Imagine Canada without hockey, or peanut butter without jelly. Unthinkable right? Some things were just meant to go together—videogames and cars are among them. Since the birth of gaming in the 1970s, the ever-popular racing genre has continued to evolve and push boundaries. Up to now, these rich virtual experiences have been confined to the screen; but what if they crossed over to the real world? Driving a Ford Focus ST, Ben Collins, “The Former Stig” from BBC’s hit show Top Gear®, did just that by racing another driver…who was on a PS3®.
Spectators of the world’s first “Virtual vs Real” race.
The 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed in the U.K. not only saw the unveiling of the Ford Focus ST, but the world’s first “Virtual Vs Real” race. Shortly after the reveal, “The Former Stig” raced against Krisztian Somodi, who tackled the same course simultaneously on the Gran Turismo® 6 PlayStation® driving simulator. The simulator replicated the vehicle, track and driving conditions as closely as possible to ensure a fair competition.
Jim Farley, Executive Vice President of Ford and Kazunori Yamauchi, Creator of the GranTurismo® series pose with the drivers of the 2015 Ford Focus ST.
Tens of thousands of spectators eagerly watched the Ford Focus STs burn rubber via giant screens positioned around the festival. The hatchbacks were neck and neck, but the Focus ST managed to edge its virtual counterpart by a tenth of a second, posting a time of 1:05.13.
Dashboard view of the race (real driver on the left, virtual racer on the right).
The beautiful thing about video games is that they allow us to drive amazing cars that we may otherwise never get to take for a spin in real life. We don’t know what lies around the next bend for the racing genre, but we do know Ford will continue to excite both drivers and gamers alike. What Ford would you love to see in a video game or wish you could drive in real life? Let us know in the comments below, on Facebook, or send us a tweet.
Side profile of the Focus ST.