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Motor racing movies don’t appeal to everyone, but examples like Rush and Ford vs Ferrari have established a decent audience of hardcore and casual fans. But can the same happen with virtual motorsport film The Sim Racer released to stream via Amazon?

Dramatising the world of online racing makes more sense than you might imagine. The creation of writer and director Brock Drury, the film was birthed from the Covid-19 lockdowns, and arrives not long before the cinema release of the big budget Gran Turismo film from Sony. And while that production might have the star power of director Neil Blomkamp and a cast including Orlando Bloom, The Sim Racer utilises the iRacing platform to capture the track action.

The Sim Racer – official trailer

It might not be a big budget production, with a running time of 1 hour and 7 minutes, and a cast including names known to the sim racing community such as Evan Posocco and Jeff Maconi. But it takes a relatively familiar tale of a racer in financial trouble aiming to solve their problems by winning the biggest event of the season, helped by an aging crew chief, and up against a rival.

And if you’re trying to introduce an audience more familiar with Days of Thunder to a film using virtual racing cars, then it makes sense that the plot is relatively straightforward. With sim racing gaining a huge boost in popularity during the pandemic, and being embraced by most real world championships, teams and manufacturers, plenty of people could be ready to enjoy the story of Like Wallace (Roman Boylen), his crew chief Bootie Burnes (Scott Oakley) and friend Earl (Chris Wolfe), along with rival Shooter Jones (Bradley Harrison).

*Virtual Motorsport Film The Sim Racer Released*

With machinima utitlising game engines for decades now, it’ll be interesting to see whether it inspires more dramas centred around eSports and gaming.

The Sim Racer is available to rent for 30 days from Amazon Prime Video in HD for £4.99 or SD for £3.99. Or you can purchase it for £9.99 in HD, or £8.99 in SD. And if it inspires an interest in sim racing and games, then why not check out our sister site, OnlineRaceDriver?

Behind the big-name films and original dramas, Amazon Prime Video also has a decent range of documentaries. And that includes going behind the scenes of popular sports, such as American Football. Now a new Amazon series follows Le Mans racers and teams as they gear up for one of the toughest challenges in motorsport. In Le Mans: Racing is Everything we’ll watch drivers compete for 24 hours at speeds of more than 200mph.

Endurance racing doesn’t have quite as much publicity throughout the year as Formula 1. But it’s packed with interesting technology, including electric and hybrid power. And it’s as much of a battle to survive the race as it is to win it.

But the prestige associated with winning at Le Mans has been worth it for manufacturers. Since the 1950s, it’s become a testament to both speed and reliability. Which is why the series looks at teams including Porsche, Audi, Toyota and Aston Martin.

And it also has a special appeal for drivers, including ex Formula 1 star Mark Webber. The field also includes Gran Turismo GT Academy graduate Jann Mardenborough, plus three-time winner Andre Lotterer and Nico Prost, son of former F1 world champion Alain Prost.

Le Mans:Racing is Everything is directed by James Erskine. And it’s produced by Victoria Gregory, who also produced the Senna documentary film. Their production company, New Black Films, has also released previous sports documentaaries directed by Erskine, including football doc One Night in Turin.

It’s obviously going to appeal to motorsport fans. But anyone with an interest in technology or personal achievement will probably find something in it. Le Mans: Racing is Everything will become available on June 9th, 2017. That’s around 8 days before the 2017 Le Mans 24 Hour race begins. It’s available via Amazon Prime video, which is £5.99 per month, but currently offers a 30-day free trial, and is also free to Amazon Prime members.

And if you’re a motorsport or general car fan, you might like our sister sites Rescars, and OnlineRaceDriver, which cover cars and racing games respectively.

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