British teen Jude Peters is on track for an exciting racing career after his background in sim racing helped him make the transition to real life motorsport.
Jude is billed as a rising star, having started out with a low-cost steering wheel game accessory attached to his desk, which he used to quietly hone his skills as a sim racer, kick-starting his motor racing career at age 15.
Despite initial skepticism from his father, Jude’s determination and talent soon won over some of the critics, in a story that seems reminiscent of Jann Mardenborough and the Gran Turismo Academy (which inspired last year’s movie).
In October 2023, Jude Peters impressed a single test day in a real Ginetta junior car, and his performance caught the attention of the racing community, showing his virtual skills could translate to the racetrack. He also took the lap record at the Ginetta factory sim facility, beating their factory driver.
In being crowned 15th winner of the Ginetta Junior Scholarship, and the first sim racer to do so, he secured himself a fully-funded season in the Ginetta Junior Championship. This runs alongside the British GT series and is a dream come true for young Jude.
He’s currently testing at the UK circuits ahead of the race season which starts at Oulton Park on March 30th 2024. This will continue with Silverstone, Donington Park, Anglesey, Snetterton, and Brands Hatch over subsequent months.
More recently, the Motorsport UK Academy, the governing body’s talent development pathway, has selected Jude Peters to be part of their Team UK programme 2024. The Academy equips the UK’s most promising young drivers and co-drivers with the knowledge, skills and attitude needed to maximise their performance.
“The Motorsport UK Academy have recently awarded me a place on the Academy Team UK Futures Programme, this is a great platform to develop my skills for the coming Ginetta Championship in 2024. From there I want to progress in GT racing ultimately to race at Le Mans!”
Jude Peters
Wiltshire-based Jude is currently at school, and is hoping he can make a real impact on the track, despite not having any experience in real life racing prior to his win (unlike most junior competitors, who come up through karting).
Jude Peters told Esports News UK: “I really wasn’t expecting to win the scholarship. We came along thinking it would be a good opportunity for me to gain experience in the car, with the media and the fitness, but we never thought about winning it.
“The Motorsport UK Academy have recently awarded me a place on the Academy Team UK Futures Programme, this is a great platform to develop my skills for the coming Ginetta Championship in 2024. From there I want to progress in GT racing ultimately to race at Le Mans!”
Kelly Edmund, Ginetta Events Manager, added: “Jude’s consistency really stood out, both on track but also in the media and fitness assessments.
“He is a hugely deserving winner who will be a welcome addition to the Ginetta Junior Championship grid next season.”
Jude’s parents Dale Peters and Kirsty Peters said: “We were very sceptical about Jude being able to transfer his talent in the sim to the real world. He’s proved us wrong time and again, shifting our reality and building evidence that the sim can prepare young drivers to race in real cars. This was brought home at a recent Oulton Park test day where he said, ‘I’ve done so many laps here on the sim, it doesn’t feel like my first time on track’.”
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Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
