SimHQ.com - Motorsports Zone

EA’s F1 2001 and F1 2002 had a very nice implementation of this scenario where the two-seater F1 car was utilized by the instructor demonstrating the exercise and then turning the wheel over to you.

In Codemasters Indy Racing Series, as well as in Warthog's Richard Burns Rally, the school element was voice-acted by Eddie Cheever and Richard Burns respectively, demonstrating and talking you through the various exercises. Both simulations attempted to, and largely succeeded in explaining various concepts and driving techniques, before throwing you out there to fend for yourself.

In GTR2 the driving school involves numerous exercises or challenges in acceleration, braking, cornering, and finally taking on a whole circuit of several tracks.

You can watch the instructor driving the exercise, however at this time you cannot see which gear the instructor selects as the dash is completely void of telemetry. Also the instructor is completely silent as he drives. This is not quite ideal in terms of how to perform training where the basic ground rules state that the instructor should explain and demonstrate the exercise and then comment on the pupil's performance.

Due to the developers' insistence on turning the driving school into a challenge that is tied to the unlocking of additional championships, focus is sadly removed from the learning experience and the student is left to read a lot of text explaining the exercises. Verbalizing this information, as well presenting it at the right point in time, i.e. when the instructor demonstrates the exercise, would make for a better learning tool.

You can train the exercises yourself for as many times as you like before committing to entering the individual challenges.

When you take to the wheel, the first challenges in each category include a visual overlay of the correct line to take as well as information pertaining to suggested gear, when to brake and when to accelerate. As the exercises progress within each level, the visual training wheels are removed and you will have to judge for yourself when to brake, turn in and accelerate. In some cases however, a green racing line appears through all sections of the track and this catches me unawares again and again, because I forget to brake!

In-car tuition

The exercises and individual levels seem to be laid out very well and logically, and less experienced drivers can learn a lot of useful driving technique in the driving school. Experienced drivers can use the school to brush up on their skills and familiarize themselves with the car handling of different makes under different weather conditions.

A lot of the learning will have to be by trial and error, and I can attest to the fact that some of these exercises are quite difficult. Beating the instructor around a lap of Anderstorp in the TVR took quite a few attempts.

Some of the challenges take on an unwanted de-motivational character because the student is left to his or her own means guessing what to do, and the advice in the text is not always the best way to proceed. For the exercise that takes you through the Lesmos One and Two at Monza the text says that you should be smooth and gentle with the steering. I found that you have to turn in to Lesmo Two very early and rather aggressively, in order to maximize the speed through this corner.

We also noticed that some of the text appears to be in the wrong place.

"Chunx" says, "What I don't like are the driving school's repetitiveness (overall a good school, and I am actually learning from it, but the same text over and over and over? Why? That and there's some text in the wrong areas in spots, like the Hairpin section which talks all about chicanes)."

Alas, of all the drivers, the instructor rear-ends me in frustration, when I pass him in the exercise where we race against each other. I fear he never graduated out of bumper cars. Very frustrating that the AI instructor can ruin your exercise in such an unsporting manner, only for you to be disqualified should you decide to dish out a little of his own medicine to him.

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