Emma Galasso; Taking the next step with confidence

Skip ahead if you must… Here’s the highlights from this episode you might be most interested in and their corresponding time stamps.

• 00:00 Introduction to Screen to Speed
• 00:55 Meet Emma Galasso: Sim Racer and Brand Partnership Coordinator
• 01:28 Emma’s Journey into Sim Racing
• 03:12 Sim Racing Setup and Evolution
• 05:46 Challenges and Learning in Sim Racing
• 08:16 Practice Routine and Coaching
• 10:32 Sim Racing Community and League Details
• 12:29 Highlights and Achievements in Sim Racing
• 14:31 Real-Life Racing Experiences
• 17:12 Professional Journey in the Automotive Industry
• 24:52 Comparing Motorsports in Europe and the US
• 31:30 The Appeal of IMSA and Daytona 500
• 32:18 Sim Racing vs. Real Life Racing
• 33:30 The Challenges and Rewards of Sim Racing
• 36:36 Balancing Aggression and Strategy in Racing
• 43:01 Encouraging Women in Sim Racing
• 53:05 Future Goals and Advice for New Sim Racers
• 01:00:02 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Crew Chief Brad: [00:00:00] Welcome to Screen to Speed powered by INIT eSports. In this podcast, we dive into the journeys of remarkable individuals, making waves in sim racing and bridging the virtual with the real. From the thrill of digital circuits to the roar of real life racetracks, we explore the passion, Dedication and innovation that drives the world of motorsports.

We’ll hear from athletes, creators, and pioneers sharing their stories, insights, and the powerful ways sim racing is connecting communities and creating pathways into motorsports. So buckle up screen. The speed starts now.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Hello everyone. Welcome to new talks. Uh, happy to see everybody here on the channel. Uh, today we got. Emma Galasso with us, uh, she is a brand partnership [00:01:00] coordinator in the automotive industry and also sim racer. And she took a part in the last, uh, screen to speed event, which we had, uh, this weekend. And also she’s going to share any talks in 2025 with me.

Welcome Emma.

Emma Galasso: Thank you so much for having me. It’s so exciting to be here and I can’t wait to, uh, embark in 2025 and do it some more. So thank you.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah. Thank you for taking your time and, uh, have this show with us. Uh, so let’s start with, uh, how did you first get into some racing and, uh, what actually inspired you to start?

Emma Galasso: Yeah, so my journey started a little later than a lot of people in sim racing. I was 26. I’m dating myself here, but I was 26 and I really wanted to learn more about motorsport in a way that was not just watching it on TV because I love watching Formula One and I watched racing since I was a kid, but I didn’t understand it.

And for me, the best way to understand it is to actually do it. But you [00:02:00] know, I don’t have half a million dollars lying around to go By a Porsche 911 to go take around the track. So I got into sim racing instead. I started on my PlayStation actually on F1 2021 and had a grand old time on that. And then, uh, My brother is really good at building PCs, so I got his help to build a PC, and then I made the transition over to Assetto Corsa, have a really amazing league there, um, and that league helped me really get into sim racing, because it was fun to hot lap by myself, but, Having a lead really pushes you to be faster and better and actually race other people.

So since then, I’ve been racing on a set of Corsa and then recently making the switch toward iRacing, uh, to do more events like this and just joining new communities. I also am on TikTok, uh, talking about my racing journey. So if you ever want to really scroll back in the archives, you can see me being really proud of some really slow laps, but it’s all about documenting the journey.

So.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Mm hmm. Yeah, [00:03:00] that’s great. Yeah. So that’s cool that you started from console. So many people, you know, starting from really basic entry level things like console and really simple sim racing wheel. How’s your sim racing setup looks like right now? So how it’s involved? Yeah.

Emma Galasso: So right now, I would say I still have I mean, it’s definitely a pretty good setup.

I have a Fanatec wheel. I have a, um, DD Pro wheel with the boost kit. So I have eight new meters of force, you know, all that I have a boost, sorry, a load cell pedal. Um, but I don’t have an actual aluminum rig or anything. I’m still in a place seat challenge with my direct drive wheel. So, uh, I was just, we were talking before this call.

I just lugged my whole rig in the back of my car, 600 miles to come to my parents house, which is where I’m at now. Um, and that. The play state is really great because I just literally fold it up, put it in the back of my car and drive it up here and I have only one monitor. It’s not even a big huge monitor.

I used to just play with my, um, [00:04:00] TV. That used to be my TV for everything, but for sim racing, the lag time on that was pretty crazy. So switching to a monitor was helpful. Um, my next. Kind of upgrade will be probably better pedals a triple triples monitors, hopefully and then actually getting an aluminum rig But I started on a logitech g29 with my at the probably the worst possible Amazon buy of a Wheelbase thing that I could possibly have gotten and just because of my thing was, I didn’t even know if I was going to like sim racing.

I was doing it as a challenge for myself, but I didn’t want to, you know, spend a ton of money on a rig that I wasn’t going to use. And I figured, you know, I knew people that were really fast on a lot of G29. I said, well, I mean, they’re going to learn to be fast in a G29 or I’m going to. You know, not like it.

So thankfully, I end up liking it.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Oh, that’s good. You know, when you can try something and start just [00:05:00] with entry level equipment because you’re not spending a lot of money and then the same time you give it a try and also think if you would like to continue or not. Uh, really funny thing that, uh, I started with G27, uh, back in the days also, uh, right now with, uh, Freshmaster, DD, T818, and, uh, low tail pedals, and then got triple screens.

So I started with single screen as well. Uh, yeah, that’s really cool. You know, um, I met a lot of people on the talks and they, Most of the people started like from really basic, like G27, G29. It’s really funny. Um, can you tell me what challenges you face, um, as a new sim racer in, uh, in Assetto Corsa?

Emma Galasso: Yeah, I think that my biggest challenge has just been mentally, honestly, because sim racing, I, I wanted to do as a challenge.

Um, and I equate it to learning a language. That’s what I always tell people. I think I said that I’m on [00:06:00] the last time I was in a talk. But it’s, you have to learn so much. There’s so much going on in your brain while you’re driving. You’re doing math. You’re not even thinking about, you know, you’re finding the apex of the corner.

You’re looking ahead. You have to remember all these things while you’re driving and coming from nothing, no racing experience, except for a couple laps in Gran Turismo with my dad on controller, like I had no idea. What racing was going to be like at all. So it was learning all of that. And then also in my league, learning race crafts and how to get out of the way of everybody.

Cause I was always in the very back. Um, and you know, honestly being used to being last because in my league, I was 100 percent of the time, like the slowest person didn’t always mean I took last place because I always say like you have to just finish the race because some people DNF and you get ahead of them.

And that’s a learning experience. But I’m someone who likes to succeed in things as soon as I start them. And so racing was definitely not that way. And I wouldn’t even call myself [00:07:00] successful now. I’m still very much in the learning process. And that’s what’s so cool about it is you don’t really feel like you’re improving.

And you go back and look at a lap you did with the you were so proud of before and like, there was a lap at spa, for example, and I said, of course, a competency on a, I don’t even remember what the time was, but it was so bad. And I worked so hard to get that time. And then I came back a couple of months ago and just did a lap just to see what it was like.

And my warm up lap was almost 4 seconds faster than that lap. You improve a lot, but you don’t feel like it, which is really cool.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: That’s nice. Uh, also, um, how was your routine of, uh, the, the practice, uh, for, for the years, yeah, because, uh, you mentioned that you started, you know, like you, uh, finished last most of the races and that went not as you expected.

Uh, I think kind of the same thing happened to me when I moved from in real life racing to some racing, I felt that I’m going to pulling away from everybody, uh, but then you just meet all these people in some racing and they [00:08:00] Too competitive and they super cool and really consistent on the track So I had to like step back and learn all things.

So once again, so How is it for you? Like what is your routine of the practice for this years?

Emma Galasso: Yeah, so I started out, my goal was to learn as quickly as possible to be as good as I could be as fast as possible. And for me, that was finding a coach. Um, so I have been coached by Isaac Gilson, who is a Ferrari eSports driver, actually now, um, at the time he wasn’t, but he’s been my coach since pretty much day 1.

I, I drive with him almost every single Sunday we have an hour and I’ll think I’m doing really good and then he’ll just come in and be like, uh, you got to like adjust your right knee here or something, which is what I needed because if it was just up to me thinking my laps were really good, you know, I would have thought that I was the best sim racer out there and joined a league and get absolutely stomped like, and my league is also [00:09:00] extremely fast.

The people in my league are pretty top tier drivers and they’re also wonderful people. So. I purposely joined a league that was, uh, rookie friendly, but was way faster than me. I had to work really hard just to be six seconds behind the next slowest guy, and that was a good challenge for me. So, um, I practiced at least 30 minutes every day and I still try to hold to that.

I work full time job and have events to go to and stuff like that, but I always try to get my practice time in. And now I can practice a lot longer because I’ve done endurance races and stuff like that. But See, time is the most important, but also getting see time with a fresh brain, because if you’re in there and you’re just forcing yourself to drive 5 hours in a row.

That doesn’t work for me that well. And then I also, um, try to learn outside of actually driving. So you have to learn about setups and learn about all these things which comes through talking with people, attending real races, or taking courses online and stuff like that. So I’ve been [00:10:00] doing that as well.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, and

Emma Galasso: it’s been, it’s been a challenge, but it’s, um, it’s a good time. And it’s, it’s fun to learn new stuff and, and see, and honestly, the community is what’s so great about sim racing because I can bring a problem to somebody in my league and they can solve it immediately where it would take me two days to figure it out just because you have the experience.

And that’s what’s so cool. I can connect with people all over the world just through this.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, that’s a really cool stuff. That’s community really friendly. They helpful. And, uh, I can tell about our racing community because most of the time I’m racing and racing. And, um, as I told you, the, I said, of course, it seems like also really friendly and you mentioned that you’re doing the leak and I know that you’re doing it every Monday.

Can you give more details about the leak? Because, because maybe some people, uh, I’m going to be interested to jump in to this leak.

Emma Galasso: Yeah, so my league is called SBR. It’s Shake and Bake Racing. They’ve been around, this is actually their 5th, I say our, like it’s my league, it’s not my [00:11:00] league. But it’s the 5 year anniversary of SBR, um, this upcoming season, or 2025.

And we do races every Monday night, um, And all different tracks all different cars. We have a different theme every season So that’s been great for me because i’ve gotten to drive a ton of different cars everything from club cars to Indy lights to gt3s So you have to learn a lot and I only had a week to practice for every track stuff like that So it’s been a great community for me and all the guys that are really awesome So huge shout out to them and actually I was able to meet a lot of them in real life because we’re all Based in the u.

s. Most of us. Sorry to the canadians and Um, our Australian friends, but most of us are in the US, so we meet up at real races and just get to talk about motorsport outside of racing. So it’s a really great community to be a part of. Um, yeah, and honestly, I don’t even have time for another league, really, because I, I, even my league right now, I’ve been kind of falling off the cliff there because I’ve been so [00:12:00] busy with work, but they’re just all great guys.

And I love them.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: That’s great that you got this really friendly and nice leak. And also, uh, you mentioned that some people are competitive. I think it’s, uh, really help you to improve, uh, day by day. Because when you, you know, racing the leak where you’re first, uh, you’re like, you don’t have motivation to go forward and to improve your lap times.

And it’s really cool to find the leak where you, uh, always got the space for improvements. It’s really cool. Um, Can you tell me about the highlights in your sim racing career so far? Well,

Emma Galasso: um, I will say one of my favorite things doesn’t actually have to do with racing, but my league has a livery contest every single season.

And I think I’m an eight time livery contest winner. So that’s where all my wins come from is the liveries. Because for me, that’s I love drawing. So Doing, um, just coming up with new themes every season, and we just had Yu Gi Oh! [00:13:00] themed liveries for our IMSA season recently. And that’s been a really fun aspect for me in terms of actual racing highlights.

Um, it’s hard to say, just because for me there hasn’t been like a bunch of wins, because like I said, my league is so big. Super fast. So if I ever were to beat them, it would probably just be the highlight of my career. But I did the Ferrari eSports series this past year, and I totally did not think I was going to qualify period to the next round, but I made it through to the next round hot laps.

I didn’t know that I made it into a week before the race, so I didn’t have a lot of time to prep. So that would be my excuse, but I still managed P7, I think P7 in both of the qualifying races for that. So. That was a big moment for me, but honestly, e sports has really gotten me a lot of contacts, um, in motorsports in real life.

I’ve been able to meet a bunch of amazing people. I went to, um, the Ferrari Challenge race at Road Atlanta a couple years ago, and I was able to talk shop with people and [00:14:00] It really has been helpful in just building my professional career as well, just through this racing and being around people who are talking about it and, you know, having my own quote unquote experience behind the wheel, which does translate because I was lucky enough to track a few cars a couple of weeks ago and I just got to floor it in a Porsche 911 around track and it was easier to do that when you have some racing experience.

So it does translate.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: That’s awesome. Can you tell me what cars did you drive and what track?

Emma Galasso: Yeah, so we’re at Apex Motor Club in Arizona. So it’s a private club and I got to drive the Taycan Turbo GT, the Porsche 911 Carrera, the 911 GTS, and the 911 Turbo S, um, and we just got to do, like, a We were on the line driving our own cars with an instructor out front.

So I think you just heard my doorbell, but there was a so we were just lead and follow with an [00:15:00] instructor and they were driving a 718 in front of us. So a little bit slower, but, um, they were, they were explaining the track to us through one way radios in the car. Um, so I would just give myself a little space with the person in front of me and then just kind of floor it down the track and there’s there’s nothing quite like Taking a 911 and just absolutely pedal to the metal flooring it on the track and I got the chance to do that Which was absolutely amazing Um, and also the taikon turbo gt is all electric So that was a completely different kind of quote unquote sports car drive And it’s that is an amazing car Um, and so that was a treat to drive, and of course, I have to say the 911 was, was my favorite, just because the, the braking is actually what made a difference for me.

And when you do sim driving, you’re used to, you have to like, pretty much stomp on the brakes in faster cars and stuff like that. So it wasn’t scary for me to hit ABS really hard and whatever. Um, because I did do that once and, but you just know what to [00:16:00] expect. So it’s, it’s really helpful to have the sim racing background.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, definitely. Sim racing experience can help you to improve in the real life. Uh, so also practice, uh, a lot of race room, uh, with Sepang because I raced at that time, uh, formal four in Malaysia, and that really helped me to fixed. Some mistakes, as you said, it’s, uh, it’s really cool to have a sim racing experience as a background.

Uh, and speaking about 911, that’s one, one of my favorite car, uh, in the world. And it’s really cool. So I drove it on the real track also, and I really like to drive it. And I racing, um, driving the Porsche cup 992, um, absolutely amazing car. One of the best in the world, really.

Emma Galasso: Yeah, it’s

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: a

Emma Galasso: pretty, it’s a pretty fun car.

Just getting in and starting the engine is pretty amazing. So I’m lucky enough that I got the chance to do that. And yeah, I get some, some work perks that let me drive those cars a lot. So it’s pretty fun.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: [00:17:00] Indeed. Uh, you also mentioned that you work in right now in automotive industry. Yes. And you like really close to some racing and some racing actually help you to reach some people in real life as well.

Uh, can you tell me more about your professional journey outside of the sim racing?

Emma Galasso: Yeah, so my professional journey is pretty interesting. I went to business school for college because I really wanted to get into the film industry and people said, well, don’t go to college for film go to college for business because film is a business.

And that’s probably the best advice that I got. So I did that. And then I immediately joined the film industry. So I worked for Marvel Disney netflix. Um, working on a bunch of movies and then ultimately went to work in stunts. So I handled the entire stunt team for several films and TV shows. And then, um, there was some big strikes the past two years ago.

I think it was now. And the film industry has kind of collapsed to be [00:18:00] quite honest. So I decided that I wanted to pivot and see what See if I could try my hand at getting into motor sports and automotive because I have such a passion for it and I wanted to learn more. And there’s nothing that makes you learn more than having to do it as your job.

So, um, I was lucky enough to, I mean, honestly, in film and in automotive, I had no contacts really. I just kind of cold called and cold contacted in my way. I literally went to races, um, like the Ferrari challenge, for example. I went to the race, and I was standing there, and they had a Puro Sengway there, just on display, it was one of the first ones to come to America, and I was like, oh my gosh, this has the V12, can I see it?

And the guy was like, what are you talking about? How do you know about the V12? And then we started talking, and he brought me over to all the other cars that they had, so, and then I got to meet the, like, the president of Ferrari North America, who just happened to be walking by. And just saying hi to people and, um, talking and then go, I actually went to, [00:19:00] for example, the Porsche experience center in Atlanta, Georgia has a sports competition kind of thing a couple years ago where you could just show up there, set a lap and see if you were the top qualifier, you could go to the next French sport.

And so I went to try my hand at it. I wasn’t very good at sim racing at the time, but I met one of the guys from my league there. I’d never met in person, um, found out he’s like a real life driving coach. Um, and he’s an amazing sim racer as well. And got to talk to him, got to talk to a bunch of people at Porsche.

And then, you know, just, just finding things to go to where car people are at that are actually involved in motorsport. Cars and coffee is really fun. We have those too. I go to those sometimes. But going to events where it’s more. You know, people are there to work at races. So, like, going to IMSA races, for example, if you have the opportunity and you’re in the U.

S. to go to an IMSA race, you get complete pit lane access, everything, just as a regular attendee, so it’s not like Formula 1 where you’re really limited. Um, I’ve met so many people just walking through [00:20:00] there, saying hi, you know, pointing something out about the cars, just being nice, always be nice to people, and don’t ask questions.

For things, um, just talking to people and it really helped me get a leg up into the industry and also honestly, sim racing, just meeting people and talking to people through sim racing has gotten me a lot of connections, um, including this one through any sports was just, I actually found Steffi through LinkedIn through somebody else.

That I was connected with and I saw this post about, I think it was, um, the fall cup. I was like, well, that’s pretty cool. And then ended up finding it at Eastwards through that. So just being open to connecting with everyone and talking with everyone can, can really help. And I would say that for any industry, but I’ve been lucky enough, sorry.

I’ve been lucky enough that it’s worked for me twice in two different industries. So there’s gotta be something there.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: It’s really nice that you’re going with the, with the flow of the life, yeah, and, uh, just, uh, connect people casually during, uh, visiting the events and everything. So I think that viewers can, [00:21:00] uh, definitely use this, uh, in, in their lives.

Um, for me, I also found a lot of people, um, as I’m streaming on Twitch, Streaming I racing and, uh, really just a lot of people come here and, uh, you know, met the Tony Cannan and I met a lot of other racing drivers like Daniel Morad and yeah, that’s pretty awesome that we got this opportunity and really some racing op open a lot of, uh, doors, uh, for yourself and it’s, uh, it’s nice.

Uh, can you tell me that, uh, about, um, do you have any like specific tracks and cars, uh, like your. your best combo and the combo which you like and dislike

Emma Galasso: also. I have to say that I don’t. Partially because my league, we race so many different tracks. I’m always trying to learn a new track, which I enjoy because I don’t really want to get, you know, kind of stuck.

I mean, [00:22:00] I gotta think. I don’t know if I have a favorite. I, I really, there’s so many things I like about different tracks and so many, for me, I think about the memories on, um, different tracks, like Watkins, for example, I think I talked about this in my last in a talk, but we had some amazing GT4 races at Watkins in my league.

And so Watkins is fun to me because of that. We also have, like, a running meme in my league about Watkins because all of us love it so much. Um, tracks I, I hate. Oh, I don’t know. I think there’s just certain parts of tracks that I hate. Like I’m thinking I love Monza as a track. I’ve actually been there in real life and it’s such a cool place to go to, but basically second, third sector of Monza is not my friend at all.

But I still love the track, so I can do really terrible on a track and still have fun there. And that’s what’s so cool is like you, to me, it’s like every corner is a different problem to solve and you got to solve them all the same time. So there’s a lot of. A lot of learning to be had and I would say [00:23:00] thankfully I don’t have a track that I completely hate though I’m sure if you went back in my like discord chat history on my league you’d see me hating a lot of tracks.

It’s not, I don’t actually, I can’t think of one off the top of my head so I guess it can’t be too bad.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, all the time. I noticed that, uh, you know, the most hated track, which you got in your list, that’s actually the track which you, uh, just can nail and you can race it properly. And you just dislike it.

Like, I hate this track. It’s so horrible or something like this. Um, that happened with Sebring for me. That’s really funny. Uh, so when I started to learn it, I was like, wow, it’s so complicated track to learn. I really dislike the flow of the track and everything. Uh, but when I learned it and I started to hit a really good pace on this track, I started to like, yes, I like Sebring.

Okay. Yeah,

Emma Galasso: I do have to say. Paul Ricard is not a track that I enjoy. I forgot about that one. But I did that one in [00:24:00] ACC and I was, I hated it. I didn’t think I got very good at it because I just think it was like one of the tracks I had to do and beat a certain time to get into LFM or something. And then I was.

The track changed before I qualified for it. So I was like, thank you. I can do something else now.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah. Like many people call the polycards as a big parking load or something like this. Yeah, definitely.

Emma Galasso: Yeah. And Sebring, we just did Sebring. I was actually at the Sebring race this year. I was at Sebring in the DPI for Rally League and it was awfully bumpy.

I didn’t do particularly well at Sebring, but it was, it was fun. You know, whatever. I still like it.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Well, Sebring is a challenging track because it’s actually flat, uh, but some bumps, uh, make your life really hard. Yes, definitely. Yeah, uh, you mentioned that you’ve been in Monza. I guess that there was some kind of racing event and, um, I would like to know if, uh, Can you compare the [00:25:00] motorsport in Europe and in United States and what’s different between them?

And what do you like the most like in United States within racing? And what do you like the most in European motorsport?

Emma Galasso: Yeah, so I was actually at Monza, there wasn’t a race going on. I just have friends that live right by it. So I was like, well, I think we should go visit. So I was able to go visit when nobody was there, which is cool because they have the old banking and stuff like that.

Um, I would say. Even though I haven’t been to a motorsport event in Europe yet, I have a bunch of friends who have been to many races in Europe, including American friends who went, and I guess I got to experience it a lot through one of my friends went to, um, the Austrian GP in 2021. So this was like way back in kind of the first one of the first races back from COVID.

And it’s just, first of all, in Europe, racing is so much more common, I guess, like everyone, like I was just in Italy two years ago, and they had, um, Mika hiking in on a cardboard [00:26:00] cut out in front of a tire place in America. Nobody would know who that was. You can put Michael Schumacher outside of a gas station in America and probably no 1 would know who Michael Schumacher is.

And it’s just something that. We have, we have our NASCAR drivers and stuff like that, that you’d probably, you might know their name. I’m sure a lot of people would, a lot more people would know a NASCAR driver than like Formula One. But, um, like even karting, for example, I was just speaking with a couple of people from Europe who were here for the Las Vegas GP, which I attended.

And it was, They were talking about how carting tracks, there’s carting tracks all over in Europe, and they don’t take that long to get to. The closest carting track to me is an hour and a half drive away and there’s just not really a place to access it. So, when we go to races for formula 1, for example, it’s way more expensive in the US and a lot of people, you know, they’re going because it’s formula 1, not necessarily for the racing.

Um, I would say, since drive to survive is a lot more crowded, [00:27:00] but there’s just kind of a different ambiance because. In Europe, you can still go to a race for not that expensive, but in the US, everyone who’s there is paying probably 500 at least, just to get like a general admission ticket there. Um, so there’s a lot of differences, but I think that racing, like IMSA racing, for example, has definitely changed in the 2 or 3 years I’ve been going.

It’s become way more popular and way more fun, honestly, but also a lot more crowded. It used to just be the diehard fans that were there. My first year at the Daytona 24, we were on the grid, walking around, whatever. My friends who’d been there before said, this is the most packed it’s ever been. And I was like, whatever.

The next year, it was 25 percent more crowded than we, than it was when I was there. So it’s becoming more popular and it’s, it’s becoming more of a thing. But, um, yeah, I would just say that in Europe, it’s more accessible and it’s more, uh, like more people are, have been around it for a while. Whereas in the US, that’s not necessarily the case unless, [00:28:00] you know, Probably unless you’re at NASCAR and maybe IndyCar.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: I think that NASCAR is so popular and also in United States, you got a lot of, uh, dirt ovals. Uh, it’s really popular because like everybody can buy the street stock. It’s so, so cheap to buy and you just, uh, can jump into races and it’s really cool opportunity because I think in Europe, uh, overall, even karting, like in Italy, it’s so expensive.

Uh, and, uh, yeah. You know, um, it’s not open really for everybody. And this is the fact which I like about the United States and their racing. Uh, because, uh, they got really nice racing series where you can just have fun and have your own car and race, like, Some weekends. Yeah. And, uh, that’s really cool opportunity, which we don’t have in Europe.

Um, if we’re talking about formalists, I’ve been into formalists in real life, and it’s really expensive. Like the whole season in, uh, Spain, [00:29:00] formal free cause like 300, 000 euros. or something like this. So there was a price for 2015 when I race, uh, informal masters. Uh, so yeah, but, uh, overall, I think that even if we’re talking about road racing, um, I think in Europe, more races, uh, in, in that category.

Yeah, definitely. Uh, if we’re talking about all walls, all walls are great in the United States.

Emma Galasso: Yeah, I would agree. I’m, to be fair, I’m not very involved in the ovals of the US, even though I’m kind of surrounded by NASCAR. But yeah, it’s kind of amazing to kind of, I came into it backwards, kind of, I was into road racing and Formula One, and then kind of became aware, I’ve always been aware of NASCAR, but came into the, the NASCAR fandom, I would say.

And since then, it’s just been, it’s kind of, it’s pretty funny, actually, to see the differences between NASCAR fans and Formula One fans, and just how, you know, Honestly, how NASCAR as an organization handles things versus like the FIA, for example, [00:30:00] um, like with Formula 1. Uh, so there’s a lot of differences there and it’s just it’s that’s part is interesting to me It’s like how the operations can be different even though to most people racing is racing They don’t even think about there being a difference between oval and road racing Um, so seeing all the nuances makes it makes it interesting and cool

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, that’s always great that we got, you know, different series, different categories, which we, uh, which we enjoy.

I would love to go to United States one day and visit NASCAR because I’m just in love with Opels after I jump into our racing. And, you know, if you’re jumping into our racing and got all this, uh, like four licenses, uh, it’s a bit more right now. Um, and you just want to get out of rookies in every category and you’re trying to do this and you’re like, wow.

I like ovals and maybe I would like to drive them, uh, from time to time. And yeah, I get into the street stalls, then start to, uh, drive ovals and we get into, uh, Ines car and, um, broadcasting their [00:31:00] races also together with them and it’s really fun. You know, I just get into the championship and I know all drivers and you like, uh, I know getting nervous because they are fighting on the track.

It’s really cool. I would love to try ovals one day. Uh, but if you enjoy the other category, I think it’s really cool that you got the opportunity to watch like IMSA and other series as well. Yeah, absolutely.

Emma Galasso: And I think that America is becoming more accessible for all of it, which is really cool. Um, I would say not so much as Formula 1.

Formula 1 gets more expensive every year, but, uh, technically so does IMSA, but IMSA is probably, if you really like road racing, And so it’s the way to start out where you can really, you can be up close and personal with the car. You can see the drivers running around. You can say hi to them. And it’s not like, you know, there’s not like 50M people all around them.

Um, but I haven’t been to a NASCAR race yet. Actually, I, I’ve been to Daytona just for, for the Rolex 24, but, um, I cannot imagine Daytona full of people for the Daytona 500, which it’s always sold out. [00:32:00] So it, it must be amazing.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: I think Daytona 500 alongside with, uh, Le Mans 24, uh, that’s a van, which you Have to visit and Daytona 24 as well.

It’s a great event, which What you got in the United States? Would you like to transfer your sim racing experience ever in real life racing? So do you see that you got opportunity maybe in the future to jump into some races in real life?

Emma Galasso: Um for me personally, I I well if I’m looking at my own future right now, I don’t think that’s a Something that’s going to happen.

Never say never, but it’s not something I’m actively pursuing at the moment. Mostly because I still feel like I have so much I can learn from sim racing and with the way my work is right now and all the different things I’m doing, it’s so nice to be able to literally, I could shut my laptop right now, go upstairs, get on my rig and be driving in 2 minutes [00:33:00] versus, you know, I would have to, again, drive an hour and a half to the nearest track to me.

You know, get the car there, do all this stuff. I know a lot of stunt guys that I used to work with, um, and still work with now. Actually, they do a lot of drifting and there’s a drift track near right across the street from road Atlanta. Those guys have to drive an hour to 2 hours to get to that track, unload their car, get it all ready to go.

You know, then you got to replace the tires after so many laps and stuff like that. And it’s just, it’s very time consuming. Like it’s so rewarding, like driving around a nine 11 on a track was amazing and I absolutely loved it. But at the same time for me with, you know, what my career is looking like and all of the different things I’m pursuing.

So like trying to be better in sim racing is the goal right now. I would never say no to driving a real race car, but. My, my goal here is just to be the best sim racer I can be, not necessarily getting into like a real life series, though. I wouldn’t be opposed to it. It’s not my goal.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: All right. Yeah, sounds good.

Uh, [00:34:00] because many people also ask me, uh, so I stopped the, the racing career because of the financial questions, of course. Uh, so my team just completely shut down, uh, the program, uh, which we’ve been running, uh, for, uh, And unfortunately we lost all budget and everything. Uh, so, and then during COVID, I started to stream.

I started to get into some racing and erasing, uh, specifically. And I realized that I really like, uh, so I, I had the same, uh, side with you in this, uh, real life streaming. I really like to make the content and, um, actually. Get more people into sim racing inspire them with my own journey. And that’s my goal.

So right now So just be focused on the content creation be focused on sim racing as well because I would like to encourage people to jump into sim racing to improve their skills to Uh, just have fun in right here and, uh, find maybe friends and community and find a good team [00:35:00] where they can do endurance races, for example.

So, yeah, I kind of agree with you so that you not really, uh, want to jump right now because you just got different goals and it’s okay, I think from my side. Uh, because for now I also got different goals, but, uh, yeah, in the future, if someone going to tell me, like, would you like to drive, I don’t know, 9 11 cop on the road Atlanta?

I would say, yes, yes, for sure. Let’s go.

Emma Galasso: Yeah. Right now I’d be questioning, if someone asked me that question, I’d be like, are you really sure you want me in that car? But hopefully in a little while it won’t be that way and it is cool like when you Like we were talking about you have triples. I have still have a single monitor There’s so many things that when you’re in a real car Like just you know, I don’t use vr vr makes me a little sick.

I’ve tried it before But being in a real 911, being able to actually turn my head and look at the apex of the corner was, oh, this is really cool. And then during the race, like, what I love about [00:36:00] Soto Corsa and ACC is that you have, like, the built in kind of radar to see where cars are versus iRacing. You literally just have to either listen to your crew chief or.

You have to just know where cars are and so I kind of like, like, right now, I, I drive by racing with no, um, like, third party overlays or anything. I haven’t downloaded, but I just can’t for the life of me. Remember to put them on and for me, that’s actually been a good challenge because I really have to be aware of what’s going on because that’s always my goal is like, okay, even if I’m last, you know, doing a multi class race last place.

I still want to be able to clock where other cars are, get out of the way for blue flags, like, whatever, and I think having that mentality in each race and taking it as like a learning experience has helped me now, so that when I’m actually fast enough to race with other people, I have kind of the built in race craft from, You know being passed so much like overtaken, but at the same time Um, there there is a downside to that in the sense that i’ve been [00:37:00] told by several of my Teammates and league mates that i’m too nice when cars are coming up to me because I mean, you know this too when you’re driving It’s it’s all like a game of chess Essentially, you have to anticipate the person in front of you anticipate the people behind you Are they going to try to overtake you?

What line are they going to take? How can you? kind of You Stop them from doing it. It’s like, well, I say chess, but to me, it’s kind of like a very complicated game of connect for like, they’re trying to get four in a row and you have to, you know, stop them also trying to get your win of four in a row. So that’s a very kind of crazy analogy for that.

But at the same time, um, But when I’m driving that way, I’ve I’ve been known to be a little too nice because cars are coming up. There’s so much faster than me that I’m like, whatever. I’m just going to let them pass because they’re 3 seconds faster than me in a lap. Whereas 1 of the guys who is in our league, I was shocked we were doing a reverse grid race.

And he was, um, like consistently one of the slower guys, but he held the entire field back because he just defended really [00:38:00] well. And after a couple of reasons like that, I was like, man, I should just be more aggressive with my defense because I really like, yes, I’m going to make them upset by holding them all up, but I’m in the lead of the race.

That’s the point. That’s what I’m supposed to do. So there’s a lot you can learn. And I just love that mental aspect. And there’s also the emotional aspect. If you’ve got a really aggressive driver who, you know, is going to go nuts. If you block them and take themselves out, then you’re You already won, you know, that kind of thing.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Well, I really, uh, dislike people who just, uh, holding the whole field, uh, because, you know, you got like top five and someone holding on P6 the, the, the rest of the field. And we just, uh, got the big gap then to the leaders. And you know that it got better gap, uh, better pace than this, uh, guy. And you just can’t overtake him because he’s defending crazy, like a lion.

And. I really dislike that because you can let go of me and, you know, other people behind me and we’re going to catch the train and we’re going to fight for the top three instead of [00:39:00] fighting for the, like, P6, P7 or, like, P10, uh, so, I don’t know, I’m kind of, you know, trying to balance with my, so if I can fight with, with person, I see that our pace are equal, uh, so then I’m going to fight, I’m going to defend.

Uh, but if I see that someone faster than, than I, by like four or three tens, I’m going to let go of this person and just go into race with him. And, uh, probably we’re going to catch, uh, next people and we got the opportunity to overtake them. So this is what I’m doing usually. And I think this racing is about balancing, especially in a race.

Uh, because sometimes you got to. People who Harry so bad, then you let go them, they crushing somewhere with someone in getting two positions. Yeah.

Emma Galasso: Like right now, my two most popular videos on my Tik TOK are my first two rookie races in the MX five. I just did like a commentary, um, overview of those races.

Like I shortened them down to like a minute and that was [00:40:00] basically what it was. I let everyone else, first of all, I didn’t even. Set a qualifying time because I wanted to start in last place to avoid the carnage of turn one and then both races. I ended up podium like on podium because these all these cars were just rushing to get ahead and they were crashing into each other.

They don’t have race craft, but they think they do. So they take each other out. And it’s just funny because during my commentary, like I was, I was just like kind of joking around. I was like, yeah, and this guy passed me, but he got karma later because he hit someone else. And all these people in the comments were like, what do you mean you got karma?

You overtook you clean. And I was like, yeah, I know that’s the joke. If you overtake me, it’s bad. Always. It’s just funny to see, like, you know, the community kind of, um, doing stuff like that. But I mean, that’s what rookie races are all about. I think they’re really entertaining. I say that as someone who hasn’t been kind of crashed into yet.

But. I’m actually going to do some, um, D license races tonight in the GR86. So we’ll see how those go. What?

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, that’s all the time happening with me that I’m [00:41:00] with community, I’m streaming and I’m like, okay guys, let’s let go this, this guy ahead of us. And then he just creating the huge crash ahead of me

So I’m getting like three, four positions. Uh, that’s. That’s a great moment and everybody laughing because you know when you cold blooded when you calm down, you just doing your pace, doing your laps. I think this is the best which you can do because you actually have to race your own race. So if someone wants to go ahead like, okay, they can go ahead and that’s it.

So Maybe something bad going to happen. Maybe this person going to catch other people and help me also. So yeah, I think you have to balance here with this. And, uh, of course we all get nervous, uh, before races and during races and some, uh, really, uh, exciting moments. Uh, but I think you should be, you should calm down and be cold blooded in racing.

This is, uh, the best which you can do for your results.

Emma Galasso: Yeah, I always tell [00:42:00] people, like, whenever I join a race, I see people that are way faster than me. I kind of, you know, give myself a little pep talk, because a lot of people are really fast at hot lapping, qualifying and stuff, and then their race, their race craft and their race pace just isn’t very good.

And one thing that, you know, when you’re in last place and you’re fighting for last place, you learn to be really consistent, because if you spin out and you’re in last place, now you’re in last place by like two minutes or three laps. Then, like, you know, 10 seconds. So it was always, I find myself being a really consistent driver, which is frustrating when I’m trying to, trying to set qualifying times, because I don’t really have the ability yet to really put in a blazing fast qualifying lap, but.

My qualifying lap is usually my race pace or pretty close to it, which has been way more helpful, honestly, because I’ll get into a race and maybe I qualified 5th or 6th, but my pace is well enough that I don’t spin out. I don’t go off track and I’m able to pick up the places because of that.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: [00:43:00] Yeah, that’s cool.

Um, so as we girls in some racing and from my side, I can tell that some racing for me more friendly place for me as a male, uh, racing driver than in real life races, which I did, uh, what do you think can be done to encourage more girls to jump into some racing into racing as well in the future?

Emma Galasso: Um. I think definitely having visibility for women in some racing is important because I remember part of the reason I started doing my content was because when I looked for creators who were female who were doing, you know, some racing, there was one or two girls that no longer made content.

I don’t even remember who they are. And I was like, okay, and then also, when I clicked on their content, they were way faster than I was. And I was like, well, can I watch any videos of people who aren’t just like. World record fast and so I was like well I guess I can be that person you guys can watch me take last and I was kind of shocked because I [00:44:00] really made my Videos just more for myself as a kind of a journal of like how I’m improving But a lot of people were like, thank you.

Like I love watching your journey Like I also just started like I didn’t know that everyone’s going through this so I think just having visibility on the struggles of sim racing not necessarily just like the You know top accolades which I think are important and I hope that more women are able to take those You know big time accolades and I hope to be one of them But it’s it’s something about visibility But also I think like you said the communities of sim racing was way more Correct Um, normal and accepting than, uh, other games.

Like, I used to play Call of Duty a lot, and I was like a top 10, 000 player in hardcore domination Call of Duty, and I had my team, and we were, like, very in sync with each other, um, But everyone else when I, when I played, it was like just constant abuse or whatever. And I’ve never had anything like that in sim racing.

No one has ever, [00:45:00] I’ve gotten, what I do get is people just assuming I don’t know anything because I’m a woman, which happens in real life too about cars, but that’s really it. I’ve never had anyone claim that I was, you know. Not a good driver or something, because I’m a woman, which surprised me, because I kind of thought that people would just love to, you know, kind of come after women.

But I think that’s why, um. When you’re starting out in sim racing it’d be really nice to have kind of a blueprint from other Experienced sim racers of like hey, you know don’t if you’re doing iRacing and you just jump into iRacing with your voice chat on and your chat on all this stuff and People are just like yelling at you and telling you don’t know how to overtake like you’re not gonna like sim racing You’re gonna hate it because you’re like what the heck I don’t know what i’m doing So and it’s so difficult because sim racing really is like Real driving, um, people like in America, at least we’re always driving our cars.

You think you can drive a car around track. It’s absolutely not the same. And then there’s no one saying like, hey, this is race [00:46:00] etiquette. You either have to watch racing or just like, kind of know intuitively from doing it yourself or something like that. So I think it’s really hard for new people. It’s not like Call of Duty where you can just jump into a game, have fun.

You know, you’re supposed to do similar things. It has a lot more nuance to it. So I think education is really important as well and introducing new sim racers in general, but also women in a way that’s productive and showing them what sim racing really involves and how, you know, it is a community effort, but also just, you know, making sure that people are in leagues that are fun and inclusive and stuff like my league.

I got really lucky. It’s the second week that I joined and they’re super organized, super on top of it. Everyone’s super nice. Um, and, um, And that changed my whole sim racing trajectory, because if I would have joined a league that was, you know, abusive or didn’t treat me as an equal or something, that could have totally changed my mindset on it.

Um, and I kind of go into things with a, I wouldn’t say cocky because I don’t consider myself someone as cocky, but in my head, I’m like, really [00:47:00] trying to like, be like, I could be the best though. I could I could be the best. So I have that mentality going into it. And it just kind of, um, it’s helpful to get humbled honestly.

So my league, you know, I’m, I’m team last. These guys are kicking my butt every single week, but at the end of it, it’s like, okay, we watch our race review after every single race. We go back through the race. We watch incidents. We talk about it. Who was at fault stuff like that. And all of that is learning that comes in such a unique way that other kind of.

Yeah. Esports don’t really have, which is good and bad for new racers. So I think I’ve, I’ve long since lost the plot on this question, but, um, I, that would be my, that would be my thought is like, we just need ways for people to, to engage in some racing. That’s actually going to be productive. Like people don’t even know that you can get coached in some racing.

A lot of people are like, why you have coach for that? And I’m like, yeah, and I would be way worse of a Sim driver. If I didn’t have my coach. Thank you. Um, but [00:48:00] people, you know, it’s like any e sports in general, it’s still a pretty new thing and people don’t understand how big it is. Like it’s, you know, it’s going to be in the Olympics.

That’s how big it is. And people are still kind of thinking it’s just video games running around. But so changing the mindset overall, which I think is already changing, but there’s a lot of work to be done.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, it’s changing already. I can see more. Girls in, uh, iRacing as well. And I see that more girls streaming also, because when I started in 2020, I saw like, you know, two girls with me streaming iRacing, now we can see more and it’s really cool.

Um, I kind of agree with you that sim racing is a complicated. Yeah. So you just can jump like in Call of Duty and just play and have fun. Uh, so at least you can, you have to get like controller maybe to try it and, or. The wheel and pedals and, uh, probably then started to learn the base and how to build your line on track and all the [00:49:00] stuff.

So it’s, it can be complicated for someone. Uh, but I think if, if you’re passionate about, uh, cars, about racing, um, I think you’ve got a good opportunities to like some racing and then, um, you know, just improving it and, uh, also grow up as a person. Um, I think it’s a good. It’s a good sport. It’s a good hobby to have.

And I just, uh, hope that with, uh, Inuit sports also, we will get more girls into this wonderful sport. Um, and, uh, going to see more content creators as well.

Emma Galasso: Yeah, I agree. I think, um, I mean, I’m super thankful to have found this community just because, you know, I like to have something to work toward when I’m driving, whether it’s an official race, or usually it’s just been my league races every week, but having, like, the holiday invitational, for example, that was involved a ton of practice on my part, and it was good to be able to have [00:50:00] the chance to, you know, You know, really?

Okay. This is this is a race. It’s going to be stream. There’s going to be people. I got to prove myself and then, you know, I shot myself in the foot for that race. But at the same time, I still worked really hard and it was still really good improvement because we actually raced. Okay, I’m going to Jerry 86, um, in the fall cup and my time, even though, you know, obviously, whether it’s different, I racing stuff like that.

My best time. From the fall cup to the invitation, which was like 6 weeks apart, or maybe 8 weeks apart. Um, I had dropped almost a 2nd in lap time and my personal best lap was 6 tenths better, um, in the holiday invitational, which, yeah, you can attribute that to weather, but I’m telling you right now. I could definitely not have gotten that time for the fall cup race.

So, um, yeah, there’s a, it’s great to see improvement. And I think that’s what. You know, league racing can also help you do is you’re racing against the same people. You’re always trying to improve. And when you’re a beginner, your [00:51:00] improvements are seconds at a time. Whereas when you’re a really advanced in racer, your improvements are tenths or hundredths.

Um, so when you’re, you’re making that, you’re catching up. I remember the 1st time, um, One of the guys in my league was like, yeah, you’re like solidly in the mid pack now. And I was like, yes, I got it. I’m in the mid pack. I’m fighting for 10th. Like, this is what it’s all about. Like, you know, and then you really realize that you’re formula one.

It’s kind of like, Oh yeah. So and so got points. Big deal. But when you’re the person who’s been fighting from P20 to get to that P10, it’s like respect, like now you understand what it’s like. So, um, yeah, it’s a, it’s a really cool. Cool thing to be part of and just, you know, seeing more women getting involved.

Um, like, I was just in it. Esports actually had me go out to Vegas a couple weeks ago. Um, and I got to work with, uh, Blake Upton, who is a F3 driver, um, and now works with Formula 1 and stuff, but we got to just be me being there as a female representative for. Simracing, so [00:52:00] many women, old women, little kids came up to me and were like, it’s so great to see you doing this.

Like I didn’t even think, I was too afraid to get in a simulator, but then I saw you were doing it and I could go do it. And I’m like, yeah, that’s what we need is we need people to see that this is something that, you know, women can do too. Is equestrian sports and motor sports are the two things they say that are, you know, Like truly equal, which there’s obviously little nuances there, but pretty much true.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, I think that sim racing is, uh, uh, once again, I’m going to tell this, it’s more open and, uh, here is no difference in the physical aspect, uh, as well. So I think that, uh, you know, more girls not going to be afraid to jump into sim racing because, uh, real life racing can be really exhausting and, uh, it’s so.

Yeah. It’s so hard for body. Some races are so long and, uh, yeah, probably physically, uh, we can do some races, uh, in real life, uh, but you can have fun in sim [00:53:00] racing and the same time. Um, yeah, definitely. Can you tell me what’s your, uh, goals, uh, in the future for sim racing and for your professional career as well?

Emma Galasso: Yeah. Um, this year I’m really focusing on iRacing. Uh, it’s my first time really doing iRacing at all. Like I got. I guess I started, I got an iRacing account like in May or something, but never drove because it was really intimidating to me. Um, but now I’m really trying to get to iRacing, getting really focused on doing more actual events.

Um, even though I’m still trying to figure out kind of where my pace stacks up, I think now I’m no longer fighting for last. So, and just having that, um, confidence has helped me. To be able to think about pursuing these things, um, doing things like the Ferrari Esports series. Uh, Porsche doesn’t have it anymore, but they used to have like an Esports challenge.

Um, maybe it’ll come back, I don’t know, [00:54:00] doing stuff like that. And then just doing iRacing official races, um, 2025. Unfortunately, TikTok might be getting, uh, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, TikTok might be kind of, Getting pushed away side in the US. So there goes my whole 2 years of work.

So I’m trying to focus more on like the content creation side of utilizing Instagram or Twitch, even though I, I’m not much of a live. I really like doing things live when it comes to racing, just because for me, so much of it is still so mentally involved in learning, but balancing a chat plus racing plus learning is difficult, but honestly, it’s it’s where everyone’s going.

So. That might be in the future for me. Um, and really my all inclusive goal would be for the Olympic team for the U. S. I want to be a SIM driver on that team. Um, I don’t, I don’t really want to just be like the girl SIM driver that has to be there. I want to be the best [00:55:00] 1 on that team and we got plenty of time to get there and a lot of work to be done to get there, but I’m hoping that I can do it.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Great, uh, plans you got for 2025, definitely, uh, for Olympics. So I wish you good luck for this one. Uh, and speaking about, uh, racing, I think you would just, uh, you know, with some time going to learn tracks and, uh, step by step, you will get faster and faster. And also if you use the coach, uh, you know, the.

This process of how the practice working and how to be faster how to improve your lap times And I think that’s great. And what can you tell to new sim racers who starting like should they get the coach? Maybe they can find some guides on YouTube or something like this. So what’s what will be your advice for them?

Emma Galasso: So my advice would be to start small. So like kind of what we talked about earlier getting the Logitech G29 Starting out, you know, really simple. See if you actually [00:56:00] like it at first. I see so many people on Reddit who spend like 4, 000 on a rig. And then they’re like, yeah, I don’t really use it anymore.

So make sure you like it first, but also be ready to be frustrated. And that’s what’s so difficult for me. A lot of times I’m like, why am I not faster? What am I doing wrong that I’m not faster? And a lot of times there’s just so many things going on in your brain that you don’t realize. If we go back to the language analogy, if you’re trying to be fluent in a language, like as a native English speaker, I can usually tell when someone’s not a native English speaker because there’s little things that you do differently with your words.

You, you say something slightly off, whereas an English speaker, I 100 percent know what you’re talking about, but it’s still not 100 percent perfect. It’s kind of like racing. It’s like, you can have 90 percent of a trail break. Correct. But that 10 percent is going to put the difference between you being in 3rd and being in 1st.

Not only do you have to do it once time, like 1 time. Correct. You have to do it every single time. So there’s just [00:57:00] don’t be afraid to take last for a long time. Like, I’m telling you, I was in last place for 2 years, probably. And I. Never even cared because my, my community was awesome and I could see my own personal improvements.

Um, so being frustrated is okay. You’re really going to see if you’ve never done racing before, which I had, I had no racing experience going in my brain hurt after driving for like, 30 minutes. Like, I was like, this is like, taking a test. Like, I don’t know how I can do this. And, but eventually that goes away.

We had, um, the two. 0. 4 hours of data. I’m sorry of Lamar. So instead of 24 hours, since we’re all we all have jobs, we did like the 2 hours and 4 minutes or whatever. And I never, ever thought I could sit in a SIM rig for 2 hours at that time. And then, you know, by an hour 30, I’m like, oh, this isn’t too bad.

And you gradually start getting there. But it is a process here. It’s like, if you think about it, like a language, that’s like, [00:58:00] The best way to kind of think about it, your improvement, what it’s going to look like, you know, you can start stringing a sentence together pretty quickly, but you’re not going to be fluent for years.

And it’s the same with racing. You’re not going to be. You know, top tier until you have years and years of experience and which I heard that and I was like, yeah, but but I could be better, you know, I could do it better and faster. And it’s like, sorry, here we are, you know, but it’s good to have confidence and stuff.

But at the same time, just acknowledge the process and know how long it’s going to actually take for you to be good. And you also have to focus on being better. A lot of people just get in their rig, do a couple official races on iRacing with no practice. Like, maybe they practiced the track a year ago, and they’re just going back, like, you have to consciously make an effort to learn and be better if you actually want to learn and be better.

Some people don’t want it. They don’t care. They’re just there to race, which is totally fine. You can do that. But if you really want to be the top, you have to treat it, you know, like any other sport. You got to do your practice. You got to do your theory. You got to learn [00:59:00] from the best and go about it that way.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: That’s true. So you just have to trust the process and go ahead. And also for frustration, we’re learning really good, um, most of the time. And I think the, from my side that I just, uh, saying everybody try to finish every race, like even you got some damage, but if you can keep the car on track, it’s really important to finish the race because you just registered to this race to finish it and you have to go.

Uh, doesn’t matter what position you got in the end. You just have to see this checker. Yeah. I

Emma Galasso: mean, I’m definitely improving that my team, my team never came in last for any series that I did when I was taking last because I showed up to every race and I completed every single race, just showing up and doing it and completing your 20 laps will put you ahead of a lot of people who think that they’re getting better.

So racing, but then don’t show up or don’t finish the race. [01:00:00] So I would definitely agree.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, that’s true. So thank you so much for your time. That was nice to talk with you and I wish a happy holidays to everybody. And we’re going to see you in 2025. so much for being with us in 2024. That was a great time.

We’ll see you. Thank you so much, Emma.

Emma Galasso: Thank you so much. I really appreciate the time and I’m looking forward to next year. Happy holidays to you guys as well.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: See you.

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