[Scuderia_Turini]

Hello Brian,
Another aspect of Spark-Plug is that it offers the opportunity for "coders" to create their own "Apps" that can link up and control cars. Hopefully that will appeal to the tech-minded generation and keep slot-cars "relevant".  
(Have indicated the post-dinosaur terms that I have used - LOL)

So... when someone creates PC software that can work with your simulator kit and link it to the Spark-Plug ... then yes you can. It didn't take long for the Magic App to be created for the Hornby Arc hardware and some people prefer it to the Hornby Apps.  In the early days of slot racing it was not long before people started to produce their own hand-controllers and use them to win races. 

As tech advances/changes I always recall my mother telling me that her mother used to say that telephones were a "machine of the devil" (Talking of the days of the GPO). 
I am of a similar age as you Brian, probably a bit older in fact, its part of our job to encourage the youth of today. 

Of course getting off the simulator seat and putting your car back in the slot might be tiresome.

Leo