Jimmy Broadbent

The last few weeks have been amongst the busiest I can remember. Between commentary, video making and incredible real-life driving opportunities, time to sit down and write has been limited. But my most recent opportunity needed to be shared with you all.

After some much-needed rest and recuperation over the last week or two, I’ve come back to a whole heap of new sim racing content. Over the last few days, rFactor 2, DiRT Rally 2.0 and RaceRoom have received new goodies. It always puts a spring in my step when there are new toys to play with when I get home. Of all the newly-released toys, I’ll be talking about the bonkers Volkswagen I.D. R.

Week five of season one of the DiRT Rally 2.0 DLC has arrived! Much like the first week, one car returns from DiRT Rally, with the other a brand new addition to the series. With the Opel Manta being the returning car, I wanted to take the brand spanking new, BMW M1 Procar for a spin and inevitable tumble down a mountain.

It’s been a while since I had the pleasure of a modern, high downforce car. Over the last few weeks, I’ve driven a wide variety of cars and games and had a great deal of fun. But, my primal need for some high downforce savagery hasn’t been satisfied… until now. Enter the 2019 Formula Hybrid.

The new week of Season One of DiRT Rally 2.0 continues, with the release of the first new location for the game, in the shape of Monte Carlo. I say “new”, but just how new is it? Is it simply a reskin, or does it offer a significantly different experience?

Group C truly is the dog’s bollocks. A truckload of power, tons of downforce and brutal power delivery — it’s hard to understand why the class didn’t receive more love within sim racing. With this wonderful sim racing explosion we’re in the midst of, that is finally changing.

McRae and Skoda — one of these is not like the other! I think of McRae and some of the most memorable moments in WRC come to mind. I think of Skoda and the box-like Octavia WRC is what pops up. One is a legend of the sport, the other is quickly forgotten.

Somewhat recently a fellow YouTuber, Jardier, made the rather bold claim that the Ford Escort MkII is the best car in DiRT Rally 2.0. With so many incredibly fun cars in the game, it’s quite the statement. Naturally, I had to find out.

After a delay of nearly three weeks, Kunos finally allowed us to put our grubby mitts on the latest Early Access release of Assetto Corsa Competizione! With the addition of not one, but TWO Nissan GT-R GT3s, it’s fair to say I’ve been looking forward to it.

First things first – DiRT Rally 2.0 has jumped forward leaps in bounds in areas that I’ve outlined in my previous articles. With my sim background, it’s clear to see the vast improvement in the driving experience. However, as with any game, it’s not all sunshine and roses.

You may recall in my previous piece, that I described the Group B cars in DiRT Rally 2.0 as “utterly terrifying” — and for good reason. Before I get onto that, I want to take you back to Group B in the original game.

For nearly 15 years, we’ve been waiting for a rally sim to finally end the reign of Richard Burns Rally. 15 years speaks of the quality of the original product, but also the dearth of rally games that even attempted to take on the king.

It’s been a while, but it’s time to wax lyrical about my favourite kind of racing once again: multiclass. Around three weeks ago, I was a part of a race that I’ll probably still be talking about in a few years time. It was an hour of the most intense, craziest, nose-to-tail action I’ve ever known.

What do you say about Bathurst? It’s breathtaking, terrifying and brutal. Somehow, those three words don’t quite do it justice. It’s a track with a rich history, with incredible stories from the Bathurst 1000 and, in more recent times, the Bathurst 12 Hour.

Following on from the McLaren GT4 drive a couple of weeks ago, there was another fantastic real-world opportunity lurking. After having my first hands-on experience with DiRT Rally 2.0, I would be sat behind the wheel of a real rally car. There’s no doubt that I’ve been a very lucky boy recently.

By the time DiRT Rally 2.0 releases, it will have been three years and ten months since the early access release of the first game. DiRT Rally is a title that has, potentially, changed the direction of Codemasters driving games for the foreseeable future.

It’s quite amazing how fast the sim racing landscape has changed. In recent years, there has been a big shift in the PC sim racing community towards more licensed content. The shift has been so dramatic that even a title built for modding, rFactor 2, has had to move towards licensed content to survive. This never used to be the case.

Another month and Kunos has released another Assetto Corsa Competizione update. The January update brought us laser scanned Zolder, along with the fan favourite Emil Frey Jaguar G3.

With the growth of my channel over the last couple of years, I’ve had this little dream that one day, it would enable me to sample a real race car. That little dream became a reality last week after I was invited to give the McLaren 570S GT4 a try!

Sim racing is marvellous. I know I’m stating the obvious, but let me explain.