September 15, 2015

 

It's that time of the week once again as our resident Aussie Thomas Hinss delves into the GPVWC community, to find out about the people who are within it. This time we have a chat with Lewis McGlade, who you may know from Aurora Designs.
Hinssy: So I think we should start things off with your recent win in GPVWC at Austria in the International Touring Cup, that must have been such an amazing feeling to achieve your first win in the league.

McGlade: I was obviously very happy with it, not only for the fact that it was my first win but also as it was a 1-2 for Ice Cold. Eric has been someone that has supported me ever since I left Smile Power at the start of this year and has been pushing me all season. I'm happy that my first win finally came in ITC and it really is a win I can be proud of as I had to work all race defending and attacking a little, being smart and not over doing it. It was amazing fun.

H: Indeed, with such a big move to a new team it would have been a struggle at first to get back into the groove. How has this season been for you from your own perspective?

M: ITC has been better than expected. That, in my opinion, has been going really well. FC has for most of the season been rather disappointing. I either haven't had the pace and luck to get points consistently, or I have just made silly mistakes myself.

World GT went a little better at the start than expected with a podium in Round 2 because I'm just poor in GT cars. Atlantic Series was very up and down for the 3 rounds I did and it just kind of got under my skin with a few decisions around it so I decided not to continue.

H: Well it is good to see your ITC campaign going so well, with you having competed in that many series' this season it isn't too surprising for some bad results and luck to occur in a few of them. You mention competing in four series' this season, two of them being in Open Wheelers and two in tintops (Touring and GT cars). Which type of car do you prefer to drive out of the two?

M: I generally prefer racing in Open Wheelers. It's USUALLY a bit cleaner and I love a nice clean duel, like I had with Lars and Joonas at Suzuka. You can have them in Touring cars as well, Matt Richards and I had a brilliant duel at Zolder in Race 1 and 2. But then again I think I'm much faster in an FWD Touring car than an Open Wheeler. So I have no idea what I prefer, as long as I'm racing with my friends I'm happy.

H: I would agree with you on that too as I seem to be similar, being faster in a FWD Touring car than an Open Wheeler. It definitely makes it a lot more enjoyable when you can trust the guys you are battling with, I know we've had our fair share of battles on track and they have been a lot of fun I must say.

M: Yeah I distinctly remember some great moves against you Hinssy. Austin last year in FC, ITC at Laguna Seca, ITC at Suzuka. Clean moves, definitely no bumping from me at all.

No seriously it's always good to be out there on track with people you trust and can have a little fun with.

H: Yeah I still remember those too, possibly why my 'chuck it up the inside' moto came about. But yes I agree on that completely, being able to trust who you race with makes it far less anger inducing and a lot more fun. Looking toward next season now, with a move to a new and more modern sim looking all but certain for the GPVWC, what series (or series') do you see as really coming to the fore?

M: I think Supercup will be a really good one to watch, obviously it's where I am aiming to be next season. You have the Formula Renault 3.5 mod which I really hope becomes the Supercup car for next season, not because I'm fast in it because I'm not, but as it is damn good fun.

H: I think that's a good call to make, having seen videos of that car in action it does look like a very fun and challenging car to drive. Keeping with looking at the future but this time for you personally, what plans do you have for the GPVWC?

M: I'm planning on driving in ITC and SC. Not really too much more but I tend to make it up as I go along. We'll see commentary wise and stuff, but my focus is being teammates again with Eric in ITC,and whoever else in SC. Could be fun.

H: Well I'm sure that those series' will keep you busy next season and hopefully some more great results are to come. We'll look now at your your sim racing imagery label Aurora Designs, with it's growth in quality and followers having been quite substantial now. What made you want to start up Aurora Designs?

M: When racing in a couple of different leagues, there usually was photos. The ones I remember most were made by either Ben Richards which were always quite nice, or the infamous Mr Jesper Nielsen, who back then was making photos under the name Photoborg.

So I started making some photos which were poor at best. Started working on a bit of colour correction, learning bits as I went. Then finally Jesper actually joined Aurora Designs and taught me a lot. But yeah, it was all because I just wanted to make pictures as good as them and it doesn't hurt to have a nice logo to slap on some cars.

H: It can be a lot of fun making photos that look really nice and the label developing as well as it has really has been great to see. Back onto sim racing now, when did you first start doing it?

M: July 2nd, 2013. I remember because it was FC Silverstone, about a week before my 18th birthday. I got spun at Turn 1, ended up doing a pretty good drive back into the points. So about 2 and a bit years ago.

H: Well always good to start your sim racing career with a comeback to get points. What is the sim racing setup you currently use?

M: At the moment I am on a Logitech G27 that is clamped onto my "desk" (The people that know what my desk looks like will know why it's a "desk"). This wheel, as a fun fact, has won a lot of races in GPVWC before. It was the wheel Oscar Hardwick used to get the 2013 WSS Championship, along with a few wins in SC and WGT, as well as a win in ITC and FC. In a weird way its kind of nice to win on it, something sentimental about it I guess.

H: It is quite interesting to see a wheel with such history still being put to good use today. Lastly to finish off, what other hobbies do you have outside of sim racing?

M: I play a bit of guitar I guess? I'm really rubbish at it though. I watch a lot of TV and films, as well as playing a lot of video games. I'm a slob really.

H: Well I know I'm the same in terms of the TV, films and gaming so I guess I'm probably one as well. Thank you for your time today Lewis, it's been an absolute pleasure to chat with you and I wish you all the best for the future.

That concludes the second installment of the Community Spotlight article series with an in depth look at the one and only Lulu. Stay tuned in the next couple of weeks as we find another member of the community and find out a little bit more about the people which make up the GPVWC.

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