Ford on creating the real P1 race car: “It didn’t fit in the truck!” –

One of the Gamergy’s most interesting moments was the opportunity to sit behind the wheel of the Fordzilla P1 Team’s new Ford car, a full-size simracing model built on top of the virtual car model that the brand had previously unveiled. The spectacular Batmobile-like GT sports car has been converted into a physical cockpit, in which you can drive an HP-powered simulator, while running Fordzilla’s custom version of rFactor 2.

“The virtual car was too big, so it couldn’t fit in the truck!” Laughs Amko Leenarts, Ford of Europe design director, when asked what changes were needed to make the physical car. “It was wider than the truck we were going to take it in, so we had to downsize it because in the virtual world we could make it as big as we wanted.”

The cockpit, the pedals or the steering wheel have also been adjusted “but we will keep exactly the same design language,” says Leenarts before explaining how the transformation functions of the P1 work, such as moving parts to improve aerodynamics.

The beautiful model was clearly inspired by the star on the cover of Forza Motorsport 6, the 2017 Ford GT, which makes sense since “I was part of the design team in the United States”, as Leenarts recalls, and since it is still consider “the flagship”. of the iceberg in our range “.

“We knew that being in eSports is actually almost more important than being in real motorsports.”

All of this, plus the creation of the car itself, brings us back to Ford’s roadmap in terms of games:

“We founded Team Fordzilla more than three years ago and we knew that being in sports is actually almost more important than actual motorsports. So we really wanted to do both, and now, for our team members, to create this. The Latest “The sports car type for our Fordzilla team was the target this time around. We created it in conjunction with the gaming community, for the gaming community. “

In fact, the community had some design decision-making power through surveys, including the type of wheels and seats to use, and then the result was led to a competition between different Ford design centers.

But what awaits us for the future? As the Fordzilla team recently hired rally driver Billy Cherokee, we asked him if the next step was to design a simulated rally car, such as the Ford Ranger Raptor.

“I must say that we have a much broader game strategy at Ford,” concludes Leenarts, who notes that the Supervan P1 is already more suitable for the off-road. “So we just released the Bronco in Forza Horizon 5, the F-150, and the [Mustang] Mach-E in Rocket League, so we are definitely more and more present in various games. “

By the way, the guy you see behind the P1 Fanatec Podium DD wheel in the video is none other than Abel Torres, the 10-year simracing champion of Spain.