Backmarkers: A Racing Management Sim

Backmarkers: A Racing Management Sim puts the player in charge of a small motorsport team starting at the bottom of a fictional racing pyramid, with one driver, a limited budget and the least competitive car in a regional series. The aim is to climb through three parallel series towards the top flight while keeping the team financially viable.

Races are presented as a top-down broadcast covering qualifying, overtakes, safety cars and changing weather. The player sets and adjusts strategy during the race, including tyre compounds, fuel loads, pace orders and pit stop plans, and must respond to engineer calls within a time window while the race continues, as there is no pause. Races can be watched, fast-forwarded or skipped. Off track, the player signs drivers from a market based on form, age and personality, trains and coaches them through their careers, hires staff, negotiates with sponsors who have their own agendas, and manages the accounts.

Car development is based on incomplete information. Parts are commissioned from suppliers of varying reputation, and their true performance figures are never shown directly; instead the player relies on scouting bands, test day stopwatch readings affected by noise, and engineer verdicts, with better engineers providing clearer data. The game world persists across seasons, with promotion and relegation applying to all teams, drivers ageing and retiring, and a record book that stores every season, race result and career. All teams, drivers, sponsors and circuits are fictional.