We asked you to suggest the questions you’d like us to ask a world endurance champion. And we put them directly to Gustavo Menezes, the WEC driver behind the wheel of this year’s Peugeot 9X8. And let me tell you, he really went into the details! So I hope you enjoy reading his answers as much as I enjoyed asking them. And don’t forget to follow him on Insta on his @followgustavo account!
Discover other content we’ve created with Gustavo Menezes :
Can you tell us about your racing career?
I started karting when I was 5 years old in Southern California. When I was 11 I moved to Europe to race in the UK and European championships. At 16 I moved up to junior single-seaters. I raced in America and Europe in Formula Renault and Formula Mazda.
After that, I raced in German and European F3s. Then, at some point, it was decided that Formula 1 wasn’t the easiest or best option with the results or experience I had. So I had the opportunity to do a Rookie test with Alpine in 2015. It went really well. I signed up to do my first full season of the WEC Endurance Championship. We won 5 races, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the WEC championship during my Rookie year. So that was very special.
The following year I moved up to Gold. We won a race, made a few podiums, had a lot of success. At the end of the year I had the opportunity to do an IMSA race with the Rebellion team. It went really well and I signed a three-year contract with Rebellion in LMP1. I finished 2nd and 3rd in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and twice 3rd in the WEC championship.
Last year, I had very good performances at Le Mans. I set one of the fastest laps in the history of Le Mans. And then I was lucky enough to sign with Peugeot at the very beginning of their program, before the car was built. In fact, I spent the first year in the simulator every month developing the car with my team-mates and the team. And now we’re racing for the centenary of Le Mans and for the WEC championship with Peugeot Sport in the Hypercar 9X8.
What’s your first motorsport memory?
When I think of racing, I think of my childhood. I think of when I was between 3 and 6 years old. I used to watch Formula 1 races with V10 engines. That sound was so special! Just the sound of it on the screen made me want to become a racing driver. It changed my life. And it’s the first memory I have of motor sport. It’s what created the passion in me.
When you think of motorsport, what smell comes instinctively to mind?
That’s a funny question! It’s always little things. Sometimes I’m out riding my bike and a 2-stroke motocross passes me by. It immediately reminds me of my karting days. The gasoline,
the smell we had on the track every day… It brings back childhood memories. It’s something special for me when I smell it.
Is there a particular smell associated with Le Mans?
Honestly, not really. In Le Mans it’s more visual memories. I have this… it’s not exactly the question, but I have a particular memory. I think it was in 2020, I was doing 5 stints during the night, that’s about 4 hours. And at one point I was completely alone on my way to Mulsanne.
There were no cars within 1 km of me, so I was in complete darkness. And I just remember that it was the last lap of my relay, I was looking up and to the sides, I could see the trees going by at 350Km/h… It was absolute peace and… it’s just one of the most special memories of my whole career.
Do you have any humorous memories of racing?
To be honest when you get to a certain point in the race the adrenaline is so high and, you know,
the level is so high, you’re so focused that you don’t really have a chance to laugh or think. Everything happens in the moment, you’re so into the Flow state that nothing else matters, it’s special.
What’s the difference between the physical and mental aspects of racing?
Funny you should ask! Because one of the reasons we train so hard is so that we’re never physically exhausted. And so that we can concentrate fully. Because ultimately, these two things go hand in hand.
When your body tires, you lose concentration, and when you lose concentration, you make mistakes and lose performance. The two are linked. Obviously, performance lies in the mind and concentration, but if you’re physically exhausted you can’t be at 100% of your abilities. So in the end
it’s two things that go hand in hand. We train as hard as we can so that we’re never so tired that we lose our concentration.
Why did you buy this SimRacing setup?
I got this chassis because I did a little race called the 24h du Mans Virtuelles this year.
Where I got blown away by the pro simracers. As a driver, it’s never fun to take 3 seconds per lap! So I’ve decided to get a chassis to close the gap by training for a few months.
I’m not planning to do it from morning to night every day, but I’m going to get into the habit of spending a bit of time on it. And this is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to have all the top-of-the-range equipment. The opportunity too, as you’ll see, to test several pedalsets and choose what’s best for me. Having a good Direct Drive base… There are lots of good ones out there, but I picked up a Simucube and I have to say it’s really cool to be able to choose different force feedback settings so easily. And to have a well-designed steering wheel too. All these little details I think will help boost my performance.
But in a simulator you have to keep in mind that time is performance. You have to train again and again. So having one at home and adding it to my daily routine will make it easier to perform at a high level.
How far are consumer simulators from pro simulators?
There are some things that are very similar and others that are very different. We have simulators that cost 100 times more. Because they’re real steering wheels, the force feedback reproduces exactly what the real car does… We’ve got brake discs next to the simulator, with master cylinders and calipers. The hydraulic pedals are exactly the same as those used in the race car. And we make sure that the sensors work with the simulation.
The same goes for the gas pedal and everything else. Everything is designed to replicate exactly what the car does. We even use our ECU (Electronic Control Unit) in the simulator. RFactor Pro allows us to use our ECU box and have precisely our car with precisely our settings. It’s another step up in terms of realism. The performance is closer, the feeling is closer.
I’d say that with simulators at home, we’re 70% or 60% of the way there… But there’s still a lot more to do… But the differences soar when you compare simulators at this level.
Tracks are much closer to the real thing on rFactor Pro because every track is scanned more precisely. Every little bump is added. And then Michelin comes to our HQ with the exact tire data we have on the car to simulate their feel. So instead of having something “neutral” in rF2 or iRacing, everything is customized and adjusted.
It’s like having access to all the programming in the background and recoding everything so that it matches exactly what you want. So you can get pretty close at home, but unless you want to spend astronomical amounts of money, a lot of time, and have 6 employees behind you to run the simu while you’re driving, it’s better to stick with standard hardware!
Which game/simu do you find the most realistic?
Ah, that’s not easy! I think each game has its strong points. I think rFactor is the closest to what we have in our professional simulators because it’s rFactor, even though we use rFactor Pro it’s quite similar. IRacing has a very wide variety of vehicles. Being able to take an LMdH I appreciate that. I’ve known about iRacing since 2009 and I find the online sessions very easy to use.
It’s something I use a lot. I can’t judge, I don’t know much about Assetto Corsa
but I’ve heard nothing but good things about it. For example, that the feel of the cars and the control of the cars when they slide is a little better than on the others.
So, I don’t think there’s one specific game that’s better, I think rFactor needs to work on its servers! As we saw at the 24H du Mans Virtuelles. And I don’t think it’s fair that Max is the only one to have talked about it, I think for the big races they need to improve, but all these games are good. When you’ve got the right hardware, the good thing is that you can have all three in your computer, and you can change games every hour.
Can SimRacing do anything for you in real racing?
It’s always complicated. There’s a certain level of preparation you can do in the simu to get ready for a race weekend. It builds habits. But I don’t think you can spot the braking points and tell yourself you’ll be able to do the same on the track. It won’t work.
It gives you an idea, it gives you habits, it gives you an idea of how it feels. And today, with the simulators available, rubber temperatures are becoming so realistic that if you have a safety car or a slow zone, you can lose temperature. So you have to go back to “rubber warm-up” mode.
So all these little things are good! It’s also good to get used to keeping your concentration for a full stint. It’s full of positive things, but you mustn’t take it too seriously
enjoy yourself. For me it’s a hobby, I get into the chassis to drive in the evening for maybe 1 hour to have fun.
See where my next race is and get into my routine. Because it helps to remember track positions. It’s better than a track walk, that’s for sure. So it’s a positive tool.
In the end, every little difference adds to the list towards performance, and if you can get closer to the real thing and tick 20 points on a list that has 150… You’re 20 points closer, so driving in simulation is never negative, that’s for sure. I don’t think you have to spend 5 hours a day on the simulator every day to perform well on a real track, but I do think that a little time on the simulator can help all drivers.
How are your force feedback settings?
Interesting. As I was saying, I’ve just installed the Simucube and I was shocked to see how simple it is! I downloaded some settings and it seems to me that it’s set around 14Nm of torque. So nowhere near the maximum. But the important thing isn’t the weight of the steering and whether you push it all the way or not.
What’s important is to get the feedback you like. What I prefer are Formula-type profiles, even for driving GTs. Basically, it means heavier, smoother cornering feel.
I’m not going to lie, I installed the software, downloaded a few settings… I ended up with the Formula 3 setting, which works well with GTs, F3s and Prototypes, so I’m really happy with it. So, out of the box, I put the setting and it works!
I’d say that after using the Direct Drive Fanatec (DD2) for the Virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans, I felt a significant step forward with the Simucube Pro. It’s not even the Ultimate I have! The Simucube 2 Pro is fantastic. And there’s less of that feeling of taut bands where the steering moves a lot on the – 3° in the center. This corresponds to the very beginning of the rotation. It moved from left to right as if you were being pulled between two rubber bands (on the Fanatec) whereas with the Simucube I get a more fluid feel.
So it works for me. I can’t give you any more details because I’m not an expert, but in use the Simucube is fantastic so I’m happy to recommend it. And I bought it myself so it’s not a commercial! It’s a good model.
Same question, but for your brake.
Brakes are complicated! Certainly as complicated as Direct Drive. For me, it’s even more complicated because in the end, it controls the car’s front grip, it controls the front/rear pitch, the stopping power… It controls everything!
We tested 4 different pedalsets and the choice is very personal. But personally, I think it’s important to have a bit of movement in the pedal for a simulator, because you don’t have G-forces. So all we have is the Direct Drive and the feel of the brake as points of contact with our car.
For example, I tested the Heusinkveld pedal set… To cut a long story short, having a bit of movement is good for modulating the car, but I think it’s more GT-like. Whereas, for example, hydraulic pedalsets feel harder but more regular throughout the movement, without going from soft to hard all at once.
What I like is the consistency of the feel from start to finish. A little movement but a good feeling right to the end of the movement. So I chose a hydraulic pedalset because it’s more in line with the Formula and Prototype feel, but you should really check out our pedalset tests, there’s so much information!
I learned a lot and I hope it will help you choose your next pedalset. Because it’s really something very specific to each person but also to each type of vehicle you ride.
I was actually surprised by your brake pressure setting!
Yes! It was funny with these brakes… In a race car you push 90 to 200 bar in certain situations. So I really thought I’d like a very short, very hard pedal. But I ended up with a slightly longer movement and a maximum force of around 75Kg of pressure or around 65 bars more or less. So not super hard!
But I feel this is what I can control most consistently. The good thing about most pedalsets is that you can choose the max pressure. But I didn’t find it necessary to go beyond 65-75Kg for myself. Because it gave me a regular feeling when I was in a static simulator with no G forces.
Again, this is a personal opinion, I don’t think it’s necessary to replicate exactly the hardness of a race car with a super-hard pedal, and I don’t think it’s good to have a super-soft brake and a super-hard pedal either
to have a super soft, super long brake. I think you really need a good attack, not too long a movement, and you need hardness at the end.
Either you want a progressive soft/hard curve or a constant feel. Personally, I set a constant feel from A to Z. But once again, take a look at our tests and make up your own mind!
What SimRacing equipment do you think is most important to be effective?
Yes, to start with, you need a sturdy chassis, because you’re going to spend hours on it. You need a good seat. That’s for comfort, not performance. I have a SimLab seat that’s quite similar to the Sparco seats, and it’s very comfortable. Because if you put pressure on the brakes, your back will feel it. And really, a robust chassis, because if you want a good Direct Drive, your chassis has to be able to take more than 20Nm.
In terms of raw performance, I’d say a Direct Drive and a good brake. That’s where you’ll save the most time. These are your only contact points for getting a feel for your car in a static simulator. So take your time, look at lots of tests and choose what’s best for you.
I chose a hydraulic pedalset, which was the best for me in terms of feel. I’d say Direct Drive is a must. If you’ve got the budget for one, you’ll find performance. The feeling is much more fluid.
For me, switching from a belt-driven flywheel to a Direct Drive is even a bigger performance gap than switching from elastomer pedals to hydraulics. That’s where the difference is more subtle. So I’d say, Direct Drive and good pedals for performance. A sturdy chassis and a good seat for comfort.
If you have that, you can ride with 1 screen, 3 screens, a super nice simu… A horrible steering wheel or a super nice steering wheel… You won’t go any faster!
What would you like to add to your current SimRacing setup?
There are several things. First of all, I’d like to have a handbrake, which would open up the field of possibilities in terms of games to drive on. I’d like to have a round wheel, probably a Sparco wheel
with fewer buttons to play with, drift or drive rallycross. I’d probably switch to a Sparco seat for even more comfort, with a real seat like the ones you get in racing cars.
Then you can add things to add modularity and sensations. Vibration motors for the pedals, for example, can help with ABS systems. I don’t use ABS, so I don’t need it.
You can also get really cheap ButtKickers for the feel of gear changes. Or if you really want to take it to the next level, there are harness tensioners that give you the feel when braking.
After that, if you want to go all out there are the jack platforms. But I don’t think I’d go that far, as the price is much higher and the performance gain is really minimal. If you really want to add something for a better feel, look at ButtKickers and harness tensioners. You’ll already be on top of your game.
We use a harness tensioner in the Peugeot 9X8 simulator. We don’t have a jack platform
because replicating movement at high levels will sound crazy… but it costs millions, not thousands of euros.
The rest won’t help performance. It’s just for fun. So if you want a mobile platform, great, but it won’t change your performance on the track, and I’ve been able to verify this because… it’s not incredible.
If you take one, the most important thing is the yaw so you can feel the rear of the car when it goes. It’s more important than pitching forwards and backwards, more important than lateral and front-to-back movements. So the yaw, the harness tensioner is very interesting in terms of immersion/price ratio. And a Buttkicker is great for that extra bit of immersion when shifting gears and riding on vibrators.
Any final words for viewers and readers?
It’s been a pleasure! Check out our pedalset test, and one thing you should know, once you’ve assembled your pedals… Don’t change your mind, because it’s a lot of work to assemble/dismantle them. We did it more than 10 times today and yesterday. Mounting SimRacing gear is no fun!
It’s not made to move, it’s made to stay in the same place for years. So enjoy, choose the right models and have fun.
Take care of yourself!
I hope you’ve learned lots of useful things!
Once again, a huge thank you to Gustavo for his time. It’s very rare that a WEC driver agrees to spend so much time sharing his ideas without any filter. I’m sharing with you just below the other content we’ve created together. It’s a real mine of information for any simracer looking to get as close as possible to the feel of real racing.
And as always, I’d be delighted to chat with you in the comments and read your suggestions for drivers you’d like us to interview in the coming months!
So see you soon, just below 😉
