They drive a car but sometimes do not even have a license. Because in e-sport, everything is played on the screen. No less than 56 pilots from France but also from Luxembourg, Belgium and Portugal, gathered in Saint-Germain-en-Laye on the occasion of the French Tour, a 24 hour race on Gran Turismo Sport (GTS). Seats with pedals, steering wheels with sequential gearbox, giant screen, simulators… The Lavandières gymnasium was transformed into an arcade room during the weekend, until the arrival of the teams scheduled for Sunday at 3 pm.
“There is a dormitory next door to rest a bit,” smiles Giovanni Baccellieri. Recruited by a first team after only six months of video games, this young 22-year-old driver is now racing under the colors of the semi-professional Prima Esports team. A former double karting world champion, this Belgian took up GTS “a little stupidly” because he “liked cars” and “had already tested a simulator”. “It’s a special feeling, we are like immersed inside the car,” breathes the player. A point of view shared by his coach.
“We feel the same sensations as a real pilot”
“The simulators are now well developed to the point of feeling the same sensations as a real driver, with the difference that you do not feel anything in the pool when the car skids so you have to anticipate it”, assures Alain Jovanovic who manages the Prima Esports team. Otherwise the video game player is sure to experience the “adrenaline and pressure” induced by the competition that takes place on his screen. “We can start to sweat when it’s 15 degrees in the room,” laughs Alain Jovanovic.
Today, his foal uses his skills with the goal of one day becoming a professional e-sport pilot. But not easy for Giovanni to “juggle his personal life and GTS”. “Everything is a question of balance, sighs the one who studies as an assistant manager. You have to invest if you want to be able to succeed and also know how to slow down. “But don’t worry, the student” doesn’t play a lot “on the PlayStation 4, only” 4 or 5 hours a week “.
A relay competition with 12 teams of 4 people
“An hour a day is not bad enough,” says the pilot. It’s a bit like sport, we alternate a day with a game session and a day of rest. The approach of the French Tour however upset the routine of Giovanni, forcing him to accelerate the pace to “two hours every night”. “For three weeks, we have been training on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, on which we are playing today. We had to modify the car to be fast and regular, and select different sets of tires, ”says the player, who is about to do 6 hours of alternating racing. The competition takes place in relay with twelve teams of four people.
If the sponsors of the Prima Esports team take care of the travel, accommodation and food of the players, most of the participants are in fact amateurs and groups of friends. The organizer, originally from the Lyon region, has been working on the French Tour for a year. “It allows the GTS community to meet. It’s the first time I’ve met my pilots, even says Christophe Goussard, alias Chris69-FTE. We are used to playing online, remotely, there we can finally put a face on a voice and a nickname. “
“Virtual sport is not just a young person alone in front of his screen”
The holding of the event nevertheless required special technical provisions. “We made the gymnasium fiber by working with Orange, the operator set up a back-up and two routers to deal with possible connection problems. An electrician is also present today ”, specifies Paul Bouteiller, in charge of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games as well as sporting events in Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
If the city has not hesitated to agree to these investments, it is also because it hopes to increase e-sport events. “Virtual sport is not just a young person, isolated at home, who spends hours in front of a screen eating anything, says Marie Aguinet, assistant (SE) in charge of sports. E-sport is also supervised, educational and educational games, this is what we would like to show through this competition. We are a connected city, a sporting city, we would like to increasingly combine these two areas. “
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