"The biggest competition I've ever won" - Sebastian Job on the JMR Scholarship.
- georgemattock
- Dec 12, 2018
- 3 min read
From his humble beginnings in the south of England, Sebastian Job speaks to George Mattock in an exclusive podcast reviewing his experience from winning the 2018 JMR Scholarship; which propelled him from sim racing into one of the most competitive racing series in Europe - British Formula Ford.
In the summer of 2017, Sebastian Job was simply a kid who loved racing. Go-karting, sim racing - and just about everything in between. However, his life was about to change - as he discovered the JMR Scholarship and ventured on a journey which would see him take his talents in the virtual racing world, into the real one.
"It was basically a hot-lap competition on Project Cars", 18 year old Sebastian tells George Mattock in an exclusive podcast. "Who over did the best lap won a year of racing in Formula Ford ... worth something like £40,000. It's a big prize - it's the biggest competition I've ever won".
"It's a big prize ... worth something like £40,000"
Sebastian Job entered the sim racing world around 5 years ago, at aged just 13 because that is the minimum age limit on iRacing - the simulator software he uses. Since then, he has been a part of many sim racing teams, and worked in some of the best teams in the business, including CoRe & Apex Racing UK. After leaving CoRe, Sebastian had his sights set on joining one of the hottest teams in sim racing - FA Racing G2 (now G2 eSports Sim Racing). Late in 2017, two-time Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso pledged his support to sim racing and set up a team of the worlds best online racers - a team which included Seb. In early 2018 - in the Catalonian city of Barcelona - it was announced that Sebastian would be a part of the driver lineup for his team - on the very same day that the JMR Scholarship concluded.
"I got to fly out to Barcelona on the day I actually won the scholarship", Seb explains. "We got to stand with Alonso, speak with him a bit ... for me it was an amazing day. I won the scholarship, when I got home I got phone call about it - just after we flew home from Barcelona". It was a stressful few hours for Seb as he was keeping a close eye on the proceedings with the scholarship leaderboard, whilst rubbing shoulders with an F1 legend.
"I was bricking it on the final day". "I knew there were fast guys doing it and I was extremely nervous". But after hours of agonisingly waiting, it was confirmed that he had set the fastest time and had secured his scholarship victory.
"For me it was an amazing day. I won the scholarship, when I got home I had a phone call about it - just after we flew home from Barcelona [for the G2 Alonso announcement]".
However, it was a mixed start to the season as he had been booked to compete on a test day in Knockhill, Scotland. "We went to Knockhill but it was snowed out. We got flights to Edinburgh - showed up to the track - "oh it's covered in snow!" Seb explains. "We waited over 12 hours in the airport because the flight [home] was delayed and got home at 3am." Not the most ideal start to the season!
To hear more from Seb in this exclusive interview, you can listen below to hear some behind-the-scenes stories of what really happened in his first season of real-life racing.
You can find out how Seb got on at Silverstone in his last race of the season, during the dramatic Walter Hayes Trophy weekend by watching the final episode of 'RACER' below.
One thing is for sure - Sebastian Job will be around in racing, both on the real track and in the simulator - for many years to come. One to watch.
George Mattock
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