Thank you for the answers.
I was tied down to this particular day as I have to fly back to the UK on day 1, to sit the renewal on day 2, to fly back home on day 3. Unfortunately this was the best I could manage however I have scheduled a flight with an instructor in the morning before my test later that afternoon. Hopefully a few hours in between will allow me to brush up on a few things.
If the sim is set up to replicate a DA42, will I be expected to know and memorise the important parts from the POH such as speeds for different phases of flight and configurations etc? I remember that the speeds I used to fly for my IR training (such as holding speed and approach speed) did not match the exact numbers in the POH and were set by the school I guess to keep the numbers simple.
Also, how about the cockpit instrument set-up, seeing as it won't exactly match the Garmin 1000 I was familiar with? I know during my initial test I was expected to know the Garmin inside-out but I'll only have 1.5 hours prior to get used to the layout in the sim.
Finally, a bit of clarity regarding revalidation v.s. renewal. I just found this line on the CAA website:
The IR is valid for 1 year from the date you pass the skills test. To revalidate the rating you must pass a proficiency check within three months of expiry. To renew the rating after it has expired you need to take refresher training and pass a proficiency check at an ATO which has been approved to conduct IR training.
Does this mean that if I fail the revalidation, I still have 3 months to re-sit the test before it then gets treated as a renewal? To answer the previous question, I'm hopefully due to start a Type Rating within the next 3-4 months and so I would like to keep the IR current.