Screen to Speed: Meike Ploeg

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 motor sports.

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 motor sports. So buckle up screen. The speed starts now.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Welcome everyone to talks episode number three, three, Mikey got three, three, as her racing number. Also, So welcome, uh, Mikey blue tower. Any talks [00:01:00] welcome in,

Meike Ploeg: uh, hello there. Uh, yeah, it’s, uh, it’s a first for me, uh, life on, uh, on the, in the webs. But, uh, yeah, here we are. And indeed, uh, 33 is my start, uh, a racing number for quite some years.

I believe. From 2011, 2012 or so, yeah. Mm-hmm .

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: That’s great. Uh, we, so happy to have you here. And let’s start with, uh, how did you get into racing? Uh, I know that you started in carting, so let’s start with this. Yeah. Uh,

Meike Ploeg: well, the racing. Um, addiction or the racing, uh, virus started on a very early age. Uh, I caught a scuttler.

I had an, uh, herby, uh, bedroom. I had herby bedding. Herbie toys, and [00:02:00] I believe, I don’t, I’m not sure, but I believe my, uh, grandma also made Herbie curtains. Something in my mind says I had Herbie curtains, not sure. And then on an, uh, uh, around eight or ten, uh, we had a Atari, uh, game computer, uh, at home. The Atari 26, uh, uh, 2600.

And, uh, we had a game, uh, N’Zero. N’Zero was, uh, an arcade game with, uh, all kinds of, uh, um, situations. Uh, night, fog, winter. Yeah, that was my first, uh, game. Um, um, connection with racing and also the Herbie movie. Uh, yeah. From Herbie, uh, it was going, [00:03:00] uh, to carting in I believe 94. I was 14. I was 14, 15, uh, uh, 14, 15.

And uh, yeah, I was. Go into the cart, carting track, uh, on a, uh, on a bicycle, uh, two times, three times a month, sometimes, and just setting, uh, uh, the fastest, uh, time of the week, sometimes at the fastest time of the month and, uh, Around, uh, it was, uh, at the end of 1996, uh, Williams, the Williams FF one team, together with Sonars had a, um, uh, a challenge.

You had to set a, a fast, uh, the fastest time on some of the, uh, indoor tracks and when you were fast enough. I believe the fo fast is four [00:04:00] something and. You were invited to come to the speech and design, uh, uh, exhibition in, um, in Utrecht. Uh, that was at the end of the year. Speech and design was something, uh, That was, uh, organized every year around December, around this time.

And, uh, we had a final, the fastest hundreds of, I believe, plus 5, 000, 6, 000, uh, Um, attendees, uh, were invited the fastest and that, yeah, I was one of them. And one thing I still remember is like Joshua Stappan did, uh, a day, a demo on the, uh, on the cartoon track was just a concrete floor. Uh, on the first, uh, on the first level of the yardless, uh, [00:05:00] um, building and, uh, he showed it like he was going on rails.

And then we were able to do the practices and the concrete was like ice. And so my, my, um, adoration for your stuff came from that. Uh, experience like he drove on ice like it was on rails and we were, uh, um, skidding around, uh, making doughnuts, not intended, but yeah, that was really fun. But, uh, I think I became.

Uh, somewhere in the top 30, top 40, not, not as my true self. So when I saw my name again, uh, on the, uh, leaderboards, [00:06:00] uh, it, it does, it didn’t felt good, uh, in that way. Uh, I couldn’t, uh, uh, find, uh, uh, um. I didn’t feel comfortable to know I was quick enough to become, uh, uh, better in karting in, in most sports, but not with this name.

And that is why I stopped, uh, go karting on, uh, uh, on levels like the challenges. Um, uh, how do we say that? Uh, uh, events like events, like one hour races or so. I stopped with that, and I was just go karting, uh, in indoor karting tracks, and that was enough. So, yeah, they’re, they’re my, uh, uh, racing ambitions [00:07:00] stopped somewhere.

And, uh, it was at the end of the nineties, I believe, end of the ninth weekend zeros, I had my first racing wheel, uh, for the computer, uh, Microsoft, Microsoft side window. And then, uh, I started in, uh, pro, uh, rally 2000.

Another rally game and a NASCAR 98, I believe. NASCAR 98, uh, and such. So that was my first, uh, uh, idea of, yeah, it wasn’t really sim racing. Like, uh, uh, Yvonne also talks for, uh, uh, a week ago. It wasn’t really sim racing, but it was. Like for the first time, uh, doing races offline, uh, to. Mm-hmm . And yeah, [00:08:00] it was steering wheel.

Uh, it, it had four feedback or so, so,

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: yeah. Uh, so about cars, it can be really competitive, especially in Europe. I know that many people doing it. Mm-hmm. It can be really hard, uh, especially I think in nineties when you did it. Uh, so fully understand that you. Yeah. Like, uh, then go to only go karting and, uh, then switch to sim racing as understand.

Um, how was it, uh, for you to change from actually the, the karting into sim racing? Uh, do you have enough skills to like reproduce in sim racing or, uh, do you learn something new in sim racing as well?

Meike Ploeg: Oh, funny enough, uh, the, um, the most, uh, I learned from, uh, from racing lines, I caught from the BMX, uh, together with my brother, I did a BMX, uh, in the late eighties, uh, early nineties.

Uh, so in a BMX, [00:09:00] we also did, uh, the apex, the clipping point. So, uh, out in out and I wasn’t the quickest. I was, uh, The, the opposite of a daredevil, because I, I, I didn’t dare to jump, I didn’t dare to, uh, cycle on my back wheel, uh, I was just too afraid to break a bone. But the, uh, idea of cornering, uh, and, uh, like BMX, you can cycle through the whole corner.

You don’t have to break. You don’t have, you can go through all the, uh, banking and, uh, go on. And with, uh, Go karting, it was something new and you spent all around, uh, in some corners, uh, especially in go in the pro cars with two engines in the back. Uh, yeah, you go go around then uh with [00:10:00] uh from Go karting to sim racing, then it was also, uh, again with the, uh, with the rating lines out in out, but I never, uh, understood, uh, or never got, uh, the, uh, The focus, right?

To look through corners. And to be fair, uh, I never saw myself as a, as a true sim racer, uh, as fast as Yvonne or as fast as the aliens, because I always, uh, till a few weeks ago, I always, um, had the issue with the focus. I find it really difficult to find focus to look in the corners digitally. And when I did, uh, my first, uh, test drives in the film club two years [00:11:00] ago, then it was immediately looking, looking into corners and you, you can point your car to where you, where you watch.

And like, like the course two weeks ago. On Salesforce. I have my focus right now with simul racing. In the past two weeks, I, I feel I, not now more focus where. I had so much, uh, difficulty with finding the focus and now it’s easy.

That’s great. So yeah, I feel, I think I feel, uh, well, a few 10s, maybe a half second faster than I was before, before I started the, uh, racing course for the racing license stuff.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: It’s really interesting that, uh, BMX experience actually help you in some [00:12:00] racing, uh, That’s awesome. Um, so can you tell me, you just mentioned that you’ve been into Nascar and some other games, uh, racing games, and how, uh, do you actually move from racing games into the sim racing and, uh, start to take it serious?

Meike Ploeg: Uh, I took it serious. I believe Uh, about, uh, well, uh, 11, uh, 12 years ago, uh, I started with the Crunchyroll 5. Uh, uh, I got connected with a small Dutch community, GTRacing. nl. And they are just community races, uh, every week or twice a week. And, uh, racing on a low level, just a community race of maybe five to 10, uh, drivers, [00:13:00] it’s, uh, got the feeling for me online with racing against real people, not racing against bots or AI.

And then it was really, uh, fun to raise, uh, door handle. To door handle a mirror to mirror, and, uh, with also with G Grant , uh, you can, uh, um, approach it on a really, uh, professional level, but you can’t, uh, approach it on, uh, on that level. Like in I racing. In Gran Turismo, I always find it difficult to find the right breaking spots, the right clipping points, the right visual markers you use.[00:14:00]

But yeah, throughout the Gran Turismo 5, 6, and 7, um, and then I hopped back, uh, to the, uh, PC with, uh, I said, of course, competition four years ago, and now, uh, with iRacing. Yeah, now I see it more, uh, uh, as a digital motorsport.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Mm hmm. That’s cool. Um, what do you think about, uh, so you jump into Gran Turismo 5 years, like, some time ago, and, uh, community definitely help you, and, uh, what do you think about, uh, Some racing community overall.

Do you think that people are trying to help newcomers and like, oh, yeah Yeah,

Meike Ploeg: yeah, most definitely it’s like I think When you take soccer, for example, or hockey, I, I’ve did, [00:15:00] I’ve did some, uh, uh, uh, field hockey on a very low, uh, uh, basis, uh, in Utrecht, but there was already, uh, like, um, um, how do you say that?

Um, uh, leveling. What kind of left wing they were looking to each other, but they didn’t really help or support, uh, each other. It was, uh, on your own in most, in, uh, uh, community races in Crown Trismo, later in Assetto Corsa and, uh, I Racing, they, uh, I find it very welcoming is like, It doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter what you are, is as much or as, um, [00:16:00] they should try to do it on a professional level and not do it on an a arcade level.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Mm-hmm .

Meike Ploeg: So you try to. You try to to find your raising lines, you try to break on a, uh, on, on a certain point, you don’t pun. Uh, others, uh uh, often track all the time. Then they see if, okay, that person wants to learn, that person wants to be quicker, we can help. Or you can help him and that that’s what I see in, uh, in the same rating community.

Very helpful. Very welcoming. Um, um, very welcoming, uh,

I can’t find, find the word now.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah. Uh, some racing community [00:17:00] indeed, really welcoming. So when I jump into a racing, uh, that was during the pandemic, uh, in 2020, um, found that, you know, everybody’s trying to support you. Everybody’s trying to help you. If you got bad moments on track, uh, people trying to cheer you up and, um, Um, you know, just really, they’re really friendly and, uh, welcoming, indeed, as you said.

Um, Can you tell me what challenges did you face when you moved from Gran Turismo to a racing in ACC? What what was the main change for you in driving and in your skills?

Meike Ploeg: It was a whole different level. Okay Uh, start, uh, by the beginning, uh, it was, it was 2020 indeed, uh, with the Corona. Um, I was helping someone, um, um, he was, [00:18:00] uh, launching a new website and he had a web, uh, a website, a webpage about, um, um, movies with the trans, uh, theme.

Involved. So I came to the movie, just Charlie. I was searching on a movie, just Charlie interviews and such. Then I, uh, came to, uh, Charlie Martin interview, Charlie Martin. And then I thought, Oh my, there is someone like me racing. And it was, it was a week or so before she did the, uh, math, uh, nerveracking 24 hours.

Uh, it, it was, I believe, uh, at the end of August began September. Uh, it was darkest at 24 hours on nerveracking ever. Uh, then, uh, at the end of, [00:19:00] uh, 2020, then the diamond drive, uh, cup, uh, launched. So I got, uh, motivated. To buy a new gaming PC and be in that diamond drive cup. With as for the competition, with Johnny Martin, with other drivers, it opened so much, it opened not only the community.

It opened also my, uh, uh, uh, perspective of sim racing. Uh, I saw, I, I needed to find seconds, uh, to be seconds far faster than my basic speed loss, uh, uh, to make it worse. The first race in the Diamond Drive Cup was on the Alton Park. I think there are no tracks other than Alton Park. I kind of hate it.[00:20:00]

So that was, that was an eye opener. It was really an eye opener from, from Gran Turismo. I took it seriously. I took it seriously as a, uh, as virtual motorsports. But the, the, the The level of professionalism in, uh, from, from too. I said the course wa was a huge step for me.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Mm-hmm .

Meike Ploeg: So, yeah.

uh, I, I had to learn, uh, new, uh, tactics, new, uh, a new, a new way of, uh, of breaking. I, I, I did a racing with my. Uh, Logitech, um, G29 on the, uh, on Gran Turismo, it was the same set. [00:21:00] I did, uh, um, the first, the first races in, uh, Yeah. Yeah. Totally, totally different world of, uh, sim racing.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Awesome. So you also get into ACC, uh, during pandemic time.

That’s really funny because, uh, you know, many guests, which we had on any talks, they started from pandemic also, and actually, uh, many people just, uh, discover sim racing during this time and that that’s definitely awesome. And yeah, as you mentioned that you change your break in and. A lot of challenges you face, uh, during switching Gran Turismo to Data

Meike Ploeg: markers.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah.

Meike Ploeg: Like, like, in, in, uh, in, in Gran Turismo times, if I call it that, in Gran Turismo times, I always I did, uh, restart, [00:22:00] restart a new lap, restart a new lap, restart a new lap with, uh, I said the Corsa Competizione and with the Diamond Drive Cup and later also another, uh, um, uh, uh, female racers. I don’t know what that, uh, challenge was, uh, competition was, with more female racers.

More female

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: racers. Yeah.

Meike Ploeg: Yeah. I did, uh, I did some qualifications in that, really. And, uh, then I stopped to restart my lips and just keep on, uh, doing my lips. Uh, I stopped using my racing lines, uh, on and on and on. I. I turn it off and try to find my racing lines myself. So yeah, in, in real racing, you don’t have a racing line either.

I just try to challenge myself to, okay, I don’t have, uh, that in, in real life. So we [00:23:00] don’t have in sim racing either.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: And

Meike Ploeg: that’s also with sim racing. I try to, uh, Yeah, I challenge myself in driving with less traction control, driving with less ABS or driving with less downforce. Yeah, sometimes you have to try new things.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, that’s definitely right. When you try new things. You’re learning, uh, something and, uh, you go with new experience, uh, to races and you’re doing that better than better, uh, you getting better results and also more satisfied, having more fun, definitely. Uh, so when I jumped to our racing, I also came to some racing from in real life racing.

So, I have really high expectations about myself that are like, going to win every race or something like this. Um, and, uh, Astim Racing is really competitive. [00:24:00] That, uh, kind of calms me down, uh, when I jump into, uh, racing because I can, you know, You know, win every race. It was really hard. It was a big challenge for me.

Um, so yeah, I learned something new. Like I started to be more calm, uh, during races, not rush. And sometimes just, uh, you know, plan the race, uh, better, uh, because we got Yeah, the

Meike Ploeg: work on the, uh, what I also did in as far as the competition, that’s why I also fell in love with the Gina at us. Uh, doing offline races in the Ginettas or one hour to two hour races, uh, uh, starting from the back, uh, turned, uh, uh, AI level a bit lower, and then, uh, try to, uh, be, uh, uh, to become first in one hour, two hour races, and then, uh, turn the AI level up and up and up and up.

So, [00:25:00] yeah, then you can challenge yourself and become quicker, quicker, quicker.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, that’s the great thing about simracing, that you got the opportunity to jump anytime to the practice session. And we got great AI in iRacing, for example, so you can set it to any level. Um, can practice side by side fighting.

Meike Ploeg: And also, don’t forget Raceroom. I have to say Raceroom also, uh, In the time I did Gran Turismo, uh, and I had to unplug my, uh, uh, Logitech out of the PlayStation, move it to the, uh, old PC and Raceroom was the only, uh, sim, uh, sim I could run on that PC and, and, uh, Raceroom, I could run, uh, leaderboard, uh, leaderboard challenges.

So it was also, uh, a [00:26:00] bit, uh, mix between, uh, Arcade and sim racing. I didn’t do any, uh, real racing or racing to against AI or against real people. But, uh, yeah, race from also, I have to call them, uh, uh, for their, uh, Also for the sound engine, they’re creating a sound. Mm-hmm . Uh, uh, of cars, uh, but also, uh, with the feeling of, uh, certain cars like the bm BBMW, uh, M1 Pro Car and a suit tt uh, yeah.

Sound cars. I, I, I, I love racing very room for. Especially for the leaderboards.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah. Race room is great. Uh, I raised some time and it’s also, uh, that happened. So I started from a set of Corsa, uh, not competizione, just a simple one. Um, then I raised my racing and then at the same time we [00:27:00] had, uh, like offline sim racing, um, point in the mall.

And so we had race room on this, uh, on our equipment here. And I remember I was racing here and also prepared in race room for, uh, one of the stages in Formula 4, uh, because race room got, uh, Sepang circuit. It’s a absolutely amazing circuit. I love it. Um, yeah. Um, many people said that, wow. Sound engine is, is great and Raceroom and people just in love with it.

And, uh, that’s great that we got, uh, all kinds of different, uh, simulators right now, and you can just, uh, jump to whatever, uh, comfortable for you, or you got like equipment, uh, for exactly like you just said, yeah, you choose Raceroom because you could run it on your PC.

Meike Ploeg: Yeah. Now, uh, uh, since, uh, Corona times, I do have a better PC, so I can run every, uh, sim, uh, I, I [00:28:00] like.

But, uh, yeah, it’s, uh, back in those days, uh, like between 2012, 2013, when they launched and yeah, uh, just, uh, yeah, Raytheon is free and sometimes I buy a car or buy a track or, uh, yeah, in, in all those years, I have, uh, quite, uh, an amount of cars, uh, collected.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, Raceroom got great tracks, also sometimes really cool leaderboard challenges and competitions.

So yeah, I think that people can have a look at Raceroom. It’s free to play also. That will be our recommendation. So maybe start some racing. And

Meike Ploeg: you can, and you can test drive every car you like before you buy it. Also, I, I will say, uh, every sim has to implement that. Uh, that idea so you can test drive every car [00:29:00] before you buy I racing do it.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah. Uh, you mentioned before that you’ve been, uh, racing on sidewinder, then you changed to, to G29. Uh, did you upgrade your wheel or in pedals? So were you?

Meike Ploeg: You upgrade it. Yes. Uh, I got an upgrade, uh, not by myself, uh, it was, uh, last year, uh, December, uh, 23. Or was it 22? Oh, I don’t know.

It doesn’t, it doesn’t matter. Um, I got an upgrade by, uh, by my husband. Uh, he gave me, seriously.

Oh!

A Merusa, um, I believe V2 RS, uh, wheel. With an [00:30:00] RAR nine, uh, base. And, uh, this year, uh, in the spring, I bought myself, uh, the, sorry, uh, Mozart, SRP, uh, pedals. Mm-hmm . And, uh, I do it now. Uh, I’ve raised for years in my, uh. Uh, uh, wouldn’t do it yourself, uh, Rick, but this year, uh, a few months ago, I built myself, uh, I built, uh, a sim labs, uh, Rick, uh, I got from Yvonne and, uh, Sophie.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: That’s nice. So you, you really upgrade your equipment. That’s awesome. Um, How do you like it compared to what you had in 90s and, uh, how was it, can you compare this experience like you right now on high end equipment and you start on low end, uh, so how was it for you?

Meike Ploeg: Well,[00:31:00]

I’ve always said, uh, it’s not the, uh, Equipment is the driver. Uh, I have to come back to that. Uh, especially when I’m now in the sim labs, uh, everything is 30. I don’t have any, um, how do you say that? Um, uh, tolerances. Like a moving, everything is sturdy. Um, when I started with Quanturismo with a, uh, with a little community, I, uh, I have built myself a little case.

Like, uh, it was almost a coffin and it was, uh, foldable. So it was a little flight case, something like that. In a weird shape in, uh, kind of we shape, uh, wet, uh, shape. And then I folded open, um, uh, clicked my, uh, steering wheel in it. And then I had my, um, yeah, [00:32:00] ric, uh, in, in the bedroom. Uh, uh, pfi, uh, above me a little bit too high.

I have neck drains, uh, observation. Uh, uh, yeah, that was for me at that time was enough for, uh, for the fun of racing. Not, um, um, how to say it, approaching it on a professional level, but just my racing wheel was in a secure spot. My pedals were in a secure spot. I used an old, uh, go karting seat that I could move with, uh, little.

Pins and holes in a, in a case, in a fight case. So I had a, I had a seating position so I could race, but compared to that and what I do have now, yeah, totally different [00:33:00] world, totally different world of sim racing and racing. Uh, yeah, I truly can say now I race for virtually and, uh, thing I did back then was like arcade gaming.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: That’s great. You know, I really like that you started from really base equipment and you step by step improve it for the years. It’s, uh, it’s really great. Um, when people come to me and ask me like, uh, what should I get as a first equipment? I just telling them, uh, like you can, you should get the one in which you can efforts actually.

So you can start from basic one and then move to more expensive if you got an opportunity for this.

Meike Ploeg: Maybe you can, uh, show, uh, something, uh, what I have, uh, previous on this, uh, SimRig. Uh, I had a rig built from scaffolding pipes. Mm. Um, just [00:34:00] scaffolding pipes, uh, with a, um, not the torques, but a bu, um, keys.

Mm-hmm . So I, I just ordered, I, I, I, I just ordered a load of, uh, pipes. I just ordered a lot load of, uh, those, uh, couplings, uh, built myself, uh, first, uh, uh, desk with a small triangle. I, uh, mounted a, a steering wheel on it. When I used my desk for home things and like, uh, uh, creating or, uh, drawing, then I just had a, uh, a desk with a L shape.

And when I was going to race, my pedals were, uh, just in the corner, uh, 45 degrees, then I. Put the triangle in its position, uh, uh, uh, turns the, uh, the couplings, uh, uh, tighten the couplings. Uh, with triangle where my steering wheel was [00:35:00] on it, and then I was able to race. So my desk was, uh, multifunctional, uh, then I, uh, then I changed that desk to a rig with the same pipes, same scaffolding pipes.

Didn’t, uh, any, uh, uh, additions to it. And like now for, I think the past year, uh, doing, uh, uh, I’m going to race. No, not going to go to it. I’m racing in this, uh, sim labs, uh, still scaffolding pipes for my money. My monitor stand is, uh, mounted to the, uh, SimLabs rig for my monitor.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: That’s awesome. Uh, you know, also when I started in 2020, I had, uh, like custom made, uh, steel rig and when we switch from single screen, so single screen, I had [00:36:00] it on desk actually, and when we changed to triple, uh, we just, uh, built with my husband out of the plain woods, uh, the table.

So it was made for the triple it’s, you know, it’s really comfortable and it’s, uh, really solid as it’s, uh, that’s a playbook. It’s, um, you know, just like solid, solid, yeah. And you know, it’s still working. He’s still using, uh, this, uh, the stand for triple. It’s also, so we move a couple of times, uh, bring it with us and it’s still in one piece and working.

Meike Ploeg: I, I know I, I’ve been to, uh, Yon, uh, a few times, and I know Yon had that, uh, Samsung, uh, uh, uh, quiet war mm-hmm. Uh, screen. Yeah. That’s, that’s one thing I, I want to buy, uh, for myself. Mm-hmm . For, yeah. [00:37:00] Just instead of the triple screen, just one monitor, uh, with a, uh, yeah. Uh, how do you say it? math curve, uh, in it and then, yeah, this one, uh, one addition I could use for this rig.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, I think this, uh, monitor can be good also for PC performance because triple definitely ate a lot of, uh, resources from PC, from GPU and from CPU as well as all simulators. They, you know, pretty hard on single core, uh, from CPU. So yeah, I think that that’s a good, uh, I’m, I’m,

Meike Ploeg: Not into that. I’m just not into that digital technical stuff.

It’s just, it has to work.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, you know, you just have to take what’s comfortable for you. So I know that some people are really comfortable with a single screen, so they just get used to, they got their own reference points on their monitors, and they just [00:38:00] race with single screen. But for myself, I choose triple.

Just because it gives you more angle, so when you race side by side in road races, it’s really comfortable to use.

Meike Ploeg: Yeah, it’s like, uh, with, uh, with single screen, uh, I try now to use, uh, sometimes the, uh, one of those picks. I try to use for, uh, for looking to left or right. So that’s what I try, uh, in

Assetto Corsa, it works a bit better than in IAC. But, uh, yeah, something I, yeah, and VR is also not. Something I, uh, I do want because I am afraid I, uh, I, I will hurt my eyes with the VR. [00:39:00] I don’t know. I don’t like it.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, VR is just, uh, you know, not for everyone because someone gets sick from it. Someone just dies.

doesn’t, uh, don’t like that, uh, you know, getting a worm and, uh, around your eyes and, uh, you can sweat also. So for long races, I think VR is a not, not really good option. Um, yeah, once again, um, you have to go with whatever you’ll be comfortable with.

Meike Ploeg: No, I prefer the real racing, a little bridge.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Uh, can you tell me, you mentioned that you, uh, didn’t like Alton Park in a racing, um, can you tell me what is your favorite combo in a racing and in a set of Corsa Compensione, like favorite car and favorite track also?

Meike Ploeg: Um, well, lately, uh, the past two years, I, uh, really liked, uh, solar [00:40:00] also because I, uh, raised, uh, uh, with the fun cup in real life, uh, uh, that’s why, um, I think the unit, the genetic GT four on solar, that’s, that’s for me, uh, uh, uh, Yeah, perfect combo, um, like in iRacing, uh, for example, I’m, I’m not, I’m not really into, uh, Formula cars, but, uh, the, the Formula, uh, the FF1600.

On Lime Rock, uh, I also really like.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, F Formula race, amazing. I like it. Um, my favorite one is, uh, Summit Point with this car. Um, but I think Lime Rock Park is, uh, you know, for the first time you Yeah, Summit,

Meike Ploeg: Summit, Summit and Lime Rock are really interchangeable.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: I

Meike Ploeg: think Lime Rock and Cemetery are really close to each other.[00:41:00]

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, they’re really close to each other. I agree with you. And I think that Lime Rock Park, for some people, when you’re first time looking in the track, you’re like, Oh, it’s like pretty easy to to race here. Yeah. But when you get on the track, you’re like, wow, it’s it’s really complicated in some places.

And, you know, all the time you you say, Steering to the right many times on this track and, uh, it can be really challenging to keep a consistent lap times for like 20 laps.

Meike Ploeg: Yeah, I’ve did so many laps to, to get, uh, uh, the last part of the track, uh, to me, just the, the, the, the, uh, The long right hander.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Mm-hmm .

Meike Ploeg: Uh, lime Rock. It’s just, yeah. It took me so long to get it right. Um, yeah. With, with Summit, it, it is the final corner, uh, long time. I, uh, drove from Summit, but, uh, [00:42:00] uh, uh, gear, uh, gearing down to mm-hmm . Third, uh, to third care in, in a ff six unit, but now I. Do it more in fourth gear and just, uh, yeah, how does it throw it into the corner?

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, I, I got it. Like you, um, bringing more speed into the, the last, uh, one. Yeah, that’s definitely working. You know, that last corners on summit point and Lime Rock Park, I think they really familiar. So it can, if you nail the, the one on Lime Rock Park, you’ll be, uh, okay with summit point as well, I think.

All right. Um, so we’re moving to near to the end of our show and, uh, let’s talk about your plans and, uh, about your dreams. What are you planning for your future? Um, are you going to jump into real life racing? [00:43:00] Um, and what are you planning to do in sim racing as well?

Meike Ploeg: Uh, no, my plans are really focused on real racing.

Um, beginning of this year, uh, I said to myself, I want to get my racing license this year. Uh, and I, uh, ordered myself and, uh, uh, my personal logo. I don’t. Oh, it’s cute. Nope. This also with the Beatle with a film cup, Beatle and from Herbie. And uh, yeah. Um, I said to myself, I had to get my racing license this year and at the summer I didn’t knew really if it was going to succeed or not.

Uh, in September I was watched and, uh, visited, uh, max five. With, [00:44:00] uh, Miaras, uh, for example, I visited Germany, then I saw, yeah, okay, motorsports is expensive. Okay. I know it. And then, uh, I came back from holiday, uh, mid October and I had some, um, uh, email contact with someone from Sanford. He has his own, uh, racing school, uh, booting up his, uh, company with that.

And, uh, I thought I have to do it. I have to do it. It’s still this year I have to do it. So, yeah. Um, some, some people know. And I have my racing license, EU EU racing license. Awesome. Congrats to you. So my, my goal, uh, with a, a racing license is to, uh, get into, [00:45:00] uh, the film cup. Uh, starting, uh, my, uh, story with the Herbie and, uh, ending my ambitions to get in the funk of Beatles, like racing in Herbie.

Yeah, it’s, uh, if it’s only one stint, if it’s only one stint, uh, As Sanford or as far, but now I, I believe there’s more, uh, more than that for me. And, uh, I, I have to do some networking. I have to do some stuff, but I really believe, uh, there’s something to do in the most spots for me.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, I hope all your dreams are going to come true.

I also noticed that you got pretty, uh, earrings. Yeah. With beetles. Yeah, that’s,

Meike Ploeg: uh, This, uh, also, uh, some [00:46:00] DI, uh, DU crafting, I did myself. Oh, uh, based on the logo, based on the logo of the film cup. So, uh, that’s awesome. Uh, so I have, uh, since a few, uh, since a year or two, I have a legend, graver and laser Kurt.

In my, uh, shed, so I do, uh, some, uh, sometimes, uh, stuff like this.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: That’s really cool. I love it.

Meike Ploeg: And I also, uh, what, what I also want to mention is like, uh, uh, sure. I want to, uh, stay in, uh, sim racing, uh. This year, uh, of no or no? Uh, last year, uh, with, uh, the Rachel for Mental Health, 2023, I raced with, uh, ASRA Racing. Mm-hmm . And this, this year in, uh, spring, I raced with, [00:47:00] with, um, in the, I don’t know, it was or

And, uh, working with sim racing and real racing to work on consistency. Uh, even also, uh, learned me just consist, consistency. Now consistency is key. It’s like, I, I’m not always the fastest, uh, like mostly I’m three to five seconds slower than the aliens.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: And

Meike Ploeg: that’s, that’s okay for me. But I, when. I drove with Astra in the race for mental health on solar or on Le Mans this year and I only made four or five mistakes in the whole event.

Yeah, then I think my consistency is okay. [00:48:00] And when I, when I can turn that into the real racing to be consistent there to, yeah, what I always said. That is like a drive round like a Jensen butternut and also that round that like a smooth driving style. Yeah, and I tried to Convert it to the real racing

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, I think as you said consistency is a key and I think with consistency also Speed will come to you because if you’re consistent, you can actually analyze your laps and it’s better to see mistakes which you’re doing and overall it will help you to improve in the future. So yeah, I think this is the main thing in simracing and racing as well.

Meike Ploeg: Yeah, and now the focus is, uh, more on point for me, like I, I can look into the corners more in [00:49:00] virtual, uh, in virtual racing. Uh, yeah, I think I found there are some, some tense, maybe half a second. So yeah, I think, I think, uh, I, I will have to try some new events this or next year. So we’ll see.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, and, uh, speaking about your racing career and, uh, that you’re planning to do some networking, um, I think you can use SimRacing as well for this as, uh, you know, so many racing drivers in SimRacing, and, uh, maybe you can think to start streaming, start, uh, some socials as well, and, uh,

Meike Ploeg: you streaming.

Streaming is something I don’t like.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Um,

Meike Ploeg: no, it’s not, not like, but it’s not in my, um, first, uh, um, um, first problems map I had when I called that [00:50:00] it’s like, when I go to race, yeah, I want to stream, but I’m not that aware or that. Uh, fonts to, uh, make it a streaming, uh, business, uh, it’s, I want to race. Yes. I want to, uh, share my passion.

I want to share my, uh, uh, goals. Yeah. But, uh, streaming with all the editing and, and, uh, Social media around. I, I, I think I’m or do all for it or not that into it. I don’t know.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: So maybe you just, uh, don’t have experience. Yeah. Um, I think if you’re going to meet people, uh, who can help you, uh, even with streaming.

So maybe one day, uh, you, you can jump into it. Yeah. And even, you know, if you go on to do any races and some racing, I think it will be really good to stream them. Uh, because you’re going to find mm-hmm . Uh, your [00:51:00] people who’s going to support you. They’re going to come to every Yeah, yeah, that’s right. Every race.

Yeah. To cheer for you. Mm-hmm . And that’s great. Yeah. I have to ask,

Meike Ploeg: so maybe

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah. And also you one, uh, said that I can help you . Yeah. God, you know, we guys, uh, really, uh, friendly and a welcome community and like everybody Yeah.

Meike Ploeg: That, that, that, and, uh. It, it doesn’t have to be free, of course. Mm-hmm . And, uh, if people, uh, like to make, uh, digital photographs of the flu racing or indeed, uh, editing of videos, yeah.

Who knows? But, uh, at this point I’m not into that. Mm-hmm . Yeah, I remember. I, I don’t know. I, I don’t also, uh, what my, uh, goal is with [00:52:00] simulating. If I go to, uh, overriding, even if I go to, More, uh, tooling class, like in a race room now, or maybe more like Formula and IndyCar, I don’t know.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: All right, so you’re going to decide for your future, I’m pretty sure.

And, you know, I remember when I started streaming and started to get into sim racing, I was, uh, You know, absolutely had no clue about streaming and how to do this. And, uh, you know, how to be, how to race at the same time and communicate with the community. Yeah. Um, it was a big challenge for me, definitely.

And, um, for this years, I can tell you that, uh, you know, I just became more confident and, uh, feeling more comfortable with community. And, uh, it’s actually a little bit weird when you’re racing. Uh, and you’re not streaming in the same time because I just get used to this. I get used to that. [00:53:00] I got all the time, my people who support me in every races.

Um, but sometimes, you know, I’m like, I’m practicing, uh, offline, not on stream. And it feels a bit weird.

Meike Ploeg: Yeah. Yeah. Well, like, uh, talk now, uh, uh, for an hour or so with, which you in a calm camera. I’m not used to cameras that much and, uh, getting comfortable by the minute with the camera. Yeah, who knows? Uh, yeah, I don’t call it totally off.

Uh, I don’t, I won’t do it, but, uh, it’s not in my, uh, yeah, yeah. I don’t know how to say it. It’s not in my streets to, uh, to focus on that streaming stuff more. I’m more eager to focus on the sim racing and, uh, become quicker and more, [00:54:00] um, uh, reliable, uh, as a team member for Astra racing or. Or another team, but, uh, and then, uh, and then go streaming instead of go streaming and still, uh, hopping around.

And I first have to find my, um, my point of racing. Uh, hopefully with the, hopefully with the Jinekas, I really, uh, like to, uh, race them. But yeah, maybe GT3, maybe IndyCar, I don’t know.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, I fully understand you, um, and you’re great on camera today. You’re doing amazing.

Meike Ploeg: Thank you. The lights, uh, turned off, uh, almost.

Half hour ago. All right.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah. Um, what would you say to women, uh, who are interested [00:55:00] in join, uh, sim racing? What would you suggest to them? Uh, maybe like jump into any of the sports, uh, and what they, um, can do to get involved into sim racing?

Meike Ploeg: First of all, try it. Uh, yeah. Like, compared to 10 years ago, and now, uh, the community I found with the Diamond Drive Club.

With a head, uh, discord and, uh, also with, uh, you know, it’s in team and, uh, SR racing, um, there, there was so much to find, uh, as a female register, also as an LGBT racer. Um, there was so much to, uh, Uh, to discover, uh, what kind of, um, race you like, what kind of, um, of not, not what kind of, [00:56:00] what, what amount of, uh, uh, sim racing you want in your life.

Uh, what, what time you have for it? What, what, uh, um, what do you want to put into it, in your new hobby? And to get out of it, uh, is it just gaming and just have fun for an hour a week, or do you want to make it more, uh, more your hobby? Uh, then I say, yeah, uh, try it. And there are so many, so many clubs, so many events, uh, so many, uh, companies you, you can, uh, attend, visit, uh, like, uh, formula one, uh, GT3, uh, GT3, uh, clubs, uh, if even on, on racing tracks, uh, itself like Nürburgring and Sandsport, you can.

You can visit them, and they have a sim rig. So, uh, there is much to explore [00:57:00] for everyone.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, definitely. A lot of opportunities to jump into different simulators. Also, uh, if you don’t have a rig, as you said, yeah, we got some sim racing centers, uh, where you can come and just try sim racing. That’s awesome, yeah.

Many ways to start, uh, to get, to be involved into sim racing, as you said.

Meike Ploeg: And also like, um, uh, try to, uh, ask, uh, people in your neighborhood, uh, maybe colleagues, uh, maybe, uh, uh, friends of friends, uh, who are into a sim racing, yeah, you can ask, uh, Hey, uh, I heard you, you, you did sim racing, you have a steering wheel.

Uh, yeah, you, you can ask and. Like, like we have said, uh, it’s a very welcoming community and, uh, someone who wants to share [00:58:00] his patient too.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: So he

Meike Ploeg: said, maybe he says like, uh, Oh yeah, come on over, uh, have a drink, uh, come over this weekend and you can try it. So it’s also, uh, lots of, lots of opportunities.

Lyubov Ozeretskovskaya: Yeah, that’s true. I absolutely agree with you. Um, and now we’re just, uh, flew really fast with you. Uh, so thank you so much for taking your time and, uh, speaking with us. It was awesome. Yeah. You’re great on camera. I’m going to say this once again. Thank you so much. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you guys for watching and till the next time with the neat talks.

Bye. Bye.

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