During our latest trip to France to provide coverage of the Paris Motor Show, I made a quick detour to Lyon to finally give the racing simulators at the I-WAY entertainment center a try. Fascinating!
I-WAY is a leisure center dedicated to racing sports. It houses 18 racing simulators all linked to a network, which allows the players to race against one another.
Pierre Nicolas, CEO of I-VENT, immediately sets the record straight: “I-WAY is a posh recreational center that allows everyone to make an incursion into the virtual world of racing, a universe once inaccessible to the average Joe.”
The 53 800 square foot building was designed by Cyrille Druart and built according to I-WAY standards. Daylight sources were restricted, the simulating areas were logically divided and great efforts were made to quickly muffle vibrations and noise. The building’s inner walls were therefore lined with a porous material that once painted can be mistaken for concrete.
The building’s dim interior makes for a better image transmission on both the simulators and the big screen TVs.
Ambre Péronnet, communication coordinator and racing fanatic, guides us through the premises. «I was the center’s very first client», she specifies.
There are three different simulating areas: Formula 1, endurance and rally. The F1 chassis are made of carbon fibre, courtesy of Bull Racing Development, based in Horley, England. The endurance cars are real-life Pescarolos bought by the center before the closing of the late racing team. The rally cars are, again, genuine Citroën C2s that could even start racing again after a little fine tuning, like an engine and a transmission, that is!
I-WAY is a leisure center dedicated to racing sports. It houses 18 racing simulators all linked to a network, which allows the players to race against one another.
Pierre Nicolas, CEO of I-VENT, immediately sets the record straight: “I-WAY is a posh recreational center that allows everyone to make an incursion into the virtual world of racing, a universe once inaccessible to the average Joe.”
The 53 800 square foot building was designed by Cyrille Druart and built according to I-WAY standards. Daylight sources were restricted, the simulating areas were logically divided and great efforts were made to quickly muffle vibrations and noise. The building’s inner walls were therefore lined with a porous material that once painted can be mistaken for concrete.
 |
| Exterior view of the building. (Photo: I-WAY) |
The building’s dim interior makes for a better image transmission on both the simulators and the big screen TVs.
Ambre Péronnet, communication coordinator and racing fanatic, guides us through the premises. «I was the center’s very first client», she specifies.
There are three different simulating areas: Formula 1, endurance and rally. The F1 chassis are made of carbon fibre, courtesy of Bull Racing Development, based in Horley, England. The endurance cars are real-life Pescarolos bought by the center before the closing of the late racing team. The rally cars are, again, genuine Citroën C2s that could even start racing again after a little fine tuning, like an engine and a transmission, that is!
 |
| The bay with the F1 simulators. (Photo: René Fagnan/Auto123.com) |