Having grown up around Motorsport all his life, thanks to his father's Formula Ford career, the passion for Motorsport was always there for Jacob Tofts, be it watching his dad race or viewing Motorsport on TV. At the age of 18, Jacob’s love for all things motor racing has led him to a relatively new form of Motorsport that must now be mentioned in the same breath, Sim Racing. There was always the idea in the Tofts household that Jacob would intentionally not follow the well-known path into Motorsport via karting, but was encouraged by his dad to wait until he was 16 and focus all his energy on 'real’ Motorsport - going straight in to racing cars.

After observing his father's Formula Ford career, it comes as no surprise that Jacob spent many of his younger years following the single-seater paddock across the United Kingdom. Not only could Jacob begin to learn the lifestyle of Motorsport in the UK, but there was also the opportunity to network (this led to support from British watch brand Jonny Moore watches, for example), even at such a young age. Consequently, advice was sought from experienced sim racer Graham Carroll, who was participating in the Vegas E-Prix race at the time, and he was a key factor in persuading Jacob to try sim racing.

All children wish to follow in their father's footsteps and take the same path to not only reach the same level but go further. For all young aspiring drivers, Formula One is always the dream but no amount of skill alone will reach that stage in today's world, a millionaire's budget must follow. Recognising this hurdle, Jacob and his dad sought advice from Graham Carroll that enabled him to build a simulator set up, which in comparison to a route in karting, was significantly cheaper but arguably still brings opportunity in both real world and simulated motorsports.

Having competed in a variety of eSports series so far in his short sim racing career, the young eSports driver claimed the Porsche Cup Great Britain Sim Racing Championship this year, at his first attempt. To add to the accolades, he also claimed the Creventic Endurance Series GT4 title alongside his teammates Chris Walsh and Ryan Parkins. Challenges of reverse grids, working on the set up of the cars and managing tyre wear have all come into play this season.

For any race, whether ‘real’ or virtual, preparation is key and this most certainly seems to be the case for Jacob. Whilst he is very methodical in the process he takes, focusing a lot on the details of data analysis, he also finds that practicing is the only way to improve and will often end up doing double the 5-10 laps he initially intended to do in the evenings. Not only does this work on muscle memory but also because he enjoys the satisfaction he receives of grinding out laps to find improvements, no matter how small they may be.

Practice would also be the advice that Jacob would give to those who are interested or who are looking to develop their sim racing. Virtual Racing School (VRS) and data packs play a huge part in the preparations for Tofts and his eSport team mates, who compare laps to the competitors and gain advice from more experienced drivers to develop further. But for Jacob, it is also important to make sure that whatever method you undertake to develop as a sim racer, ensure it works for you and that you enjoy it.

Already being a member of the PCGB Community is another factor that has helped Jacob progress to the stage he is at now in his sim racing career. The club community is full of people with the same interests, who all look for fun whilst remaining competitive.

Being given the amazing opportunity to have competed against the best already at the age of 18, Jacob has battled with some of the top sim racers on the iRacing platform at the SCO 24 hours of Spa and during Porsche races at tracks such as the Red Bull Ring, that he is enjoying racing around this season along with a range of other tracks and series such as Road Atlanta, Nordschleife, Silverstone and Le Mans. So, Jacob should be proud of challenging drivers of such a high calibre around such classic tracks.

Whilst Jacob may still be remaining level headed on his greatest achievements so far in his sim racing career. His hard work of improving his race-craft is evident in his race results alongside been crowned the PCGB Sim Racing Champion and Creventic Endurance Series Champions.

Looking ahead, Jacob who is currently balancing sim racing whilst studying for his A-Levels will have the opportunity of competing in more championships over the winter that will provide him with challenges and enable him to develop further as a sim racer and hopefully his career in Motorsport.