Student Experiences: Lewis Edwards
Meet Lewis Edwards, a BSc (Hons) Motorsport Engineering student! Lewis’ passion for motorsport started when he watched his first Grand Prix in 2008 – Singapore. Not only did this race mark history in F1 (with the debut track featuring the first ever night race), it also hooked Lewis into the world of motorsport, and opened up opportunities he only dreamed of as a kid.
Following his recent victory of the National Motorsport Academy’s inaugural “esports driver of the year” competition, we were able to catch up with Lewis and talk about his career in sim racing, how he’s getting along in the course, and what winning this inaugural championship means to him.
Hello! Tell us a bit about yourself!
Hello! My name is Lewis Edwards, a 22-year-old student currently on Module 05 of the Online BSc (Hons) Motorsport Engineering course.
I first found my love for motorsport when I was 7-years-old. I was lying on the sofa, sick with the flu, when my Mum suggested watching the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. What transpired was one of the most action-packed races of the season and, coupled with a driver bearing the same first name as myself, I was hooked. A year later, I picked up the 2009 F1 game and began my gaming/sim racing journey. Since then, I have set multiple world records on a variety of games and simulators at events, and I’ve won prizes ranging from cash to an all-expenses paid trip to the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix. At the race, I also won paddock passes which enabled me to meet my two main heroes in motorsport: Sir Lewis Hamilton and the late Niki Lauda. In 2012 I started competitive owner karting and raced against some very talented young drivers who made it to the likes of the World Endurance Championship, FIA F3 and British GT. I picked up iRacing for the first time in 2019 and began participating in the Special Events, after surviving rookies of course! This eventually led me to join my current team, Race Anywhere Simsport.
How did you find NMA - what made you decide to enrol?
Being a giant motorsport fan, I attend the Autosport International show every year. In 2023 I came across the NMA stand with the Lotus Evora on display. Prior to the show, I wasn’t convinced a university degree would be the best option for myself, having already completed an engineering apprenticeship and, at the time, being employed by Codemasters, working on Grid Legends and EA WRC. However, my dad suggested I look into it anyway. I had a great chat with commentary extraordinaire (and NMA tutor I suppose) Ed Sarling, who convinced me that completing a motorsport engineering degree would open more opportunities as the NMA degrees specifically are held in high regard by teams and manufacturers.
As final proof that the course would right for me, and to answer a question I hadn’t been able to find the answer to, I asked Ed why more GT3 cars are switching to swan-neck rear wing supports that connect at the top of the wing instead of the bottom. He explained that the underside of the wing has a greater impact on aerodynamic efficiency, so connecting the supports at the top of the wing minimizes airflow disruption underneath. After that, I was sold.
How has your time been with the NMA so far?
As with any degree course, it has its ups and downs but overall, it has been a positive experience so far. Of course, the best moment was winning the “Esports Driver of the Year” competition and blasting out Queen’s “We Are the Champions” whilst doing burnouts on the cooldown lap! I also managed to win last year’s NMA Tyre Licking championship and even beat Wayne’s time this year! I’ve now been racing with Team NMA twice, firstly at Donington Park last year and Oulton Park this year. It’s always so much fun to get to work on the car and meet the tutors, fellow students, Kevin and our driver Jay! I would highly recommend it to students.
Unfortunately, racing does have its downsides. At Oulton Park we had just rushed through a repair to the heat exchanger on the supercharger and about halfway through the race, Jay radioed “I’ve been off… somethings come off the back of the car.” When we saw it on TV, the entire rear clamshell had been ripped off, some of the bodywork had caught fire and debris was scattered around the track. It was devastating to see that happen after all our hard work, but that’s racing. Kieran posted a great video on the NMA social media channels explaining the issue – well worth watching if you’re interested. As evidenced at the Formula 1 British Grand Prix this year, even one of the greatest racing drivers of all time has self-doubt and wonders whether he is good enough. It’s natural that we all feel like this at times. I remind myself that if Lewis can push through it all to get win number 104 then I can overcome my challenges too and that keeps me going. It’s important to remember that the tutors are always there to help steer you in the right direction (racing pun intended!).
What's been your favourite module so far? Any you are looking forward to completing?
Overall, I have enjoyed all the modules I’ve completed so far. Module 03: R&D Simulation & Analysis does stick out to me as a particular favourite though. This focused on the design of a wheel rim and tyre with a specific motorsport application. We then had to produce a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) report of the design and then make a front wing to direct airflow around the wheel and run a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation and analyse the results. I really enjoyed the fact that 3 of the 4 tasks tied together nicely, with the other being a presentation on suspension design. Having looked at the focus for Modules 06, 07 and 08, I am looking forward to all of them, especially Module 07: Vehicle Dynamics & Data Acquisition. This module focuses on data analysis and setup of a race car, which is directly relevant to sim racing. I am likely to learn a lot of new information which will improve my driving and understanding of how to optimise a race car’s performance on track.
Do you have any goals in motorsport?
I find the most effective way of setting goals is to establish a clear main goal and break it down into smaller goals or milestones. These milestones bridge the gap between my current position and the main goal which make it seem more achievable. My current main goal is to become a full-time professional esports driver. My next milestone to reach is improving my braking technique on iRacing specifically as it requires a different technique to most simulators. Of course, I consider paths to real racing all the time, but right now it’s not an option financially.
Would you recommend the degree to other sim racers and others interested in motorsport?
I would definitely recommend the degree course to my fellow sim racers. As I mentioned before, having a motorsport engineering degree will open more opportunities for a career in real world motorsport or sim racing. Besides the extra career opportunities, it is also interesting to learn about various systems on a real car which may not be modelled in simulators, like intake port design or ECU design. From reading through the course guide, it seems like Module 07 will include the most directly relevant content to sim racing, with a focus on data analysis and car setup. However. there is plenty of content throughout the course that relates to sim racing. A nice benefit of having a knowledge of sim racing is being able to use some sim racing tools to solve problems when working on an assignment. For example, using the iRacing car info tab to find out parameters for a car which can’t be found on the internet or using the Content Manager features to help in estimating the frontal area of a particular car.
A big thank you to Lewis for speaking to us! Click the button below to read part 2 of Lewis’ student experience.
