This Is How A Gamer Became A Real-Life Porsche Racing Driver

Mar. 29, 2022 12:45 PM ET byMichael Butler Motorsport /1 Comment

There's a big difference between virtual and real racing, but not in the way you may expect.

While the rich get to enjoy our dream cars on a daily basis, the majority of us are left to commute via public transport or rusted-out Honda Civics, and on the weekends, immerse ourselves in the world of online sim racing, where the pixelated ass of a Ferrari F40 looks just as sexy as the real thing. Kinda. The world of online gaming has exploded in recent years and is now considered a professional sport in some countries. While certain manufacturersspend millions on creating sim racing experiences, some of the top sim racers operate out of their spare rooms on humble setups, and even get to make the transition into real life racing. That is the story of Jeff Giassi, a 24 year-old Brazilian sim racer who now has the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a proper Porsche racing car.

Giassi started karting at only four years old, but quickly realized that the world of motorsport is a rather expensive one, and quickly made the shift, like so many others, to sim racing where he honed his skills for years. "When I started sim racing I found the opportunity to learn how to race," he says. "I already had an idea of what it was like to drive consistently, but not how to do that in the middle of a pack. Being consistent but also defending your position, and how to attack without being too exposed to the guy behind - all those things I've learned from trial and error in sim racing."

Giassi eventually started competing in Brazilian national sim racing competitions, his first being the Porsche E-sports Carrera Cup Brazil. Giassi took the top podium position in the finals which earned him a drive in a real-life911 GT3 Cup car.

The transition from sim racing to real-life track action has been an eye-opener for Giassi despite the fact that thePorsche 911race car he was driving was restricted power-wise. "In real life, you can be way more aggressive than you are in sim races," he says. "The tires can take more, so you can brake later, be more assertive with the power, and when the car is starting to slide on the exit, you can keep applying the throttle because it's actually easier to save." Since his real-world racing experience, Giassi has returned to the world of competitive sim racing, and his entry into the international Porsche Tag Heuer E-sports Supercup bagged him a partnership with Porsche Brazil, and an official online livery for his Porsche race car.

As part of the partnership, he was invited to participate in the final round of the 2020 Porsche Cup Brazil's Endurance series at Interlagos. His first race was a serious challenge, but Giassi finally proceeded himself when he joined the following year as Enzo Elias' teammate for the Carrera Cup Endurance series where he bagged the endurance title.

"What I did in sim racing is the same thing that I want to do in real life," Giassi explains, "starting in Carrera Cup and progressing to Supercup. That's the path I want to take now. When I started out I could never have imagined I'd be telling my story here, so I'm really excited about the future." As inspiring as his story is, we'll just stick to a few beers andGran Turismo 7on the weekends with the boys.

This Is How A Gamer Became A Real-Life Porsche Racing Driver

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This Is How A Gamer Became A Real-Life Porsche Racing Driver

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