There’s no denying that, in this day and age, simulators are now a tool of the trade if you want to become a better racing driver. Even the pros use it to either hone their skill or acquaint themselves with a new circuit as track time is, more often than not, very limited and very very expensive. But there are a select few who got into motorsports the other way around.

Through eSports, sim gamers are able to pick up all the fundamentals of racing without even having to set foot on a race track. They can also drive as much as they want, anytime they want, in any car or any circuit that they want. And thanks to events such as the Nissan GT Academy, proved that skills learned in virtual reality can be directly applied in the real world. More tournaments have followed suit in recent years, and with their big budgeted backers, have given some of the best sim racers the opportunity to race in real life.

We’ve selected 8 of our favorite eSports gamers who are now full-fledged racers, which includes 2 special individuals who race under the Philippine flag.