuances of the Pro Mazda in comparison to the Dallara F3, Julian's sim racing history, setup tips, Pro Mazda, open wheel racing, Formula 1, iRacing's new tyre model (NTM v7) and more.

Jonathan Simon is joined by Logitech G Altus Esports driver and Australia's #1 ranked iRacing Rallycross talent Beau Albert — previewing the 2019 Thrustmaster iRacing Rallycross World Championship. Guest drivers include Steliyan Chepilevski, Josh Fox, Jon Robertson and Yohann Harth.They preview all 2019 licensed drivers, the series calendar for 2019 (including Atlanta's introduction to the schedule), the results of ‘The Drivers' Survey' where the 2019 field were able to voice their opinion on their peers, flashbacks to the greatest moments of the 2018 season, as well as looking at some fun ‘Fake Vegas Bets'.The 2019 Thrustmaster iRacing Rallycross World Championship will commence on the 5th of October where we head to the Atlanta Motor Speedway for the first time in the series. Coverage will begin at 5:45pm GMT and of course, will be on RaceSpot TV, streaming live on the iRacing eSports Network.

The first ever live, in person podcast of The Simon Racing Report was recorded from the home of Motum Simulation in Melbourne, Australia. Jonathan Simon is joined by Logitech G Altus Esports driver Simon Feigl to talk Daniel Ricciardo and other notable racing car drivers who have driven the motion sims, the origins of Motum Simulation and services they offer, the evolution of Logitech G Altus Esports, driver lineup of the team, Simon's GT Academy experiences (2010 and 2015) and more.

Jonathan Simon sits down with fellow sim racing commentator Jake Sparey to talk memories of Jake's early commentary days, the status quo of sim racing broadcasting, memories and goodbyes, the Sim Racing Observer, and Jake's new broadcasting company 4ever Sim Racing.

Jonathan Simon sits down with Thrustmaster Mivano Racing driver Josh Thompson to talk karting, how kart setups can help in sim racing, Josh's karting history, trash talk stories, teammates at Mivano, the VRS GT iRacing World Championship, whether sim racing or karting is a better training tool, and more.

Jonathan Simon joins Apex Racing Team members Alex Simpson, Kevin Ellis Jr, Michele Costantini and Zac Campbell to celebrate Kevin and Michele's race victory in the iRacing 6h of the Glen, Zac and Yohann Harth's technical issue that retired the car, a brief look at Jamie Fluke's and Riley Preston's event, talking on the merger of Apex Racing UK and the Evolution Racing Team, setup and track temperature conditions around Watkins Glen, different driver strategies between different teams, a fun speed round with the drivers, and upcoming events.

Veloce eSports driver and 2019 eROC champion James Baldwin drops by to discuss the upcoming F1 Esports draft, as well as the difficult in adapting to different sims, being an apprentice mechanic in Formula 3 and setting up cars in sim racing, who Veloce are and what their involvement is in sim racing, Jean-Eric Vergne's involvement with Veloce, the 2019 eROC Final, the JMR scholarship competition, and more.

Jonathan Simon sits down with Williams Esports and F1 Esports driver Isaac Price to talk Williams Esports and how it feels to be contracted to a Formula 1 team, how the teams Isaac has raced for show how sim racing is growing progressively, whether sim racing still enjoyable despite the extra pressure, racing for Fernando Alonso at G2 Esports and leaving CoRe SimRacing, going undrafted in the 2018 F1 Esports Pro Draft, does the dynamic in Williams Esports work the same as a typical sim racing team, should iRacing have killed off the open wheel world championship scene completely, guessing Isaac's iRacing World Championship Grand Prix Series career statistics, and more.

Jonathan Simon sits down with 2018 GT4 European Series runner up, and Thrustmaster Mivano Racing driver Will Tregurtha to discuss Round 1 of the 2019 VRS GT World Championship (6 hours of Spa), racing in the 2019 VLN Endurance Championship, Will's three-way tie for the championship in European GT4, karting, driver coaching and driving styles, whether simulated race tracks replicate the real world well, Will's helmet, and more.

Jonathan Simon brings on Paul Smith to recap Jonathan's ‘fan experience' at the 2019 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, discussing topics such as merchandise costs, walking the track for Friday practice, what the liveries look like in person, ranting on track commentary, general admission fan spots, and video screens, track evolution during qualifying, Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton, and the start of the race, Mercedes' Hamilton strategy, the reintroduction of points for fastest lap, Haas F1's bittersweet event, Renault, McLaren and Lando Norris' terrific debut grand prix, Lance Stroll's points finish, the high grass length where Ricciardo's incident took place, and meeting drivers, team members, journalists and more while leaving the track (including a lengthy conversation with David Croft).

RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon brings on Paul Smith to preview the 2019 Formula 1 season, discussing whether Ferrari is the fastest car heading into Melbourne, should Maurizio Arrivabene receive credit for Ferrari's rise, is F1 more important to Ferrari than Ferrari is to F1, questions around the future success of Mercedes, will new F1 fans ever understand how popular Williams F1 were decades ago, Red Bull Racing, will Renault make a step up in the next 12 months, Haas F1 Team, McLaren and their title sponsorship situation, sim racing's impact on real world drivers Lando Norris, Ashley Sutton and Shane Van Gisbergen, Racing Point and Lance Stroll's past junior formula results, Alfa Romeo and Toro Rosso, F1's new tyre warmer rules for 2021, and the best looking liveries of 2019.

RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon is joined by Red Bull Racing and F1 Esports driver Graham Carroll to catch up on his success racing on the big stage against the world's best, F1 Esports draft and being selected by Red Bull Racing, his rising popularity in sim racing, his relationship with top sim racers such as Bono Huis, and F1 drivers Max Verstappen, Nelson Piquet Jr and Lando Norris, the Red Bull family in F1 Esports (Cem Bolukbasi, Graham Carroll, Frederik Rasmussen, Joni Törmälä, Patrik Holzmann), learning from some of the best drivers and teams of all time, visiting the Red Bull Racing factory in Milton Keynes, mentoring Sebastian Job through his 2018 Formula Ford season and the eRace of Champions, the Porsche iRacing World Championship Series, and online vs LAN events.

RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon is joined by Steliyan Chepilevski and the world's most awesome sim racing rig, to take us around his setup, including his wheel, pedals, screens, virtual reality and more. The two also discuss the importance of direct drive steering wheels in sim racing, his rally racing experience in the real world and the simulator, breathing techniques to help mental strength in sim racing, physical fitness in sim racing, whether wearing specific clothing improves performance, the importance of muscle memory, Richard Burns Rally, the iRacing Rallycross World Championship Series, and Steliyan's departure from Vuzion racing.

RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon and Paul Smith premiere the first ever video podcast for The Simon Racing Report, discussing topics including Porsche and iRacing's new world championship partnership, whether F1 eSports ruined the open wheel world championship scene for iRacing, the eNASCAR PEAK Antifreeze iRacing Series draft and licensing systems in iRacing world championships, how to police opposing teams from working with each other in eSports, whether sim racers race in eSports for a path to a real world drive, and the Maurizio Arrivabene / Mattia Binotto switch.

RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon sits down with JMR Scholarship winner and G2 Esports driver Sebastian Job to talk about the 2018 Walter Hayes Trophy, heat racing, Graham Carroll and his influence on Sebastian and his Formula Ford career, winning the 2018 JMR Scholarship, the 2018 Formula Ford season, wet weather in sim racing and crazy experiences in Formula Ford, training consistency and adaptability in sim racing, the F1 Esports Pro Draft and stories from the Sim Racing Expo.

RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon and Paul Smith discuss the latest headlines in Formula 1, as well as the 2018 Japanese Grand Prix from the Suzuka Circuit. Topics include the value of the constructors' championship vs drivers' championship, the potential change in qualifying format, Lewis Hamilton vs Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen's potential on the all-time driver list, driver leadership differences between Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel, and more.

RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon talks about the current team performance situation in Formula 1, as well as which teams have shown signs of switching development to their 2019 car. Then, Vuzion Racing driver Connor Parise joins to talk about iRacing's various rallycross tracks, changes to the iRacing Rallycross World Championship Series, potential for rally in iRacing (point to point driving), Red Bull GRC going defunct just before the inaugural iRacing Rallycross World Championship Series began, Vuzion Racing's establishment, teamwork in sim racing vs solo talent, Vuzion's iRX World Championship victories, his Vuzion Racing teammates and future goals of the team, whether or not the iRacing Rallycross is dying or growing, and how to attract more drivers to the series.

Apex Racing UK's Jamie Fluke joins Jonathan Simon in the Film Room, a Simon Racing Report feature series, to rewatch the dramatic 2018 iRacing World Championship Grand Prix Series race from Monza, along with qualifying and the race.

RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon talks with up and coming young Australian sim racer Joshua K Rogers, discussing time zones, latency and practice in sim racing, sim racing history, Supercars, Burst eSport, karting experience and learning to drive, streaming on Twitch, culture differences between sim racing and real world motorsport, the iRacing World Championship Grand Prix Series, and karting in Australia.

RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon and Paul Smith get back together again for more Formula 1 talk, discussing all prominent headlines from the summer break (and prior), including Fernando Alonso's retirement announcement, Carlos Sainz's move to McLaren, Daniel Ricciardo's move to Renault, silly season and mock drafting the 2019 Formula 1 grid, Force India going into administration, the best mid pack driver lineups of all time, available Red Bull drivers for the second seat alongside Max Verstappen, Red Bull's switch to Honda in 2018, Robert Kubica potentially returning to the grid at Spa, the 2019 F1 Rule changes, and more.

RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon is joined by the greatest sim racer of all time, Greger Huttu, to talk Greger's sim racing history, his experience racing in multiple series and simulators, the iRacing World Championship Grand Prix Series, whether Greger is slowing with age, his struggle when a season switches to a new car, how Team Redline work race to race, the Visa Vega eRace and World's Fastest Gamer (#WFG), Greger's most feared drivers over the years, and talking Formula 1 and his favourite Finnish moments.

RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon is joined by FA Racing G2 (and now Toro Rosso draftee) Cem Bolukbasi, talking about his experiences meeting Formula 1 drivers Fernando Alonso, Stoffel Vandoorne, Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly, and Lewis Hamilton, the 2017 F1 Esports and the future of the league, the 2018 F1 Esports Pro Draft, The Red Bull Racing Family (including teammates Graham Carroll, Patrik Holzmann, Joni Tormala, and Frederik Rasmussen), The 2018 F1 Esports season, the Pro Driver Assessment week, and using public simulators.

RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon is joined by sim racing ‘OG' João Vaz to discuss his sim racing history (since the 90's), the best sim racing engines of all time, force feedback (FFB) and ‘feel' in sim racing, the Orion Race Team, the iRacing World Championship Grand Prix Series, his latest season and his career results, tips to improving your pace/speed, Mitchell DeJong's maturity at a young age, the unforgettable 2015-16 iRacing Road Pro Series, stories from the past, and why most drivers hate VIR (Virginia International Raceway).

RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon sits down with Race Clutch CEO, team owner and manager Richard Arnaud to talk Race Clutch's team history and squad, feeder leagues in sim racing, the iRacing Rallycross World Championship Series, negotiations with Formula 1 teams over F1 eSports, sim racing coaching, open wheel cars, setup knowledge and guides, and his sneaky tweet to Richard Branson.

RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon and Paul Smith mull over whether or not this has been Daniel Ricciardo's best victory in Formula 1, who are the current top 3 best drivers on the grid (and who gets snubbed), Formula1.com's Race Performance Rating, the Monaco GP results, hypotheticals for Daniel Ricciardo's next driver contract, whether this is rock bottom for Williams F1, whether Mercedes should hurt the Hamilton/Bottas partnership by signing another driver, and previewing the Canadian Grand Prix @ Montreal.

RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon and Jake Sparey break down the thrilling iWCGPS event for R5, 2018 @ Monza, who benefited the most from the chaos, the race of attrition, brilliant overtakes, uncanny mistakes and bizarre DNF's.

RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon is joined by Radicals Online team boss Rob Cuss to discuss Radicals Online's current rebuild, their current driver lineup and past memories, Rob's sim racing history, the team's plans for the future, and some general motor racing and Formula 1 chat!Then, Paul Smith joins the podcast to discuss the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, recapping qualifying and the race, as well as major events such as Nico Hülkenberg's crash, Lewis Hamilton's lockup, the Red Bull Racing 'racing' incident, Romain Grosjean's trademark blunder (now featuring a safety car), the safety car restart and how Baku is the best track in Formula 1 for safety car restarts, as well as a preview of the 2018 Spanish Grand Prix.

After two thrilling rounds of Formula 1 action, Paul Smith is brought on to discuss the recent Bahrain and Chinese Grands Prix, including the Haas pit crew dilemma, notable events of both races, why drivers should or shouldn't listen to team orders, the Toro Rosso induced safety car, the next round at Baku, and more.

Less than a day after his eighth place finish at Montreal, Kevin Ellis Jr jumps onto the podcast to discuss his topsy-turvy event at round 3 for the iWCGPS, how a minor setup adjustment helped propel him quicker around the race track, changing track conditions, Kazuki Oomishima and his 'Oomishima Dampers', F1 eSports, the new iWCGPS blue flag rules, and the lack of live stewards.

Jonathan Simon and Paul Smith recap the 2018 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, discussing the moments of the weekend, winners and losers, Jonathan's experience and antics at the Albert Park circuit as he attended yet another F1 race. They also discuss the fan's perspective from the track and preview the upcoming Bahrain GP.

It's the return of Paul Smith to The Simon Racing Report, as both himself and Jonathan Simon preview the 2018 Formula 1 season and the Australian Grand Prix. Brand new segments, unique insight and opinions, same fun laughs. Jonathan and Paul will be regularly releasing a podcast race by race for the 2018 Formula 1 season.

Part 2 of the popular and well acclaimed 2018 iWCGPS Preview Show series has been compiled into podcast form. Part 2 includes Apex Racing UK, Radicals Online, Orion Race Team, Positive SimRacing, and your Privateers / one driver teams (incl. Vortex SimRacing, Evolution Racing Team, TTL Esports, Heusinkveld CORE Motorsports, and CoRe Sim Racing).

Part 1 of the popular and well acclaimed 2018 iWCGPS Preview Show series has been compiled into podcast form. Part 1 includes the introduction, VRS Coanda Simsport, Team Redline, and FA Racing G2 (G2 Esports).

Danny Engels, team manager of Fernando Alonso's own FA Racing G2 Logitech G eSports team, joins RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon to discuss the team's new recent signings, the future of sim racing, F1 Esports and Formula 1, and more.

Thomas Arends joins the podcast to discuss losing most of his iWCGPS team to G2 Esports, his driving skills as well as his past success in sim racing, his path to CoRe SimRacing, team bonding in the virtual and real world, including the SimRacing Expo, GT Academy, and the influence of WFG and F1 Esports on CoRe SimRacing as a ‘team'.

In part 2 of the podcast, RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon and Jake Sparey complete the grouping of drivers based on how likely they will obtain a 2018 iRacing World Championship Grand Prix Series license, rank the Pro Series class in relation to the current iWCGPS drivers, and discuss the rumours of CoRe SimRacing drivers Frederik Rasmussen, Sebastian Job, Isaac Price departing the team.

In part 1 of the podcast, RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon and Jake Sparey review the 2017/18 iRacing Road Pro Series ahead of the penultimate round at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, discussing the bizarre end to the championship with driver absences and grouping drivers based on how likely they will obtain a 2018 iRacing World Championship Grand Prix Series license. Part 2 will be released on Friday.

RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon is joined by CoRe Sim Racing's Isaac Price and fellow RaceSpot commentator Connery Maddick to talk G2 Esports and FA Racing G2 Logitech G arrival into sim racing, their overall chances of success, the ideal strategy and route, Fernando Alonso and his impact on F1 eSports, Isaac's experience in the World's Fastest Gamer finals, story sharing including the different personalities of drivers, and the possibilities of McLaren establishing their own eSports team.

RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon is brings on Nick Rowland, who is increasingly becoming our main correspondent for large scale sim racing events, to discuss the overall success of the F1 eSports Grand Final, its comparison to the Visa Vegas eRace and World's Fastest Gamer, G2 eSports and Fernando Alonso's FA Racing G2 Logitech G team, driver performances, the best moments throughout the weekend, as well as some F1 discussion around the current best commentator and journalist in the paddock, and the Sauber, Alfa Romeo and Ferrari sponsorship.

RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon is joined by Evolution Racing Team (ERT) Manager Brenton O'Brien to discuss time zone difficulties in sim racing for Australians, ERT's name change from Evolution Racing Australia, team culture, squashing the beef between Jonathan and Brenton about Riley Preston's initial departure from the team in 2016, the wide range of talent in ERT, and changes to improve the format of the iRacing Road Pro Series.

RaceSpot TV's Jonathan Simon and Paul Smith provide 10 wacky and fortuitous, yet still realistic ideas that could potentially occur in Formula 1 in the future.