#LifeOfRudy

2017 saw the crowning of our very first World’s Fastest Gamer, Rudy van Buren. Since finals week back in November, Rudy has swapped his sales manager shoes for racing boots and has been busy ever since!

During his year as our World’s Fastest Gamer title-holder, he will be working with the team, travelling to events, and getting stuck into his new, life-changing role.

Check out what he got up to since winning, and how 2018 has fared so far.

After winning in November 2017 my life obviously turned upside down. Chances occurred, changes were made. The biggest change was quitting my previous job. McLaren offered me the chance to focus a full 100% on them and from 1st January I became an offcial McLaren employee. Just typing that already sounds good..!

The year started off plenty of paperwork, phone calls and emails, but once that was taken care of, my thoughts switched to my first MTC visit of the year.

First, it was good shaking hands with a lot of people I only knew by name up till that point. Most of the first day was filled with meetings, so my caffeine % was right on point!

The second day was split into two parts, fitness in the morning and media training in the afternoon. As you can imagine, McLaren has a clear vision about how fit and strong an F1 driver needs to be. For me it wouldn’t be fair to try and reach that within a year, but we did set ourself high goals and my aim is to work as hard as I can to reach those. You never know what the year brings, and being as fit as I can be will help with whatever comes on my path. Let’s not forget the F1 sim is a very physical machine to drive!

Training with McLaren Applied Technologies

Day three and four were all set for photoshoots and filming opportunities. I think I’ve seen almost every angle of the beautiful MTC building (whilst wearing several different outfits!) One of the best moments during those days was driving the stunning McLaren 570GT. I could think of worse ways to spend my days.

Trying out my best racer pose

The final day was the highlight of the week for me, as I spent my first full day in the F1 simulator. As you might expect, it’s a very important bit of kit within McLaren so I am restricted on what I can tell you guys, but I can tell you I enjoyed every single one of the 165 laps I did. I cannot wait for my next experience in the sim.

First full day in the F1 sim!

Last but not least, February will start of on a high with the Race of Champions event in Riyadh. It’s a very well-known and cool event where I’ll be facing 18 other big names from all different racing classes spreading from WorldRX to ex-F1 drivers.

I’m honoured to have qualified for both the Nations Cup and main event, competing alongside those famous racing icons is something I would never have imagined.

Results wise, it’s hard to make predictions. Experience is not on my side compared to most of the other drivers who race all over the world on yearly basis, but I do go there to give it my absolute best.

Friday will be the Nations Cup, where my teammate will be the winner of the virtual eRoc competition.

The main event kicks off on Saturday, and that’s where I will be all on my own. Overall, it’s just an amazing opportunity to go to Riyadh, and I’m going to enjoy every second of it.

During the ROC event, I will regularly be posting short videos on my Instagram (@rudyvanburen) so if you want to know what I’m up to be sure to check that out.

For now, I’ll leave it at this, and in next month’s blog I will tell my full Race of Champions story!

Rudy.

My special edition Race of Champions helmet