A second-hand Xbox is not the usual starting point for a motorsport career. For Girlie Lukhele, it provided an entry into a world that has traditionally been difficult and expensive to access – especially for women. Through sim racing, she learned the techniques, discipline and focus needed for competitive driving long before she entered a real rally car.
Today, she balances sim racing, motorsport and content creation, building an audience around a passion that began as a hobby and developed into something far bigger.
Her rapid progress was underlined last month when Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa handed her a seat in its GR Cup Hot Seat programme at Zwartkops Raceway. Swapping rally stages for circuit racing, Lukhele qualified fifth in the GR Cup Media Challenge, before claiming two third-place finishes in her debut weekend. More significantly, the experience exposed her to the intensity of wheel-to-wheel racing and provided another stepping stone in a motorsport journey that began behind a simulator.
In an interview immediately after the race, she told us about the costs of getting started, the role sim racing played in her development as a driver, and why access remains one of the biggest challenges facing aspiring racers in South Africa.
Sheryl Goldstuck: What were the challenges you faced getting into sim racing? Was it similar to trying to break into real racing?
Girlie Lukhele: Sim-racing was much easier to break into than actual motorsport. My biggest challenge in the beginning was the financial expense of sim-racing. I didn’t realize at the time how expensive sim-racing could be as a hobby, but I was determined to get into it despite that. I started out with a second-hand Xbox which I eventually had to upgrade in a few months’ time as many of the games I liked were being phased out of that Xbox. Which was a huge expense I didn’t see coming. I also saved up for my wheel, pedal and shifter set too over time and asked my parents to help me purchase games and expansion packs.
SG: South African motorsport still has barriers when it comes to access and representation. What changes would you like to see to make the industry more welcoming for young women and aspiring racers from diverse backgrounds?
GL: I think the industry has made a lot of progress over the years, especially when it comes to representation. I’ve seen a growing number of women and people of colour getting more involved in motorsport. I’ve also met a number of talented female drivers, co-drivers and female marshal’s too, which has really given me a growing sense of hope. I’ve also seen a few programs here and there aimed specifically towards women, sim-racers and driver development. So the industry has come a long way. From my perspective and experience, access to the information seems to be a struggle, including general information about rallies or events. It would be nice to see some more talent searching initiatives or anything that can help assist individuals with the talent and interest to find the right start and support through motorsport.
SG: Sim racing is often seen as “just gaming”, yet it demands immense discipline and skill. How has virtual racing helped sharpen your real-world driving ability and mindset behind the wheel?
GL: Sim-racing truly played a huge role in shaping and developing me as a driver. I’ll always credit sim-racing for how much it helped train me as a driver, learn about all the different racing techniques and expand my racing knowledge. Not only was it a safer way to learn how to drive – it also helped fine tune my ear to rally pace notes and understand how the various racing techniques worked when applied! I was able to learn and apply techniques on the sim before applying them in a real car, which made the transition a lot quicker, safer, and easier. It was more so about learning how to apply the techniques properly in a real car afterwards and handling the weight transfer. Mentally, sim-racing taught me how to stay sharp and focused, especially during long rally stages that demand a lot of concentration and mental focus. It also helped me with learning the pace note calls, which can be quite the steep learning curve! But being able to rally on my sim and learn the rhythm, timing and meaning of pace notes not only saved me a lot of time when transitioning to rally but also helped get me accustomed to pace notes faster! So many games are also so advanced and developers have placed a huge emphasis on precision, accuracy and realism in as far as it is possible!
SG: Content creation puts your personality in the spotlight just as much as your driving. How do you balance being authentic online while also dealing with pressure, criticism and expectations from audiences?
GL: I think content creation has been such a joy for me as it’s allowed my personality to come through in doing what I love! I think it’s a lot easier to be authentic when you’re doing what you love. Everything flows from that passion. I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself as I can be a highly competitive, lol. And I think it’s always been important to me showcase that side and my emotions to my audience. I’ve just been having fun on my journey, navigating through motorsport, sharing in a lot of sim-racing escapades and learning all the ropes, all while bringing everybody along for the ride! It’s true to myself and I think that has been always been what’s been most important in my journey.
SG: When you look back at your journey so far, what has been the defining moment that made you realise this was more than a hobby and could become a serious career path?
GL: I think as I started on my journey, a lot of things began to unfold one by one, that opened my eyes to a whole new world. From being able to attend the WRC in Kenya, to being recognized by a lot of sim-racing creators and partnering with a lot of sim-racing companies, all the while growing my own platform as a creator and connecting with people. All these moments really helped cement the realisation that sim-racing could be more than a great hobby, but also be a really different and fun career path too. It also ultimately led me into motorsport where my heart has always been.