Striker strikes the fancy of open-wheel racers.

Byline: Rob Geiger

Striker strikes the fancy of open-wheel racers

The future of road racing could reside in a non-descript building in the tiny north Texas town of Sanger. That's where a team of engineers and former racers are building and fine-tuning the next generation of driving simulators that could revolutionize the way future racers are selected and trained

The elite Formula One set has been buzzing over Lewis Hamilton and the remarkable ability he displayed in his rookie season of 2007. While it's true that Hamilton has been racing since he was eight, the now-23-year-old superstar attributes his success to the exhaustive hours he spends in McLaren's simulators.

"Drivers at all levels are looking for a competitive advantage,'' said Mark Nixon, a Toyota Atlantic open-wheel racer who founded Motor-sport Simulators in 2006. "Nothing beats seat time, and with a simulator, there are no restrictions.''

Nixon's latest machine is called Striker. It features the front half of a formula race car positioned in front of three 50-inch plasma displays that wrap around the driver. The entire assembly rides on a hardy platform with three-axis motion, which definitely provides the necessary motion to get that seat-of-the-pants feeling drivers require.

At $50,000, the transportable mechanism is an advanced training tool that requires sophisticated tuneups, just like a real race car. Nixon has sold 40 units so far, to teams ...