Para Racers Academy launches to support disabled people in sim racing

UK racing team Quatermass Motorsport has launched Para Racers Academy to promote diversity and inclusion in esports and sim racing.

The new team consists of ten disabled and neurodiverse drivers planning to compete in notable sim racing tournaments, such as the iRacing Special Events, SRO GT Championships and the Virtual Le Mans Series.

In addition, Para Racers Academy is run by a team of disabled and neurodiverse staff to ensure that everyone, regardless of their challenges, has the chance to pursue a career in competitive racing. To do so, the team collaborates with organisations, government bodies, OEMs, sponsors and prominent members of the disabled and parasports community.

Quatermass aims to develop ways of lowering the typically high costs associated with adapting equipment and infrastructure for disabled racers. One such way is to work with companies that create the products the team uses.

Racing team Quatermass Motorsport was founded in 2011 by Max Spooner, who was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome at the age of 17. Six years later, the organisation expanded into professional sim racing and later joined Team BRIT’s esports division, a team consisting of all-disabled drivers. In 2022, Quatermass became an independent team again.

Its partners include home design company Colour By Numbers, the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) and racing livery design company Shahzad Moto Designs.

Spooner commented on the Para Racers Academy initiative: “Our goal isn’t just to create a team of disabled sim racers. We want to support these individuals to become better versions of themselves. With our support, we want to teach them the skills required to be competitive in sim racing that they can also use in their careers and to help integrate them into society.”

The creation of Para Racers Academy is not the only major development within the sim racing scene this year. In April, the official series for Formula 1, called F1 Sim Racing World Championship, returned after a tumultuous, unfinished 2023 season.

Moreover, several entities expanded into competitive virtual racing. For instance, Italian race car manufacturer Dallara and Italian gaming PC manufacturer AK Informatica launched a joint sim racing venture named Dallara-K Esports.