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"Each of our team members eats, breathes and bleeds motorsports. We seek the essence of real racing and then craft it into an experience that feels absolutely genuine.
That's why drivers keep coming back for more"
-George Angelidis
Founding Member
Before the Dawn...
In late 2019, Champion Motorsports, the online racing league and organization, was in a crisis with its rFactor 2 chapters. The sim was losing favor, plagued by technical issues and a userbase with waning interest. Long time members and admins, Jon Uyan and Don Fryman, were frustrated by the situation because they knew the platform was full of potential from their years of running it in top level competitions.
That same year, a V8 Supercar series was organized to try and revive the sim within the league. It was somewhat successful, bringing in new members. One of them was George Angelidis: A fiery, Greek personality, who also saw the potential of the infinitely-moddable sim and a community that yearned for a variety of genuine-to-life race cars. As someone who literally wrote published articles on sportscar racing, the scene was perfect for him.
Discussions rapidly took place and involved fellow newcomer, Ross Smith, who saw the vision of George and the admins coming into focus. Offering his media skills, the group decided that they had a foundation and started building.
If You Build It...
As the Coronavirus pandemic began, and the world started shutting down, the 5 founding members got to work.
Angelidis wanted a full-throated sportscar endurance series on the platform. He and the team opted to use some existing assets from the community and assembled the WSC 2020 mod. It was a learning process but the team had crafted an excellent package that encapsulated the spirit of multi-class endurance racing in a condensed-time format.
The first season was a great success and new members began to quickly join, even attracting world renowned racer, Guy Cosmo, among several other top talents. Teams and drivers championships across the many classes gave everyone something to fight for at every round. The formula worked and drivers were genuinely thrilled. But George and company weren't done yet.
The Storm Approaches...
2021 through 2022 was a flurry of activity. The first historic mod, the 2010 GT1's, was co-opted with modder, Outl@w, for a run at CMS. The group began working with other modders like Apex Modding to develop WSC 1971, simultaneously helping that group to complete their own projects.
WSC 2021 was the first mod that featured extensive work on physics. Jon Uyan would do testing with the cars, drawing on his firsthand experience with vehicle suspensions and chassis, as well as his own understanding of rFactor2's engine. He'd then work closely with George Angelidis who would take Jon's recommendations and data to help dial in every aspect of the cars. His own education and career in vehicle engineering helped convert Jon's input into workable changes. Don Fryman's modding was critical in taking the updated physics and combined assets into a workable package.
Ross Smith and Matthew Overton jumped in with media and user-facing work, helping with promotional materials, tons of graphics, liveries, organization and more.
The group naturally filled in roles. The testing team was rapidly formed and, by the end of the year, Storm Gang Simulation was officially born.
Lightning Strikes...
Storm Gang Simulation then began work on the extremely ambitious WSC 1991 and WSC 2022 mods, simultaneously. All members going full throttle with R&D to add an impressive 18 cars to the sim alongside almost as many that were balanced and adjusted to create blockbuster racing. All within 6 months.
Champion Motorsports membership ballooned, with new rFactor2 drivers contributing significantly. It had now become a league where rF2 was a staple and no fewer than 6 separate championships would be running simultaneously, some with professional broadcasts and commentary.
And the group isn't stopping or slowing down. Many more hand-built cars and tracks are in the works as collaborations with modders, manufactures and major players in the motorsports industry continue to pan out. Stay tuned for even more great work in racing simulation.
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