It’s April 1 once again, and that means only one thing. April Fools’ Day is here. For one day a year, the usually polished and PR-optimized marketing departments get a free pass to stop being serious and start having some fun. Brands that normally spend months carefully crafting every announcement suddenly get to throw out ridiculous ideas, fake product reveals, and just believable enough concepts to make you stop scrolling for a second and wonder if they might actually be real.
And as expected, the sim racing industry is no exception. From absurd hardware concepts to jokes aimed directly at the community’s most niche habits, this is one of the few times companies get to lean fully into the chaos. Here is a look at 3 of the best April Fools’ jokes the sim racing world has come up with this year, in no particular order.
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First up is Fanatec, a brand that is no stranger to April Fools’ jokes. Back in 2021, they stirred up plenty of attention when they revealed what looked like a clearly photoshopped Podium DD 1 wheelbase called the Podium DD 0.5. The joke was that it used “magic parts,” “cartoon physics,” and something called FluxBarrier technology, while delivering 5 Nm of torque that could supposedly be increased to 8 Nm with a Boost Kit, for $349.50. At the time, it sounded completely ridiculous.
The funny part is that just three weeks later, Fanatec made the whole thing look a lot less ridiculous by officially revealing the CSL DD, effectively turning their April Fools’ joke, and something many people said would never happen, into a real product.
This year, though, I highly doubt they are teasing anything quite that meaningful. Fanatec unveiled the Podium Plants, a fictional range of plants designed to help you “take a moment to relax and enjoy the comfort and positive energy.” It is a pretty lighthearted one this time around, although with Corsair now involved, who knows, maybe Fanatec really will head in a very different direction later this year.
Next up is Moza, another brand that clearly enjoys getting involved when April 1 rolls around. Last year, they came up with one of the more memorable jokes in sim racing by unveiling the Moza Racing Toaster, a direct drive toaster supposedly built with performance in mind. In classic Moza fashion, even the fake specs sounded oddly detailed, with claims of 10 Nm of torque per slice, Hall effect browning sensors, and a 1000 Hz polling rate to deliver the perfect crunch. It was exactly the kind of joke that worked so well because it felt ridiculous, yet somehow still on-brand for a company that loves talking specs.
This year, they have not moved away from the food category either. Instead, Moza has revealed the Moza Espresso Machine, continuing the same theme of taking its sim racing identity and applying it to appliances nobody asked for but plenty of people would probably still post about. Much like the toaster, the humor comes from how seriously it is presented, as if this were just another performance-focused addition to the ecosystem.
Last but definitely not least is RaceRoom, who have brought back one of their best April Fools ideas for 2026. First introduced in 2021, the update added a brand new car to the game: the Shopping Cart. And yes, it is exactly as ridiculous as it sounds.
Powered by a 400cc four-cylinder motorbike engine, producing 67 horsepower, and weighing just 200 kg, this thing is basically a tiny rocketship. What makes it even better is how much effort went into it. Despite being a joke, it features a fully modelled suspension setup, kart tires, and even a jerrycan mounted beside the driver as the fuel tank. Best of all, you can drive it in RaceRoom today on April 1, before it disappears again tomorrow, so enjoy it while it lasts.
That wraps up my 3 favourite Sim Racing April Fools jokes for 2026. Note that these are just the tip of the And really, this is only scratching the surface of the jokes that have been going around. A few more deserve an honourable mention too, including Ascher Racing’s cardboard steering wheel, the VRS Nitro Boost System, Treq’s rear view mirrors, Trak Racer’s latest product launches, Hymo Setups’ Mario Kart setups, and plenty more across the sim racing space.
As always, April 1 brought a good mix of dumb, creative, and surprisingly well-executed ideas, which is exactly what makes it fun every year. Some brands kept it simple, others clearly put a lot of effort into the bit, but either way, it is always entertaining to see companies in such a serious industry loosen up for a day.
