Why I Started Le Mans Ultimate With an Xbox Controller and Ready To Dominate

August 2, 2026 Benjamin

At a recent HP event, I climbed into a sim-racing rig and rediscovered a part of myself that had been quiet for years. I briefly reached number one on the event leaderboard before falling to third, but the result was enough to wake up my competitive side.

It reminded me of standing around arcade machines playing Sega’s Daytona USA, discovering Need for Speed on a Windows 95 PC, spending hours with Need for Speed Underground and later racing in F1 2010.

I had eventually lost interest in racing games. Now it felt like the right time for Fullwrath to return.

My Le Mans Ultimate starting point

Simulator: Le Mans Ultimate
Career stage: Complete beginner
Location: South Africa
Computer: Existing gaming PC
Control method: Xbox controller
Previous controller use: Rocket League
Wheel and pedals: None
Assists: Not recorded
Previous serious sim-racing experience: None recorded
Long-term objective: Develop towards competitive endurance racing
Immediate objective: Enter my first online race
Main lesson: Competitive confidence is not a substitute for preparation

The racing games that brought me here

My interest in racing did not begin with realistic tyre models, Safety Ratings or detailed race regulations.

It began with arcade racing.

Sega Daytona made racing feel immediate. You sat down, accelerated and tried to beat the people around you. Need for Speed added speed, style and progression. F1 2010 offered something more structured but I was still approaching racing games primarily as entertainment.

That background shaped the assumptions I carried into Le Mans Ultimate.

I remembered being quick in older racing games. I had also just performed well on the rig at the HP Elevate 2026. As a highly competitive person, I interpreted those experiences as evidence that I could jump into a serious racing simulator and begin challenging immediately.

Was this the first mistake in my new career or is it natural racing talent?

Why I began with an Xbox controller

I already owned two important pieces of equipment: a gaming PC and the Xbox controller I use for Rocket League. That meant I could begin without immediately purchasing a steering wheel, pedals, cockpit and racing seat. From a South African perspective, that matters. A complete rig can become a major financial commitment, particularly once local availability, delivery costs and future upgrades are considered.

The controller removed the first financial barrier. It allowed me to answer a more important question before spending heavily.

Would I enjoy sim racing enough to take it seriously?

Beginning with a controller also makes this journey more accessible. Many prospective sim racers already have a PC and gamepad but assume they cannot start until they own a complete rig.

I want to discover what is genuinely possible with equipment that many ordinary players already have and where the controller eventually becomes a limitation. However, starting with accessible equipment does not make the racing itself casual. That distinction took me less than one race to learn.

The confidence I carried into race one

My thinking before the first race was simple: I had returned to racing, I was competitive, and I was ready to show people what I could do. I planned to livestream the journey. Somewhere in the back of my mind was the hope that someone might see my potential and eventually support the move to a steering wheel.

That was ambition speaking before evidence existed.

Nobody owed me equipment because I had entered a race. Before I could demonstrate talent, I needed to demonstrate that I could control the car, understand the rules and share the circuit responsibly. Instead, I entered Le Mans Ultimate without properly understanding the game and without reading the online competition regulations.

I approached race one as though the only important question was whether I had enough speed.

Le Mans Ultimate was about to ask me very different questions.

Could I complete a lap without damaging the car? Could I brake consistently with a controller? Could I behave predictably around other drivers? Did I understand overlap, track limits, flags, safe rejoins and the rating system?

I did not yet know the answers.

Why I chose the McLaren

For my first event, I selected the McLaren in the LMGT3 Fixed race at the Circuit de la Sarthe.

The choice was partly personal loyalty. I already use a Logitech G headset through an existing arrangement with Logitech and Logitech G has an official partnership with McLaren Racing covering gaming and sim-racing equipment. Choosing the McLaren gave my first race an emotional connection, but a familiar badge on the car could not compensate for my lack of preparation.

Arcade confidence meets endurance-racing responsibility

Online sim racing is not simply a more difficult version of an arcade game.

The official RaceControl rules expect participants to understand the competition regulations and the platform before racing. They also define responsibilities concerning track limits, flags, pit-lane behaviour, overtaking, overlap, spins and safe rejoins.

I had accepted those rules without properly reading them.

That meant I had entered a shared competitive environment while missing knowledge that could affect every other driver around me.

It is easy for a beginner to think, “How difficult can the first race be?”

The answer is that driving the car is only one part of the challenge. You also need to understand how your decisions affect the field.

A mistake in a single-player arcade race can cost you a restart. A mistake in an online endurance race can damage someone else’s car, rating and experience.

The real reason this journey matters

This career did not begin with a victory. It began with confidence that had not yet been tested.

That is exactly why it is worth documenting.

I am starting with an Xbox controller, no established sim-racing reputation and a great deal to learn. I will document the races I finish, the races I do not finish, the settings I test, the equipment I eventually change and the mistakes that force me to improve.

The goal remains ambitious. I want to develop into a respected South African sim racer capable of competing in endurance racing.

But “dominate” cannot be the first instruction any more.

The first instruction is to learn.

The second is to finish.

The third is to earn the right to become competitive.

My first Le Mans Ultimate race would show just how far away I was but also give this journey a genuine starting point.

In one of the following articles I will explain what I failed to understand about the results. It was not Qualifying 14th and DNF at 18 but what the game warned me about I missed at this moment.