Harrison’s move from simulator to track gets major boost Loading article... Jamaican sim racer Jayden Harrison’s journey from a racing wheel on a desk to the cockpit of a Porsche GT3 Cup car is receiving a major boost through a new initiative aimed at identifying and developing the island’s next generation of motorsport talent. Harrison, who began sim racing in 2021, will travel to Austria in September for his first official international test at the Red Bull Ring as part of the Sim-to-Circuit initiative launched by S Hotel. The programme is designed to use simulator racing as a pathway into real-world motorsport, helping to reduce some of the financial barriers traditionally associated with developing racing drivers. Thomas Issa, group manager of S Hotel, said the initiative was born out of a desire to give talented Jamaicans an opportunity to discover how far their abilities could take them. “Motorsports is extremely expensive, and for many people, the financial barrier arrives long before talent ever becomes a question,” Issa said. “There are undoubtedly people with natural ability who will simply never know how far that ability could have taken them.” Issa, who has a background in motorsport, said he began karting at age eight and spent years competing internationally, with his father serving as mentor, coach, and sponsor. That experience, he said, allowed him to determine his potential, something he believes many aspiring Jamaican drivers are denied because of the cost of entering the sport. “The goal of the Sim Centre Initiative is, therefore, to create an environment where drivers, young and old, can practise and develop their skills alongside people with real experience in the sport,” Issa said. The Prototype Harrison is already an example of what the initiative hopes to achieve and will soon put his skills to the test