Mohamed Gacha Software Engineer
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Case study

SimplyLovelySetups

From a sim racer's frustration to a platform with 2,000+ setups and 300+ users.

Role
Creator: product, backend, frontend, infra, SEO
Timeline
Sep 2024 – Sep 2026
Stack
  • Python
  • FastAPI
  • Django REST
  • SQLAlchemy
  • Alembic
  • MongoDB
  • PostgreSQL
  • Next.js
  • TypeScript
  • Docker
  • Heroku
setups online
2,000+
users in 2 weeks (100 → 300+)
×3
daily visits
~70

V1

  1. FrontJavaScript · CSS3
  2. APIFastAPI
  3. DataMongoDB
  4. OpsHeroku · CI/CD (Poetry)

V2

FrontNext.js
  • platform coreDjango REST
    PostgreSQL
  • user setupsFastAPI
    MongoDB
  • default setupsFastAPI
    MongoDB
OpsSelf-hosted · Docker · metrics monitoring
SimplyLovelySetups architecture: V1 monolith, V2 as services.

Context

In Assetto Corsa Competizione, a good setup changes everything. But finding an optimized setup for a given car and track took too long: everything was scattered across Discord servers, forums and YouTube videos.

I built SimplyLovelySetups to solve my own problem: a free platform where drivers browse, filter and download setups by car and track. One rule from day one: no ads, everything stays free.

V1: ship fast, measure everything

  • FastAPI + MongoDB backend, fast and flexible for an evolving catalogue.
  • Real-time tracking of downloads and visitor geolocation.
  • Careful SEO and Open Graph tags; localized pages (EN, EN-GB, DE) with hreflang.
  • Deployed on Heroku with an automated CI/CD pipeline via Poetry.

V2: moving to a service architecture

V2 wasn't just new features and a new visual identity: it was a real architectural step, microservices-inspired, for better scalability and clearer service boundaries.

  • Next.js frontend.
  • Django REST + PostgreSQL backend for the platform core.
  • Dedicated FastAPI services for user setups and default setups, each backed by its own MongoDB.
  • Then self-hosting: Docker containers and metrics-based monitoring.

Results

  • More than 2,000 setups online (January 2026).
  • 100 users, then more than 300 two weeks later, with ~70 daily visits and an increasingly active community.
  • What the data said: Monza and Spa were the most requested tracks.
  • 2nd place in the Duo Cup (SimRacing Morocco, Suzuka round, December 2025) in a yellow McLaren 720S GT3 EVO in the site's livery, running the in-house setups.

What I took away

The project wound down in 2026. It taught me far more than I expected, both technically and commercially: self-hosting, containers, metrics monitoring, and above all how to create real value for users.

Building for a community forces you to understand its real needs. And performance, accessibility and SEO aren't extras: they're pillars of the product.