HE has won car races on tracks in cities all over the world ... from his parents' converted loft in Musselburgh. And now he is revving-up to take the top podium place, the champagne spray and a cheque for a cool $200,000 in Las Vegas as one of the world's super-star drivers, well a virtual super-star driver anyway.
Graham Carroll is what's known as a sim racer, competing against other online challengers from all over the world in what is basically the Formula 1 of gaming. The championship is an adjunct of the recently-formed Formula E racing series, for electric-powered cars, with professional teams and drivers, which take place in some of the world's great cities, with the next one in Buenos Aires in February.
Now that Carroll has won through to the final he will actually be in the gambling capital of the world in Nevada in January, rather than the loft, to race for the big prize, competing not just against nine other sim drivers who have won through with him, but 20 of the real life drivers who will be quitting the cockpit for a racing seat in front of three large screens. The total prize money is $1 million, put up by Formula E to promote the sport and he is guaranteed $20,000, even if he comes bottom of the pack. Which he is sure he won't.
Earlier this month he was flown out by Formula E to Marrakesh to watch the track race and then, on the simulator, take on two of the top pros, Nelson Piquet Junior and Jérôme D’Ambrosio. The drivers are not strangers to simulators, practising on them when he are not in their actual cars.
So how did he do? "I smashed them into the middle of next week," he responds.
There were three races. "In the first and second I beat them by over 20 seconds over three laps. And then on the third they ganged up on me and smashed into me on the first corner."
They clearly took it, and him, seriously giving him their phone numbers before he left. "Really nice, down to earth guys."
He was also able to drive an actual Formula E car on the track. "It was just a mind-blowing experience. People have asked me how I did, and what speed I got up to, but I took care and just made sure I didn't crash the thing."
Carroll is 26 and raced on the track from the age of eight to 18, first in go-karts and then the 1600cc Formula Ford category where he won five championships in a year (there is no prize money), but was forced to give up because he and his family could not afford to move up a class where the annual cost is £100,000. He made a mini-comeback in Formula Ford at the at Silverstone last year, winning the Grand Final of the Walter Hayes Trophy, the world's largest event.
"I didn't do a lot for a few years, a bit of joinery, driver training work with my dad [Steven owns Elite Drivers Services in Edinburgh] and then about three years ago I got into gaming," he says. "It's really competitive online. And I got the same kind of feeling that I had when I was racing in real life."
That he takes it seriously is a profound understatement. Not only was the loft converted but Carroll reckons that the kit he installed – racing seat, pedals, wheel, three large screens and a "bog-standard PC" – cost more than £3000, and he has another steering wheel which cost an additional £2000.
There is serious money, too, in Formula E, not only in putting up the million dollar prize pot but in sponsors like Visa and the development of the cars, which names like Renault, Jaguar and Audi who are involved, believe will aid the development of electric technology for future saloon cars.
The online simulator championship used film of the tracks the real cars have raced around, but in Las Vegas it will be on a specially-designed video track, new to all, but incorporating the famous Las Vegas Strip, and fought out in front of an audience at the Consumer Electronics Show on January 7.
“When I was younger and thought of qualifying for major races, I never thought it would be from my parents’ loft," Carroll adds. "My mum and dad’s passions in gaming and racing must have played up in my genes. The prize on offer is life-changing and qualification just vindicates my decision to not give up on my dreams and I’m fully intending to win in Las Vegas.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here