Tapas, our little talk show is ready and running for a second season.
Cam Stark is probably one of the youngest Pro licensed drivers in the Road Pro Series racing for the title. Some of you maybe know him for his shinning victory in the Indy 500 event earlier this year. He is part of the Apex Racing UK and as an emergent talent there is a lot of questions we would like to ask him.
When did you started?
Gran Turismo 4 was the first racer i really played back in 2005, but I started taking online racing seriously on Codemasters F1 2012 starting league racing for the first time in the old Apex Racing League. In the end I ultimately stopped playing them towards the end of 2013 as the game was basically broken to an extent with online racing. I got iRacing for the first time at the end of July 2013 but soon quit after only 2 weeks as i didn’t understand the fundamental
s of what it was; as it was a drastic change from the arcade madness of racing games I’d played previously like Forza and F1 20xx.
I gave iRacing another shot towards the end of 2013 and haven’t changed since.
Who was your mentor?
If you mean mentor as in person on iRacing who i happened to look up to, probably no one since when i started i didn’t understand what i was doing, or that their was even a WCS series! The only person I’d heard of was EmptyBox at the time of signing up. Although at the latter end of 2014 i signed up to the Apex Racing Academy, and that was a great help in gaining tips in the cars i was driving at that time!
What sims do you use? What do you like the most?
I primarily only use iRacing. I have rFactor, rF2, Assetto Corsa and a few more games/sims, but i rarely dabble in any of those currently. Since i don’t go on any others enough to really give a valid opinion too much, iRacing for me is my most favorite, especially for the close competition.
I do love rFactor to hotlap on though; i used to go on it frequently and drive a lot of the different mods. But then i got my CSV2 pedals, the brake never calibrated properly on rFactor so haven’t been able to go on it properly in a looooong time which sucks.
What was the inflection point in your simracing career?
When i started taking it more seriously? Well it would probably be when i started doing a lot of Oval racing on Indycar Fixed and began to get consistently good results. Meanwhile for road it wasn’t until about 9 months after i started doing the Indycar ovals that road became my main priority as my appetite for Indycar oval wore off as i basically got bored of it. So i started doing the Star Mazda in Season 4 last year and finished fifth overall, which then sparked my ambition to keep improving on the road side of iRacing from there.
What do you think is the most important attribute to be a successful simracer?
Depends probably from person to person, but equipment isn’t necessarily one of them in my opinion – then again i don’t see why anyone would be using a pad but if they use a pad then maybe that’s a valid excuse for some! I think more so it’s just practice and dedication if you want to become more competitive over time.
When did you get your pro license? How long did it take you?
I got my Pro license by finishing in the Top 15 of the A class racer’s in Season 2 of iGPS by coming in the 9th A class position (12th overall). I would say it took me 8 weeks as the points i accumulated were all done in week 1-8. I got bored and wanted a break at the time just after for whatever reason, so by the time week 9 came around so didn’t do much more for the rest of the season. But it’s a 12 week season so around 2-3months in total.
How many hours do you train before a race?
It varys ALOT. In Season 2 when attaining my Pro license i was able to practice much more than i am now. That would have probably been around 2 hours a day most days back then. Now it’s much less as i have work in the evenings after school so at least 2, maybe 3 days in the week I’m not able to get on to practice. As for the other days i just practice until I’m happy with my pace, and try to do at least a stint so i know I’m fairly prepared, although that usually never works out.
In your opinion, is it the hardware a decisive factor? What is your next hardware upgrade?
I don’t believe it is, unless you use a controller on iRacing, that’s gotta be pretty difficult. I think pedals are more needed for an upgrade than a wheel though. I used a DFGT for ages before and never had any issues with it and it was a great budget wheel, i had to re-go back to it after my G27 broke, and in the end i think i ended up preffering the DFGT to use for whatever reason. Due to it being a budget wheel the pedals weren’t great for me, but still a good starting point for most!
As for my next upgrade i actually have it ready and waiting at home as it arrived the other day, but i won’t set them up until week 13. I purchased ClubSport V3 pedals; maybe a bit of a pointless upgrade from V2’s… but if the brake actually works logically on other sims as it does on iRacing then it will be a purchase worthwhile as i miss the fun of hotlapping on rFactor!
What would you like to see for the next 5 years in simracing?
It to be more widely regarded I guess, for it to become an eSport would be a realistic possibility so that would be pretty awesome if it was to be.
Tell me your most hated track?
On the track’s I’ve driven on iRacing it has to be COTA, not a track I’ve gelled with, also not a fan of Twin Ring (Road).
Show me your racing shoes
I have no racing shoes, just my socks so nothing special here!
Any extra thoughts you would like to say.
Will hopefully have some latter Pro Series races and various other stuff up on my YouTube once I get my new PC build done #soon
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Cam Stark’s YouTube Channel
Thank you Cam for your time and your honesty and good luck in the future events.
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