James competed in the World’s Fastest Gamer in Los Angeles last year, ahead of simulation drivers experts in a number of virtual and real-world runners.
Baldwin’s awarded a contract to drive a McLaren for former F1 world champion Jenson Button at the British GT Championship.
The 22-year-old won his first real-world race last weekend, a trophy at Oulton Park.
The world player, James Baldwin, led a McLaren to victory in his first real-world career.
Baldwin was inspired by the qualification and then took third place before handing over the car to co-driver Michael O’Brien, who took the checkered flag.
Baldwin said he is “delighted” to win on his debut.
World’s Fastest Gamer founder Darren Cox said Baldwin’s result evidences “that there is a direct link between natural and undeniable speed in export racing and speed on the circuit.”
McLaren dominated the early stages of the British GT Championship. Source: Supplied
“We’ve never noticed a player like this going into a race and winning in his early days,” Cox said.
“It’s revolutionary.
“It’s not just a testament to the skill we’ve discovered in James, but also the result of advances in racing simulation: the similarities between cars in the game and cars on the track are getting closer and closer.
World’s Fastest Gamer finalists fought in a year rFactor2, the same game used for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual.
Cox, the head of Nissan Motorsport when the Japanese logo partnered with Sony and Gran Turismo to create the Nismo GT Academy, a festival designed to turn players into runners.
The program worked well, adding a podium at Le Mans and a 12-hour win at Bathurst, each with two players on the driving team, but fell through Nissan in 2016.
Sony has replaced the GT Academy with the Gran Turismo Sport series, a foreign player championship involving races in the genuine world.