An avid motorsports fan, a karter and a senior simracer, The
rF2 Asia Series Formula ISI and
Formula Renault 3.5 Champion of 2015,
Jan Han Liang, talking about his passion and his journey in sim racing through all the years.
"It all started with NFS Shift(2009), albeit not a proper sim racing title, it introduced me to a genre of racing game that I never knew, one that attempts to replicate a higher level of realism. It was from there I began searching for "the most realistic" racing game, that search then led me to Rfactor and the fantastic bunch of people at Malaysian Sim Racers(MSR).
Back then, I bought a used Logitech Wingman Formula GP wheel at a cheap price of RM80 because I couldn't drive NFS Shift with keyboard. Realised it was shit when I tried it with Rfactor, it was quickly replaced with a used Logitech MOMO. The search for realism slowly made me move on from the MOMO to the Driving Force Pro, then the DFGT, G25 after that, and finally the G27. These 6 years of sim racing also brought me from a puny 14" laptop with plastic chair to a big ass 19" CRT monitor, from a proper 24" monitor to my current 40" TV setup with MPC Racing cockpit.
Over the years, sim racing has taught me much. Especially when racecraft and car control can be applied in my amateur karting hobby as well as defensive driving on public roads. In addition, the races in MSR among friends showed me how to respect friends and fellow drivers in a heated race.
And it wasn't just about the online racing. The practice I got from online racing also led me to a few proud and unforgettable moments competing in public sim racing competitions such as the time when I got runner up in the 2015 RaceXP tournament.
Though it may not always be all smiles in my years or sim racing, such as being crashed into during a race after spending days practicing, or having to put up with terrible wheel setup in a pay-to-race tournament, or experiencing disconnection during a race. It is still a pleasure to be able to continue doing what I do, as sim racing also taught me that small disappointments can never be avoided, just like how F1 drivers have to deal with car reliability issues.
With real life motorsports being too costly, sim racing is the closest I can get to real racing with my limited budget and other financial commitments. In short, that's why I'm so into sim racing."
