Video game development is full of names that have made groundbreaking steps you’ve never even heard about. Shawn Nash is a behind-the-scenes pioneer responsible for SODA Off Road Racing’s incredible physics, Papyrus’ graphical advancements and iRacing’s use of laser scan data for the physical track surfaces.
This interview with RSC, published in 2021, details his early life and career, through both his own company, Papyrus, Electronic Arts, to his time at iRacing.
If you ever played Papyrus’ seminal Grand Prix Legends then you’ve read his name. Rich began working as a tester on NASCAR Racing (1994) and was with Papyrus at the end. In this interview, published in 2022, we discuss his time at the legendary studio and the design of Grand Prix Legends, including initial feelings of hurt at not being asked to join iRacing.
The first F1 car to use a carbon fibre composite chassis in a race (the Lotus 88 never raced), the McLaren MP4/1 was raced from 1981 to 1983 powered by a Ford-Cosworth DFV V8 engine and (late 1983) a Porsche TAG V6. It was the first car designed following the merger of the Ron Dennis-owned Project 4 Formula Two team.
It took a win during its debut season, a further five wins over the next two years, but suffered teething problems that were not fixed until an updated specification MP4/2 was introduced in 1984. That model won the drivers title three times, constructors titles twice and a whopping 22 wins in 48 races over the next three years.
The 1982 McLaren MP4/1B variant was included as historic content in F1 2019.