The latest World eX Bizz Talk before the Valencia race featured Marcel Offermans, the driving force behind “The Last Garage,” and offered an interesting glimpse into the world of sim racing. Marcel, a veteran in the industry, shared insights on the state of sim racing, the challenges and opportunities facing new platforms, and his vision for the future – both for his own project and the wider sim racing community.
One of the key takeaways from the talk was Marcel’s honest assessment of the sim racing landscape. “Sim racing went through a little bit of a hype cycle during the COVID days, especially the Esports side, and we’re kind of seeing it slowly transitioning back to where it was before that,” he noted. While the Esports scene has struggled with viewership and sponsorship, Marcel sees this as a call to creativity: “I think that’s also where we as sim racing need to get a bit creative, because a lot of the things that happen in the real world don’t have to happen in the sim.” He emphasized the importance of making sim racing more engaging for spectators, suggesting that shorter, more dynamic formats could help retain audiences.
Marcel’s journey is especially interesting. After leaving Studio 397, he found himself “starting with a blank sheet,” which he described as “a very luxury situation.” With over a decade of experience, he is now building a new platform from scratch, focusing on flexibility and long-term adaptability. “You probably won’t do everything right, so you need to make sure that you build something where, in 10 years’ time, it’s still easy to make changes to the platform,” he explained. This approach is a direct response to the technical debt and legacy issues that many established sims face.
The development process for The Last Garage has been hands-on and iterative. Marcel showcased early versions at sim racing events, prioritizing driving feel over graphics. “I really wanted to make sure that I have the driving feeling, the driving experience right, and that’s what I focus on first, so graphics aren’t top notch, etc. I really don’t care yet – that can come later.” Feedback from sim racers has been positive, encouraging him to expand the project. He recently organized an Esports event where drivers had little to no prior practice, mirroring real-world racing conditions and making the experience more spontaneous and exciting.
Innovation is a recurring theme in Marcel’s work. He highlighted a collaboration with Simucube to demonstrate brake fade in a sim, using active pedals: “After a couple of corners, you sort of felt that pedal going soft, and if you continued braking, it would go all the way to the floor, and you would hardly brake anymore.” This kind of realism, he believes, is only possible with close integration between hardware and software. Another project involves building a digital twin for Donkervoort, a Dutch sports car manufacturer, to optimize car design in the sim before costly real-world testing.
Marcel also discussed the current state of major sim racing titles. He praised iRacing for its large online community but noted that its physics are “a little bit conservative.” He called rFactor 2 and LMU “hard to beat” in terms of physics and features. Regarding WRC Sports, he observed, “they jumped on the Esports bandwagon at exactly the wrong moment,” and suggested that the platform’s evolution has been challenging. He expressed optimism about Gran Turismo and Forza, hoping for a PC port of Gran Turismo and better hardware integration for Forza.
On the topic of sim racing as a training tool, Marcel was realistic: “I’m not sure if it replaces karting. I think both give you some unique experience.” He acknowledged that while sim racing is a great training tool, the physical sensations of karting are hard to replicate.
Looking ahead, Marcel believes console support and cross-play could be game-changers for the industry. “Since the current generation of consoles is powerful enough to run full sim physics, why have all these platforms as sort of isolated systems? Why not have them all running together?” he asked. He sees this as a way to expand the player base and make sim racing more accessible.
The talk concluded with Marcel’s enthusiasm for racing in World eX: “When I get an invitation, I always show up. No worries.” His passion for sim racing – and his willingness to experiment and innovate – make him a true champion for the community. As he put it, “I do it out of passion. I think that’s key in sim racing, the enjoyment we get from it.”
Find out more about The Last Garage: https://thelastgarage.com
The World eX Bizz Talk takes place before every World eX race via Zoom and features conversations with interesting personalities who have a close connection to our topics of motorsport, sim racing or the energy transition. Join our unique sim racing community to take part in the talks and ask your questions.
