This is Racing in VR‘s interview series with top performing vloggers who upload VR racing videos to YouTube. We reach out to them and ask what they think about racing/driving in virtual reality.

Racing in VR: Thanks so much for accepting our invitation for this interview. Please introduce yourself in a few words. Are you a dedicated sim racer or rather a casual gamer?

Kajot2111: Hi, I’m Kajot2111. I live in Germany and am 26 years old. I’ve played racing games since the PlayStation 1. It all started with a MadCatz wheel without FFB. With the PlayStation 2 I bought a Logitech DFGT wheel and had the first proper “real driving experience” in Gran Turismo. I played this game for many, many hours. Later on I bought a PC to have the most realistic driving games available. I started with simracing on PC with games like GTR, rFactor, GT Legends and Race07.

Then, in early 2013, the Assetto Corsa Tech Preview arrived and I was in love. I never drove a car in a game which felt this real. And that’s the way I got even more into simracing.

I also play non car-related games, but I think for about 90% of my gaming time I play simracing games.

RiVR: Which driving games have you tried in VR? And on which platforms?

Kajot2111: I tried Assetto Corsa, iRacing and DiRT Rally on PC. I also did a few laps with PSVR in Driveclub.

One of the scariest things: Falling off the map on modded tracks. You get the feeling of "free fall" in your stomach. That’s really weird.

RiVR: Based on your own experience, what are the advantages of racing in VR?

Kajot2111: The biggest advantage of VR is that you have the feeling to sit in a real car. Everything around seems so real. VR pushes simracing to a whole new level in my opinion. You also have a perfect feeling for distances and height differences especially on tracks like the Nordschleife or Brands Hatch. A monitor simply cannot give you these effects.

RiVR: Is there anything you don’t like in VR racing?

Kajot2111: The resolution is not that good. That’s something I don’t like. Also the system requirements and costs are very high.

RiVR: Obviously there are positives and negatives to VR gaming, but does the good stuff outweigh the bad?

Kajot2111: Of course. The good stuff outweighs the bad ones (for me at least). After a few minutes of gaming I don’t realise the bad resolution anymore. And the feeling of sitting in the car, surrounded by other cars on the track, is just insane.

RiVR: What is your daily driver VR setup (if any)? I mean your PC config, cockpit rig type, wheel, VR headset etc.

Kajot2111: I use an Oculus Rift CV1. My PC specs are not that good for VR but still work good enough for now. I use an i5 4690k, a GTX970 an 8GB of RAM.

Many rigs on the market don’t have the seating position I want so I built up a rig by my own. I created a very good seating position for me (which is one of the most important things for me to be fast and safe on track). I bought an adjustable BMW E30 seat for it and till today, I am very happy with my rig. My wheel is a Thrustmaster T500RS and my shifter a Thrustmaster TH8RS.

RiVR: What is your motivation to record and post VR racing videos to YouTube?

Kajot2111: At first I uploaded videos for me and my friends to have some replay of racing or to compare hotlaps. Then more and more people had fun with my videos and that pleases me. I started uploading more and more videos. But I am still at the beginning. In mid-December I started to upload VR videos.

I also like to meet new people cause of the videos.

RiVR: What is your favorite racing game? Do you play it on traditional monitors or in VR?

Kajot2111: My favourite game is Assetto Corsa. I love road cars and race cars with not too much downforce and the most realistic driving behaviour at the limit of the car and Assetto Corsa did a very good job. For serious racing iRacing is a very good alternative or even the better choice. If I want some thrill in single player I go for a run in DiRT Rally. Every game has its pros and cons but for me and my interests, Assetto Corsa is the game.

RiVR: Best VR racing memory? Any particular story? (getting sick, falling out of seat, a memorable overtake, etc.)

Kajot2111: First times sitting in a car in VR and you try to touch the buttons on the dashboard of the car and hit the rig or wall in your room actually. The first days there was some sickness, yes. But nowadays I have no problem with it at all. One of the scariest things: Falling of the map on modded tracks. You get the feeling of “free fall” in your stomach. That’s really weird. Also it is possible to get dizzy after some donuts.

RiVR: Are you an online multi master or more like a solo hotlapper? Favourite car and track combo?

Kajot2111: Most of the time I drive online together with my friends. Some Nordschleife “Touristenfahrten” or just cruising up a mountain pass or we are joining some public online races. But I also love hotlapping.

My favourite car – now that’s difficult. I love RWD road cars like Porsche GT3 RS, 911 R, BMW M4, MX-5 ND or AE86 and race cars like the Porsche 3.0 RSR, 90’s DTM, Cayman GT4 Clubsport or M235i Racing. My favourite track – that’ll be definitely the Nürburgring Nordschleife. And I also like mountain pass roads like Transfargarasan.

RiVR: Do you drive in real life? If so, do you think your real life driving habits are influenced by simracing and vice versa?

Kajot2111: I also love driving at the limits in real life. I had the chance to drive some modern sportscars on track and it was awesome. I can say that simracing improves the real life skills a lot! It was superb to see, how realistic some cars in Assetto Corsa behave at the limit and during a drift. Simracing helps to understand the behaviour of the car in many situations (oversteer, understeer, countersteer, turn in, etc.)

I hope that in future it will be possible to run trackdays and drift events.

RiVR: How do you see sim racing in five years from now? Do you think VR racing will eventually dominate triple monitor setups?

Kajot2111: I think more and more people will race in VR. But there are also people who love the high resolution of monitors and don’t want to go in VR. Everyone has his own demands and knows what he wants. For me, VR and simracing is a perfect combination and one of the best VR experiences you can have.

For more VR racing videos check out and subscribe to Kajot2111’s YouTube channel!