NEMA Lites’ Jake Stergios is World Class Sim Racer
BY MARK McKEON
CHESTER, VT – NEMA Lite Midgets racer Jake Stergios of Candia, NH recently returned from Hannover Germany where he finished fifth in the Intel GP World Finals, a computer based simulated racing event organized by iRacing.com.
Stergios, whose real world racing resume includes two wins and six podium finishes with the NEMA Lites in 2009, was one of only 10 competitors from around the world to qualify for the finals in Germany, after a yearlong series of elimination races that attracted 7,500 entrants. They were vying for more than $26,000 in prize money and used simulated cars from the Star Mazda Series, competing at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway in California.
“It was definitely an amazing experience,” Stergios said “and I’d do it again. It’s nowhere near as physically demanding as racing a Midget or a Supermodified, but it’s just as intense. In Germany we were in real cockpits in front of a packed auditorium, so the pressure was real.”
Earlier in the season, the 19 year old finished third in the U.S. finals, held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City.
With iRacing online software, a driver sits in front of a computer monitor and sees the same view as in an actual race and controls a virtual car with a steering wheel and pedals connected to a PC. During qualifying events, drivers from all over the world compete in full race fields, with each driver at home, seeing the other competitors’ cars just as they would in the physical world.
In Germany, Gregor Huttu of Finland was the winner of the Intel GP World Finals followed by Bastien Bartsch (France) and David Williams (England).
Stergios’ ride for the 2011 NEMA Lites season will be in the family owned Midget, powered by an experimental version of the Chevy Ecotec engine. He’ll also help his father Bill and brother PJ, as PJ competes in a Small Block Supermodified at Lee USA Speedway.