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Ben Lyons, a technical director at Grand Theft Auto creator Rockstar North, isn’t your average video game programmer. Back in 2013, the Scotland-based developer oversaw the physics and handling of all of \u201cGrand Theft Auto V’s\u201d hundreds of cars, ensuring that each felt unique and authentic. But around the same time, he also began thinking: \u201cWhat if I tried racing these cars in real <\/i>life?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
A passion project soon emerged as Lyons and a few of his colleagues became hobbyist racers, seeking to prove that their programming prowess could translate to success on the track. It all culminated in a major milestone earlier this year: Under the team name \u201cRockstar Racing,\u201d they shockingly won the V4 division of the 24 Hours of N\u00fcrburgring, an endurance race in Germany that’s among the world’s most prestigious motorsport events.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe had these big Rockstar logos on our car, and most people couldn’t believe it was actually Rockstar \u2014 like, the real game developers,\u201d Lyons told The Washington Post with a laugh.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The victory was the result of nearly a decade of hard work and preparation. Lyons and his colleagues had begun tinkering with cars way back when they first started working on \u201cGrand Theft Auto V,\u201d buying a used 2006 BMW 325i with the sole purpose of modifying it to race at N\u00fcrburgring. In recent years, that car model has become a popular one in the race’s V4 division, which is exclusive to production sedans with 2.5-liter engines.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s a pretty big achievement for a small team of game developers to build a racecar in a tent in Scotland, and then work up to compete in one of the biggest endurance races in the world,\u201d said Eoin Callan, Rockstar North’s art director of props who served as the team’s crew chief. \u201cThen to go on and win our class on our first attempt \u2014 we’re quite humbled by the whole experience!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Rockstar itself even provided financial support to help the team realize its goal, and executives seem delighted with the outcome.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cWhat the team behind Rockstar Racing has been able to accomplish is incredible,\u201d said Jennifer Kolbe, head of publishing at Rockstar Games. \u201cThe passion they bring to motorsports both on the track and in-game is something we’re truly proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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In a sense, art has imitated life: Just as Lyons and his colleagues have become more focused on racing over the years, so too has \u201cGrand Theft Auto V.\u201d The game’s online component, \u201cGrand Theft Auto Online,\u201d increasingly reflects its developers’ love of car culture, particularly with last year’s \u201cLos Santos Tuners\u201d update, which allows players to make in-depth modifications to their cars.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe’ve been working on [\u2018GTA Online\u2019] updates for years, and we are always trying to take what we learn and improve on it,\u201d Lyons said. \u201cAll the cars are set up to be tuned so that every time you play, these cars [in the game] give that same satisfaction that we get when we race and tune in real life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Lyons had always been a fan of car racing, but his participation in the sport had been limited to occasional \u201cautosolos,\u201d a popular form of motorsport in the UK that involves driving as fast as you can around cones set up to create a makeshift course . Most participants, including Lyons, used their daily commuter cars for these events.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cI’m not sure it was at all safe,\u201d he laughed, \u201cbut it was just an amazing opportunity to learn car control.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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After landing his dream job at Rockstar and meeting his new, car-loving colleagues, the idea for Rockstar Racing was born, and Lyons bought a car more suitable for motorsports. The goal, right from the start, was lofty: to modify a BMW from the ground up, specifically designed to compete at the 24 Hours of N\u00fcrburgring \u2014 a race that, despite its difficulty, is open to amateur entries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Lyons scored a deal on a used BMW 325i, and he and his colleagues soon set to work, installing a roll cage \u2014 necessary for safety \u2014 and making modifications, including stripping it of virtually all unnecessary parts and adjusting its weight distribution. All the while, N\u00fcrburgring remained the ultimate goal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt felt very far-fetched at that point,\u201d Lyons recalled. \u201cBut there was always this underlying thought that if all the stars aligned, we could somehow do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Located in the heart of Germany’s Eifel Mountains, the N\u00fcrburgring is the world’s longest permanent racetrack, with 73 corners and a 1,000-foot altitude change throughout the circuit. One lap typically lasts more than 10 minutes, and this year’s endurance race featured 138 total cars competing across a variety of classes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Over the past few years, the Rockstar Racing team had gotten its feet wet by competing in smaller endurance races throughout Scotland, but N\u00fcrburgring, with its wild atmosphere and packed grandstands, was a different beast entirely.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt’s such a special place,\u201d said Lyons. \u201cDriving in the dark there, you see all the fans with their big bonfires going. They’re playing this German, proper techno \u2014 you can smell the bonfires, smell the sausages.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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For Rockstar, the game plan for this year’s race was simple: Instead of trying to set blisteringly fast lap times, they aimed for a steady, measured pace, hoping that consistency would help them avoid crashes and unnecessary pit stops. That plan paid dividends, as Rockstar wound up winning its class comfortably by three laps with no major incidents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt may have looked smooth on paper, but it was pretty relentless in the pits,\u201d said Callan, who called strategy for all 24 hours of the race and had to help orchestrate minor repairs on the car during each pit stop.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The make-or-break moment came early in the evening when it started raining hard in the pits. Due to the track’s location in the mountains and its enormous length, the N\u00fcrburgring can have deceptive weather conditions, with heavy rain on one side and perfect conditions on the other. As one of the team’s co-drivers (a friend of Lyons’ and not a Rockstar employee) came into the pits, a tough call had to be made.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cOur co-driver got out of the car in an absolute load of rain and said, ‘Ben, I know it’s raining here, but the rest of the track is dry, so do note<\/i> put wet tires on,’\u201d Lyons recalled.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Ultimately, Callan made the gutsy call \u2014 or, as he calls it, the \u201cscary option\u201d \u2014 of keeping dry-weather tires on, and it proved to be a winning decision. While Lyons did have to navigate a tricky bit of rain as he first exited the pits, sure enough, the rest of the track was dry, and victory was in sight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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How did it feel to pull off such an improbable victory?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt was the usual mix of emotions,\u201d said Callan, \u201cbut probably shock more than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cGrand Theft Auto V\u201d inspired Rockstar Racing to set out on its quest for N\u00fcrburgring glory, and the team has taken what it’s learned and put it back into the game. According to Rockstar, last year’s car-focused \u201cLos Santos Tuners\u201d update brought more new players to \u201cGrand Theft Auto Online\u201d than any previous update. Races now account for more than half of its user-generated content. Hundreds of millions of races have taken place online since the game’s launch in 2013, Rockstar said. \u201cGTA Online\u201d even features a N\u00fcrburgring racecourse that overlays the German track’s layout on top of Los Santos, the game’s fictional world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cI just can’t believe the longevity of it,\u201d said Lyons. \u201cWe love our community, and it just feels so special to make so many people happy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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And while Rockstar remains tight-lipped about its next Grand Theft Auto game \u2014 especially after a hacker leaked unfinished videos of the project earlier this year \u2014 Lyons acknowledged that racing has emerged as a \u201cstrong point\u201d of the series.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cEven now, ‘GTA Online’ is constantly evolving with updates filled with new cars, races, and experiences that build on what we’ve learned through our time on the track,\u201d he said. \u201cThat’s something we’ll continue to do as we move into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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As for Rockstar Racing, could more endurance races be in its future? Lyons says the team is more focused on game development at the moment, but a return to the track could very well be in the cards at some point down the road.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt’s always been hand in hand for me: making video games and motorsports,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s amazing to get to this point where I can combine the two. What are the chances, really?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n