Sim racer Suellio Almeida podiums in Dubai Radical Cup debut

Sim racer turned professional race driver Suellio Almeida climbed to the second step of the podium this past weekend at the Dubai Autodrome, during an unscheduled first outing in the Gulf Radical Cup. The content creator is a Canadian sim racing champion, driver coach and best-selling author, and now has real-world podium finishes to his name on two continents.

The opportunity to race in the Middle East came after a stellar debut for the Canada-based Brazilian in the Radical Cup North America opener at Sebring Raceway over the March 1-3, where he earned a fourth-place result in race one, battled hard for a podium finish in race two before falling to seventh, and earned his first career Radical Cup podium with a third-place result in race three.

Almeida’s real-world racing career has been fast-tracked this year following the 30-year-old’s purchase of a Radical SR3 XXR and his commitment to racing in Radical’s North American series. Joining the RySpec Racing Team, Almeida has quickly learned and adapted to the real-life experience progressing with each on-track session.

“The experience in Dubai was a dream. I had my biggest challenge so far in my racing career — to get into an endurance race, at night, in a different car, with no practice. It was a right-hand drive, and I had never driven a right-hand drive before,” explained Almeida. “Also, being a slightly older SR3 XX model, the brakes were different, the throttle was different, and I had to adapt to all these things on lap one of the actual race. It was quite a challenge. By the end of the race, I wasn’t aware of the result, so by the time I arrived at the pit and saw the team celebrating, it felt surreal. I will never forget that feeling!”

Almeida’s exploits in Dubai will be chronicled in an upcoming video to be published on his YouTube channel, which also offers guides and training videos for drivers of all skill levels, virtual and real world.