iRacing News

[vobler]

BEDFORD, MA (September 25, 2008) â€" iRacing.com has licensed and is in the process of building three of Chevrolet’s primary stock car racing vehicles, the Silverado truck, Monte Carlo SS and Impala SS. The Silverado will be available to iRacing members beginning October 15. The racing versions of the Monte Carlo SS and Impala SS will follow in 2009.

“Our relationship with GM Racing is exciting for us, and it’s great news for many of our members, including those who are also stock car racing stars in the physical world,” said Scott McKee, iRacing’s vice president of marketing. “They’ve known that most of the tracks where these vehicles race are either already in our inventory or in the process of being built. So, it was only a matter of time before we added the headliner vehicles that have made these tracks famous.”

In addition to its training benefits to the active real-world racers among the iRacing membership, the Silverado will play a major role in the competition side of iRacing’s online service, the structure of which calls for members to begin their internet racing career with slower, entry-level racecars and progress to faster ones as they demonstrate their ability to race safely through the course of successive 12-week seasons.

“Our members can test with any of the vehicles in our inventory,” said McKee. “But for our members who use the service for more than just training, the Silverado will be the basis for an advanced level of oval track competition â€" and the Impala SS will slot in above that when it’s released early next year.”

Ian Berwick, iRacing’s vehicle dynamics engineer, thanked the Chevrolet teams and drivers whose input has helped the virtual Silverado’s performance accurately match that of its physical counterpart. “Having access to the race truck itself, as well as the performance data, has been critical to producing a virtual-world duplicate,” he said. “Our testers, who are drawn both from the simracing and real-world racing communities, are pleased with the developmental version we’re running now internally. Our members can be confident that the Silverado they’ll be driving in the simulation will be just like the real-world one.”

[Doorman]

Oo good! More redneck racing. :angry:

[vobler]

Oo good! More redneck racing. :angry:

Several people has said basicly the same thing today.

John Henry has responded a few times with this:

Dave and I are road racers. We won't let you down!

[vobler]

Two new news items on the member site.

Its about the upcoming week 13 and the new software version.

[vobler]

Three new announcements on the member site.

Its about

World Cup
New track
Iracing World

updates to the stats pages too.

[Doorman]

Oo good, another oval. :doh:

[vobler]

Oo good, another oval. :doh:

Why did I read that as "Oh God" another oval?

But not quite, it has a road infield like much like Kyoto.
Several of the big ovals is like that.

But then again, I'll let you have that one....

[Doorman]

Why did I read that as "Oh God" another oval?

But not quite, it has a road infield like much like Kyoto.
Several of the big ovals is like that.

But then again, I'll let you have that one....

Also like a lot of 'Raceways', trouble is you never get to race them. Maybe I'm just getting stale of racing. I'm beginning to feel a break coming on.

[vobler]

Maybe I'm just getting stale of racing. I'm beginning to feel a break coming on.

Hang in there a few more weeks. Maybe Netkar can turn you around? If not, take the break, you have earned it.

[vobler]

For people that is not iRacing members I think it is possible to join
http://www.iracingworld.com
and keep an eye on the blogs and videos just to stay in touch with the development and the community.

[vobler]

Not actually news but a blog entry from the Executive Vice President and Executive Producer at iRacing.com.

http://www.iracingworld.com/kickapps/_A-day-in-the-life-of-a-cat-herder2/blog/120881/57752.html

[Doorman]

It's a hard life but someone's got to do it!

[vobler]

It's a hard life but someone's got to do it!

I'm not sure what you mean by that. But here is another one.
(I also highlighted a sentence below....)

STAR MAZDA CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY GOODYEAR AND iRACING.COM ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP FOR 2009 RACING SEASON
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca/Oct. 18 – The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear today announced a technical and promotional partnership with iRacing.com Motorsports Simulations, LLC that will begin immediately in preparation for the 2009 racing season. iRacing.com is now the "Official Simulation Service" of the Star Mazda Championship and will provide resources that allow prospective new drivers to test drive and existing drivers to train with a virtual Star Mazda race car on digital duplicates of most of the tracks that will be used by the series during the 2009 season.

iRacing.com will also provide contingency awards to top-performing Star Mazda Championship drivers and teams during the season, as well as a year-end award of a custom-built, professional-grade racing simulator. The Star Mazda Championship and iRacing.com will also cooperate on advertising programs in major motorsports publications and web sites, joint appearances at motorsports trade shows and other public relations, promotional and marketing opportunities. Additional initiatives are under discussion and will be announced as they develop.

"This new relationship with iRacing.com provides the Star Mazda Championship and our teams with innovative new ways to help current drivers prepare for upcoming races and to reach out to potential drivers, sponsors and fans," says series President Gary Rodrigues. "iRacing.com has created a unique, incredibly accurate motorsports experience that is the next best thing to being behind the wheel of the real Star Mazda race car… and you can do it from the comfort of your living room. Race drivers tell us the experience is very useful in learning a new track or getting ready to re-visit one you’re already familiar with. We're delighted with the immediate benefits of our association with iRacing.com, and excited about the possibilities. It is now possible for a race driver on the other side of the world to take a test drive in a Star Mazda pro car."

The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is entering its 19th year as the most successful open-wheel driver development series in North America. It is the college basketball, the triple-A baseball, the Junior A hockey of auto racing, a high-speed training ground for future stars of the sport and a major step on the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development Ladder that reaches all the way from karting to the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda. The hottest young drivers from around the world compete on international television for a prize fund of $1.5 million in Mazda-powered, high-tech, open-wheel cars. Mazda and the Star Mazda Championship have recently announced a five-year extension of their sponsorship agreement, taking Mazda's title sponsorship of the series through the 2013 season. The Star Mazda Championship has also announced the series' 2009 schedule, 13 races on 11 weekends including road courses, street circuits and ovals.

“iRacing.com and the Star Mazda Championship share a common purpose of helping race drivers build their skills and advance in this sport,” says Scott McKee, vice president of marketing for iRacing.com. “With our missions so closely aligned, working together makes perfect sense. Our simulation service will enable drivers considering the Star Mazda Championship to truly experience the cars and tracks before committing resources to arrange a test with a team, and when they do test, they’ll be prepared to make the most out of the opportunity. Meanwhile, existing drivers will be able to practice and prepare for their races using technology that was previously beyond the reach of all but the top Formula One teams.”

iRacing.com is an online, subscription-based racing simulation service that allows drivers from all over the world to build their skills, accumulating valuable seat-time at a tiny fraction of the cost of real-world testing. The unique feature of iRacing.com is the hyper-detailed, ultra-realistic simulation with accurate track, vehicle and physics modeling that accurately duplicates the handling of the car, the feel of the track and even what the driver sees from the cockpit. In addition, the iRacing service offers members the chance to develop their racecraft in professionally sanctioned online competition, including a virtual version of the Star Mazda Championship. With a schedule of four 12-week seasons each year, proprietary software automatically groups racers of similar skill levels together, giving everyone a chance to compete for race wins and season championships. One-month ($20), three-month ($50), six-month ($90) and yearly ($156) subscriptions are available, as are a wide variety of tracks, including such 2009 Star Mazda Championship venues as Sebring, Virginia International Raceway, the Milwaukee Mile and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Other Star Mazda host venues, such as Road Atlanta and Mosport Park, will be added soon.

"For real drivers, iRacing.com is a tool, not a toy," says Alex Ardoin, winner of the 2007 Star Mazda Championship season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and driver of the #51 Mundill Racing / Oral & Facial Surgery Center / Twister Trailer / Johnstone Supply Mazda. "They've done such an amazing job of digitally re-creating the Star Mazda race car and the tracks we race on that you can save several laps of expensive track time by re-familiarizing yourself through the iRacing service; you can pick up right where you left off last time you actually raced on that track. This new partnership between Star Mazda and iRacing.com will be a great way for young drivers trying to decide what series to race in to get a real feel for what the real car is like. And for fans who love the competition but would never otherwise get the chance to actually race a Star Mazda car… the only thing missing is the sweat and smell of tire smoke."

Message was edited by:
Scott A. McKee

[vobler]

Here is another interesting blog from  "the cat herder"

He starts his blog this week like this

"As I alluded to in my last blog post I will touch on the content creation process in this week’s blog."


http://www.iracingworld.com/kickapps/_A-day-in-the-life-of-a-cat-herder3/blog/125752/57752.html

[Gnomie]

Interesting read!

It strikes me how an incredibly ambitious and expensive project iRacing really is. It's quite unique in the sim-racing setting. I read somewhere that they'd spent $18 million on development so far..? Plus, judging by this article, they have at least 15-20 people working for them. So, just by running some quick estimates, that means they'd need at least 5000 subscribers just to cover the wages. That figure would probably double once you take into account fees for licencing cars + tracks, plus all the other expenses connected with running a company. Not to mention if they're hoping to get their initial investment back and actually making some money..

I think it's commendable that they've tried, and I hope it works out well for them. And I hope to one day be able to join the circus!