For many years it has been our ambition to put Jack into a race car. After a plethora of achievements on the rFactor sim racing platform. Jack was very successful on rFactor and won a championship that should have entitled him to a real world test drive, unfortunately, that never came to fruition.
Since that point Matt Strand has strived to give Jack the opportunity he so thoroughly deserved and back in Februray at Roebling Road Raceway that dream was fulfilled and Jack finally got to lay his hands on our race car.
He piloted our Formula 600 machinery which has long been associated with the SCCA. In their own words this is what both Matt and Jack had to say:
Jack: “My time with Satellite Racing @ the Roebling Road Raceway
My time in the Formula 600 was absolutely amazing. I was not prepared for the sheer speed of the car and handling aspect of it. I did have a few spins but I got more comfortable and confident with the car in quick time and was loving every second of it. Driving in the wet on the 2nd day was a challenge, but turned out being the most fun of the weekend, avoiding the puddles every lap at every corner, finding the grip and going nearly 140 mph in the wet was a great experience. I hope to continue having track time in the future as what started off as a dream, became reality and now, it's a case of driving more when possible with the guys. Thank you Satellite Racing but most importantly to Matt Strand who has been trying to get this together with me for years.”
Matt Strand (Team Owner): “Jack did a really amazing job. Had me slightly concerned since he got motion sick in the car ride from the airport to the house, but we can just blame that on Megan's amazing race car driving skills.
He faced a lot of adverse conditions from a wet track on slick tires to getting covered in fuel at 1 point. He never blinked though and just kept knocking off fast lap after fast lap. Had one especially terrifying moment coming out of the last corner but his fast hands snatched the car back up and he never even lifted! I was so proud to see that!
We don't have anything else scheduled with him at the moment, but we do think he's 100% ready for his Formula Renault test back in Europe and really hoping a team over there snaps him up for 1 of those rides. He definitely deserves it and showed us again his incredible skills behind the wheel, SIM and now real too. There isn't a doubt in my mind he can be successful in that series also.”
It goes without saying that this another step in the direction of erasing the line between virtual and reality. We continue to strive to put sim racers in our real cars as we as a team continue to work with partners to take us forwards in the Sports Car world.
We wish Jack all the very best in his upcoming Formula Renault test.